If you would, please rise for the reading of God's word this evening. As this morning we considered the first chapter of Galatians, this evening we come to the other side of the book, Galatians chapter six, and I will read from verse 11 through to the end of the chapter. Our text though will focus on verses 11 through 15 in the message tonight. Galatians chapter six, beginning at verse 11, this is the inerrant and infallible word of the living God, let us give our attention to it as such. See, with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand. As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these would compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. For not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but a new creation. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God. From now on, let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen. You may be seated. Let us pray. O Lord, our God, we ask this evening in the name of Jesus Christ, your Son, our Lord, that even as you showed your glory, your power, your might from heaven on top of Mount Carmel at the time of the evening sacrifice to all that were gathered there, that as we have come to gather and to see the power of God at work again in the word, We ask that you would show your glory to us, that you would reveal your power to us, that you might show us once again and give us all a lively faith to know that there is no other God but the Lord and that you alone are God. So we ask for your spirit. We ask for your help, that you might sanctify us by your truth. Your word is truth. Amen. Some of the longest wars in history have spanned for generations. The Punic Wars went on for 43 years. The Hundred Years War actually went for longer than 100 years of conflict. But those were very short compared to the Crusades, which went on for over 600 years. And then there were the Roman-Germanic wars that went on for over 700 years. Imagine that, wars going on for all that you know in recent history. But these are small compared to a war that was started nearly at the beginning of time. We read of that war in Genesis chapter three and verse 15, where God says this, I will put enmity between you and the woman and between your seed and her seed. He shall bruise your head and you shall bruise his heel. Right there from the beginning, God declared war against Satan. And we see that war manifested throughout the scripture. Moses speaks of it this way, as blessing and cursing life and death. Joshua says, choose you this day whom you will serve. The writer of Proverbs says of this for the war, there is a way of folly that leads to death and there is a way of wisdom that leads to life. Jesus was often to bring this war to mind even as he spoke in the Sermon on the Mount. Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, but narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to everlasting life. Paul speaks of the war in Galatians this way, the flesh wars against the spirit, and the spirit wars against the flesh. Or as we see summarized in our text this evening, that there is a battle, a warfare that is going on even tonight. between the flesh and its followers and the cross and those that follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians has warned us against the counterfeiters, the enemies of the gospel as we saw this morning, those that would boast in the flesh, that would make a good showing in the flesh. but it also shows us the glory of God in the finished work on the cross of Jesus Christ who laid down his life for us sinners. And there is a conflict between these two things, those that boast in the flesh and those that boast in the cross. If Paul was not serious enough in the first chapter, and he was, because it's the word of God, he makes it extremely clear as he comes to the end of the epistle tonight, see what? large letters I have written unto you. This is a most earnest message. If you haven't gotten the point for six chapters, please get the point now, Paul is saying. Usually it was one of his companions that would write for him, but Paul has written this with his own hand, that we would know with emphasis how serious the matter is. Choose you this day whom you will serve, the flesh, or Jesus Christ who died on the cross. Three very simple points this evening for us to consider this text. They are the flesh, the cross, and the consequences. I'd like us to look first at the flesh from verses 11 and 12 as this one side of the warfare, the one army is set out in array on the battlefield as it were for us to see. And as that is set out for us, Paul makes extremely clear what those boasters in the flesh are like, what they look like, what they do. And he gives five characteristics for those that boast in the flesh. And the first is there in verse 12. Those that follow the flesh, they desire to make a good showing of the flesh. Paul is again bringing us back to the Judaizers that we saw and heard of this morning, those that followed after him as he preached from church to church throughout the region of Galatia. There were those who claimed to be Christians but they came behind and they preached another gospel which was no gospel at all because it didn't have any life, it led only to death. We read of that in Acts chapter 15 and verse one. And certain men came down from Judea and taught the brethren, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. That was their false gospel. And as this matter was brought before the Jerusalem council, we see the conclusion in verse 11 as they debated and deliberated around this matter. But we believe in verse 11, that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved in the same manner as they." Here it is, grace alone, through Jesus Christ alone that we shall be saved. That's the message of the gospel. That was the conclusion of the whole council. And yet, And yet, the Judaizers still preached the other gospel. They still boasted in the flesh. The world is still doing the same today. All men, it seems, in the world are looking for their identity in the flesh rather than for an identity in the Lord Jesus Christ. They boast to show off the flesh. to lift man high and to bring God low. Why? Why a desire for boasting in the flesh? Why do we see this all around us? Well, the second thing that is said about those that side with the flesh is this, they do not want to suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. Or to put it very simply, they're ashamed of the cross of Christ. The Lord is bringing this text into the visible church and saying that this warfare that we speak of, it's not merely a warfare between the world and the church, though it is that. There is also this warfare that's going on within the church itself. There's pictures of this in the parables of the Lord Jesus. The parable of the weed and the tares, there was the kingdom of God, the visible church, and there's wheat and there's elect, there's the righteous in the church and there's the tares, those that look like the wheat, but they're actually weeds and they're being prepared for the fire. The Lord says of them, they will boast in the flesh because they're ashamed of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. They don't want to face persecution for his name. And so they don't claim his name as the only way of salvation. They lift up man as they bring Christ down. They want a friendship with the world. Peter himself, as we saw this morning in chapter two, removed himself from the Gentiles to become friendly with the Judaizers. And what do we see of those that preach such a gospel? Even under the auspices of the church, they removed the Bible, they removed the crucified Christ, they removed the gospel, and they preached a man-centered gospel. They preach a powerless gospel. They preach that people can do whatever they want and God will accept it because God is love and loves them that way. They forget that while God takes us as we are, he doesn't leave us where we are, but he makes all things new. The old things have passed away. Behold, all is become new. But this glorious and powerful message that those of you who have been saved would confess as your own testimony, that Jesus Christ saved you by his grace alone. Those of you that would confess that, they won't confess it, that boast in the flesh because they're ashamed of the name. They're ashamed of the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Well, there's more than that. In verse 13, for not even those who are circumcised keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. So Paul makes a very interesting point here. They're going to make it seem like they keep the word of God. But they don't keep the Word of God. In fact, this is the root issue. They reject the Word of God. They don't even keep the law themselves that they say you should keep in all its ceremonies. And that's what's in mind here in Galatians. The ceremonial laws that were done away in Christ's fulfillment on the cross when he shed his blood once and for all. They don't even keep the Word that they're telling you you should keep. They pretend to be holy in the flesh. They pretend to keep God's Word, but they themselves don't keep God's Word. This is the main issue, unbelief. This is the main issue, rejecting the Word of God. The root is not circumcision per se. The root is unbelief. The root is unbelief. The religion of the flesh does not believe the infallible, inerrant, living, powerful word of God. It is not that to them. They have rejected the word in unbelief. And from this unbelief then comes the deeds of the flesh. You know, our church has a history where we came out of the Presbyterian Church USA in 1936. And in 1936, terrible things were happening in that Northern Presbyterian Church. The word of God was being rejected. But if you fast forward to things today in the Presbyterian Church USA, their numbers are dwindling because they don't have a gospel to preach anymore. So they keep joining with other churches to get their numbers up again and then they dwindle again. But you know, the Presbyterian Church USA at its General Assembly a few years ago, they didn't have a missionary come and speak to them. They had an abortion doctor come and tell them of the glories of abortion. They didn't do that in 1935. There were no abortion doctors in the PCUSA in the 1935. This is what was happening in 1935, unbelief. The word of God was being rejected, and now less than 100 years later, they're celebrating the murder of little children. Unbelief leads to all of these other things, and unbelief is never satisfied. It's like in Proverbs 30, the leech with two daughters said, only say this, give, give, always wanting more, always wanting to take away from the word of God and the power of God, the flesh always desires more. They reject the word of God, but then they do something else. They're not satisfied with rejecting the word for themselves, but look in the middle of verse 13, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. They desire for you to join with them. The army of the flesh, the spiritual forces of darkness, they're not satisfied with their numbers. They want every one of you to join with them. And parents, they want your children. to join with them. They desire for you to boast in the flesh with them. They're not satisfied being allowed to go and do what they want. They want participation. They want allyship. They want you to celebrate the flesh because they celebrate the flesh. They want you to cast in your lot among them that we all might have one purse. The temptation for the church is to stop the war against the flesh. It's to embrace the flesh. It's to make new friends with the flesh. That's what it wants. But we might ask, why? Why does the army of the flesh want us to join them? And the answer is, at the end of verse 13, that they may boast in your flesh. The army of darkness desires you to join them that they might rejoice and say, we've got another one. We've brought another soul in captivity to judgment and to darkness. We've gained a new convert to death to this false gospel. This is everywhere, isn't it? In all the sins that we could list and talk about in the world around us, but even in the sins that so easily beset us, constantly we're being tempted to join with the forces of darkness, to join in boasting in the flesh. The flesh hates what is good. It loves what's evil. It desires that you would fall down into destruction with it. Do not be deceived about the ways of Satan. Satan desires to have you join him that he might take you to destruction in hell forever with him. That's why he deceives you and dangles out what is supposed to be good, but is rather evil. What is supposed to be truth, but is rather a lie. Because he wants you destroyed. I don't know what things are tempting you tonight. I don't know what things will tempt you in the week ahead. But as you see the things of the world, the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life, that Satan dangles there before you, that your friends might dangle there before you, the reason that they're coming to you is that you might go to the place where the devil's going, that you might be cast into the lake of fire with him and his angels at the end of the world, that he might say, I've brought another one to destruction with me. That's why they want you to boast in the flesh, that they might boast in your downfall. The religion of the flesh seeks to destroy. This is the case for all enemies of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the destruction of the soul. And the end must be noted then, the end of the flesh and the end of all those that are boasting in the flesh, the end is death. Do you remember the Pharisee who went into the temple with the publican and he prayed about how good he was? I thank you God that I'm not like this publican, I'm not like sinners, but I pray and I fast and do all these things. He left that temple and the scripture says he was not justified. He boasted in himself and the end of his way, unless he repented, was destruction. Romans eight and verse 13, the Lord says, if you live for the flesh, you will die. Those that hate the Lord, they perish. All those that hate me, God said, love death. And the person that follows after the flesh, though they thought they were doing the right thing, at the last, they come to the end of their days and the dark strikes through their liver. They close their eyes on this earth and they open them in the fire of hell. On Thanksgiving Day, just a few days ago, my family and I were with many friends and we had a great bonfire. And as the men stood around getting that bonfire going and throwing more branches on it, we were shocked by its heat. How far away we were from it and yet the heat that this large bonfire was generating. And it seemed as if the thought of hell came to all our minds at the same time. How terrible hell must be. What utter torment. We can be five feet from the fire and our skin will be singed We will be in pain because we're too close to the flame and yet we're not even in the flame. How much hotter is hell than being actually in the flame of fire? It's a horrible place. It's a terrible place. And how many people joke about going there or tell you to go there? Oh, if anyone knew the truth of hell, no one would ever tell someone to go there. They would want to run from hell. They would want to flee from hell, but the flesh has come to the fire, come to the judgment. Hell's not that bad. You'll be with all your friends. No, no, no, hell is a terrible place. It's a terrible place of torment, and not a drop of water is offered there to the thirsty, and it is a place where there is no water at all. Some people, they hear things like this, and they say, That's something we ought not to talk about in the church. Hell is too confrontational. It's too scary. We don't want scare tactics. We don't need fire and brimstone preaching. Don't confront people there. But I wonder how many of you have a testimony like me. If God hadn't confronted me with the terror of my sin and its lawful place of being deserving judgment in hell for all eternity, I never would have turned to the Savior. I never would have come to Him. Oh, that God would confront more, that God would present His judgment and all its curse and fiery wrath in front of people, that they might flee from the wrath of God to come, that they might say, help me, I want to run from this place of hell. How will I be delivered from it? Oh, they must turn away from the flesh, they must repent of their sins, they must flee from the wrath of God to come, for the wages of sin is death, but, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ the Son. And so the warning against the flesh is not where Paul will end this great epistle, but he goes on, and this is our second heading, the cross, he goes on to talk about the cross, Paul says, I'm not going to talk anymore about this flesh. God forbid, in verse 14, that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. What is meant by boasting in the cross? We can certainly say for clarity's sake and because this is so misunderstood by so many in the world around us in many false religions, Paul here is not boasting in the object or the wood of the cross which Jesus was crucified on. He's not boasting in a splinter that might have been handed to him by someone who supposedly was there and kept it, as the Roman Catholic Church would say, and Martin Luther had some very humorous things to say about the crosses and the volume of wood that came from the supposed cross of the Lord Jesus Christ, enough to build a whole fleet of ships. That is not what is being said here about boasting in the cross. It's not boasting in jewelry or a picture of the cross like Rome and the Eastern Orthodox religions that would bow down and worship these relics. Nor is it a boasting in the mere example of Christ on the cross. It's not boasting in the picture that Jesus had of doing good for those that he loved. Though he did do good, no greater love is there than this, than that one would lay down their life for their friend. But it's not the mere example that Paul is getting at here when he speaks of boasting in the cross. At Easter time, there's all these different news stories that will come out about those folks like in the Philippines who will reenact the cross and they'll boast in the cross by having themselves nailed to a cross for a time and suffering pains they suppose Jesus suffered on the cross because they think of him like a mere man and not like the Son of God and they reenact the cross and they boast in their suffering on the cross. That's not what's in mind here. When Paul speaks about boasting, in the cross. He's boasting in the whole work of Christ for my salvation, for your salvation, for the salvation of all those who believed that took place on the cross. If this morning we saw something of the origin of the gospel, tonight we're seeing something more of the substance of the gospel. Jesus Christ being the very substance of the gospel and his work being the substance of the gospel. And here is that work of suffering on the cross for sinners. bring up briefly three things that Paul is getting at in the book of Galatians that would lead him to say, I boast in the cross, and that is this, he boasts that on the cross, Christ made full payment for sin. Full payment for sin. The great lie of the counterfeiters from chapter one, who presented another gospel, the great lie was that Jesus Christ only made partial payment. They would say, Jesus saved almost. Now you must be circumcised to be saved all the way. That was the lie of the counterfeiters. But the promise of Christ and the truth of Christ and his death on the cross and what he did is that as Jesus died on the cross, he was making payment to the uttermost. Picking payment to the uttermost. That there was no fuller payment that could be made than the payment that Jesus himself was making. Children, if you can imagine tonight that maybe you're playing with a baseball, and as you're playing with the baseball, you had no idea your arm was so good, and you threw that baseball, and it went right through a neighbor's window. And now there's a broken window next to you, and the neighbor comes out, and they're not too friendly. They want payment. And so they come to you, and they say, you owe me $1,000 for a new window that you broke. and your father comes out to see the situation and he hears the cost of the window and your father takes out his checkbook and he writes your neighbor a check for $1,000. The neighbor is satisfied. The neighbor buys a new window. Children can understand this. How much more do you children owe that neighbor for their broken window? There is nothing else. The thousand dollars was the damages, and it was entirely paid from your father. Anything else would be false, would be fraudulent if they would require anything else of you. The payment has been made in full. And Jesus Christ, as he died on the cross, he made full payment, full payment. All the payment for all your sins was all made on the cross. As Jesus died, a full payment was made for sin. Oh, what a blessed gospel is this. Who else is preaching such a gospel? What other religion offers you full payment for your sins, past, present, and even future? This is a glorious gospel. That's why Paul preaches it and suffers for it. Galatians 2 and verse 16 would bring out justification in the sight of God because of the work of Christ on the cross and full justification. There is no more justification that you need than that which is given to you in Christ. It's a full justification. and that there's a freedom from death in Galatians five and verse one, stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Oh, there's a freedom that Christ has given and it's a full freedom. It's not a partial freedom. Forbid it Lord that I should boast save in the death of Christ my God. All the vain things are nothing compared to Christ who's made full payment for us. So Paul says, my sins are paid in full, therefore I boast in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. But he boasts in the cross for another reason, there is the full payment that was made, but then on the cross, Christ made a full pardon, a full pardon for sin. And there's something here of the substitutionary atonement of Christ, that which the liberals denied a long time ago, the substitutionary death of Christ on the cross. That as Christ was hanging there on Calvary's tree, as he was beaten even before that. As the blood was pouring out of his hands and of his feet, dripping off his back where he was whipped, dripping down his head from the crown of thorns that's been pressed into him. Jesus is doing that in the place of his children. He has, as Galatians 3.13 says, redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us. 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 21 says, for he hath made him to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Christ. A full pardon has been made because on the cross Jesus was taking my place. The burden of sin and the guilt of sin and the weight of sin was taken off of the sinner and put onto the Savior. And there he bled and died and made full payment that I might be fully pardoned from all my sin. Jesus did not pretend as he looked at his children that they never sin, no, no, no, that would never satisfy the justice of God. Instead, Jesus became sin. Even he who knew no sin, he substituted himself for us. Was he made a curse for you? Has your guilt been paid tonight? Are you sitting here justified by the blood of the lamb? Have you come to the fountain of living water and dranken of the living water that whoever drinks of it will never drink again? On the cross that Paul boasted of, he boasted because his sins were pardoned completely. So God forbid that he should boast except in the cross of our Lord, Jesus Christ. But there's more than that. Full payment was made. Full pardon was provided. And as Christ was on that cross, a full reconciliation was being made between us and the Father whom we were at war with because of sin. So there's a full peace, a full payment, full pardon, and full peace between God and man. Galatians 4 and verse 4. Son, born of a woman, born under the law to redeem those who were under the law that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the spirit of his son into your hearts, crying out, Abba, Father. Therefore, you are no longer a slave, but a son. And if a son, then an heir of God through Christ. This is the work that Jesus did on the cross. He reconciled and what a reconciliation. Has there ever been a reconciliation like this? Not merely not guilty, but righteous. Not merely no longer my enemy, but a son, a fellow heir with Christ. not far off to be kept far from God, but brought near so that we sinners who have been saved by the blood of the Lamb might cry out, Ah, the Father, help me, save me, have mercy on me, the sinner. And he who is merciful will show mercy on his child yet again. not merely go and sin no more, though there is that, but welcome to an everlasting inheritance prepared for you before time through God the Father who loved you before the foundation of the world through Jesus Christ, his son. The cross of Christ has brought us our greatest peace. He's brought those that were at war in the flesh against God. He's washed us with his blood. He's brought us nigh to God. So the psalmist would say, in God we have boasted continually. Psalm 44 in verse eight, or in Psalm 34 in verse two, my soul boasts in the Lord. Why would the psalmist boast in the Lord unless he was looking forward to the payment, the pardon, and the peace that would be his through the cross of the Messiah who was promised long ago and would surely come and reign forevermore. He brought me peace. Therefore, God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There are consequences to this boast. There are consequences for the sinner who has been saved by the grace of God. The consequences are laid out at the end of verse 14. By whom, speaking of the Lord Jesus Christ, the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. There are two things that are made known here to those that would now boast in the cross of Christ. If you're hearing this for the first time, there is a calling to those that would boast in Christ. There is a calling to the saved that they in turn would take up their cross and follow the Lord. that they would take his yoke, that they would take upon him themselves the calling that God has given them, that they would put away and despise all the things of the flesh and follow him. There is a call to follow him, and following Christ will have these two impacts. The world dies to you, and you die to the world. The world is dead to you, crucified to you. Has the world passed away from your longings? What do you desire tonight? As you hear about the glories of those that are in Christ by His Spirit, regenerating and effectually calling them, and the death and darkness that comes to those that are on the side of the flesh, what do you think of the world? Do you desire the world and its pleasures tonight? Those pleasures are fleeting. The world and its money and its entertainment and it's all the things that it dangles out there and are advertised on all the computer screens, all the phone screens, all the billboards. You deserve this, you should desire that. What do you think of those things? Do you know what the Lord thinks of those things? They will all perish. They will all vanish, they will all be burnt up. Put them to death now for those that have been saved by the blood of Christ are made new creatures. All those old things have passed away, the world is dead to you. Put those things to death. Mortify the flesh that so easily tempts you to sin. God is worthy of all adoration and all worship and all following. If your hand is causing you to sin, cut it off. If your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out. There is nothing too costly. There is nothing that you cannot give up that would not be worth infinitely more in all eternity. Give up those things that are leading you to go after the flesh again. Follow the Lord Jesus Christ. Put on the whole armor of God. Be filled with the fruit of the spirit that Galatians so brings out in this in the chapter before. The world is dead to you if you're in Christ. May you live that way. But there's something else, and perhaps even harder, especially for those that come newly to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the newly converted. When you come to the Lord Jesus Christ by saving faith, you are dead to the world. You are dead to the world. The world hates Christ. The world hates those that follow Christ. You can read of that in 1 John and many other places. You can see the blind man in the Gospel of John, is it chapter eight, where the blind man, he received his sight and immediately the Pharisees and all the Jews, they attacked him. They wanted nothing to do with him because he claimed the name of the Lord Jesus. If you claim the name of the Lord Jesus as your own, the world wants nothing to do with you. It will persecute you. The martyrs knew this. Jesus knew this. And there Jesus was as he hung on that cross on which we boast. And the scripture tells us in Hebrews chapter 12 and verse 2 that for the joy that was set before him, he endured the cross, despising the shame. And he who endured the cross and despised the shame rose from the dead on the third day. He ascended up into heaven where he sits now enthroned with all power and glory and people all around the world are worshiping and praising His name tonight because He endured that cross. After the despising and the shame and the pain, He is exalted. And after you suffer, brothers and sisters, for a little while, Then you shall see the glory of God as he lifts you up into unimaginable glory, when you shall be like him, for you shall see him as he is. Oh, the world's gonna hate you, but count that as nothing. If Christ is for you, who can be against you? How many martyrs went to the stake to be burned or were drowned in a river and they counted it but a small thing. In fact, some of them even were given the grace to rejoice in it, that they could be counted worthy to suffer for the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why? Because they saw something far more glorious than this life. They were pilgrims in this present evil age and they kept their eyes fixed on one place, one city, not an earthly city, but a city that had its foundations, whose builder and maker is God. That's what they ran for. That's what they looked for. As they boasted in the cross, they gave up the world and the world gave up them because the world was not worthy of them. And they received a great inheritance, a noble inheritance, with the great martyrs standing around the throne in revelation, giving all glory to God with those 24 elders and that innumerable company of saints who have gone before, worshiping and bowing down before the Lamb, casting their crowns before Him and praising His name forevermore. That is the joy that is set before us. Is that your joy tonight? That was Paul's joy. He put everything else away. He counted it all as trash, as dung, that he might attain Christ. He didn't look back at his past sins. He looked ahead to the Lord Jesus Christ, who is the author and finisher of his faith. Look to Christ. Don't let those old sins pull you down. Don't let the devil say, Look at what you did last week. Can you really be saved by the Lord Jesus Christ? Yes, yes, my God is that great. He forgives even the sinner who sinned just this afternoon. Come to Him, repent of your sins. He is faithful and just to forgive you your sins. That's the message of the flesh. Christ can't do it. He's not enough. But Paul, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that is to say, God himself would have you tonight, know tonight that he is all sufficient to save to the uttermost all who come to him by faith. Oh, what a great God we have. What a great gospel has been given to us in Jesus Christ, who all of his own doing, because of the love that God had before the foundation of the world, endured the cross, shed his blood that he might wash away all our sins. Where is your boast tonight? Whose side have you chosen to be on? Life and death are presented to you. The flesh and the cross are presented to you. Death and Christ are presented before you. The false prophets change the gospel. The false teachers tweak the gospel. The false churches abandon the gospel. And yet the gospel is not thwarted. It goes out yet again this evening through the word of the all-powerful God, calling you to take up the banner that was once put into the muck and mire, lift it up again, rally around the Lord Jesus Christ. He is worthy to follow Him, and to follow Him not just tonight and tomorrow, but to follow Him to the end. And so Paul brings this to a close. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but a new creation. A new creation in Christ, that's what avails much. That's what the Lord Jesus Christ does as he unites us to himself in our effectual calling. As He pours out all those benefits of those that have been born again, justifying us, sanctifying us, adopting us as children, He's showing us that nothing else matters than this, that I am on the side of Christ, that I am on the side of the cross, that I am lifting up my cross, taking it up and following Him. That's what Paul desires you to do. Beware of those counterfeiters. Beware of those false gospel preachers. There is only death in them. But here, in Christ crucified for sinners, foolishness to those that are perishing, but to those that are being saved, Christ the power, Christ the wisdom of God for you, for you who believe. So brothers and sisters, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and may Paul's confession be your confession, God forbid, that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Amen.