I'm grateful to the elders for their renewed invitation to preach to you and ask you to turn with me to the epistle of Paul, to the Galatians, and to chapter 5 and chapter 6. We use the opening verses of chapter 1 as our greeting at the beginning of the service. But verses 2 to 6 of chapter 5, and then from verse 11 to the end of the epistle in chapter 6, let us hear the word of God. Look, I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. I testify again to every man who accepts circumcision that he is obligated to keep the whole law. You are severed from Christ. You who would be justified by the law, you are fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, by faith, we ourselves eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision nor uncircumcision counts for anything, but only faith working through love. See, with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. For neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. And as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. From now on, let no one cause me trouble, For I bear on my body the marks of Jesus. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, brothers. Amen. May God bless to us his word. Now as you can see from the bullet in our text is verse 14 of the last chapter of Paul's epistle to the Galatians. Galatians 6, 14. Here in the English Standard Version, it begins with the words, but far be it from me. I think in the New International Version, in your pews, it has, may it never be. The old King James Version has, God forbid, that I should glory, and so on. And there's no doubt that the translation that excludes the name of God is the more accurate one. But may it never be, or far be it from me, can be regarded as somewhat weak or lacking in emphasis or definiteness. God forbid, strikes a very different note, doesn't it? In the Old Testament, this expression, far be it from, is used not only with regard to human beings, but by human beings with regard to God. Far be it from God that he should do wickedness. And so, the Apostle Paul, aware of that background, uses this expression with that dimension of meaning, God forbid, not merely, may it never be a wish, or far be it from me, an avowal, but a desire that, come what may, this should never ever happen, and may God see to it that it does not ever happen. Do you feel as definite as that? about the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ God forbid that you should glory in anything save in his death the Apostle Paul is speaking here in a very emphatic way he is writing these words himself I don't mean to infer by that that what precedes these words in the letter were not his they pass through his mind and through his heart because you have only to read the epistle to the Galatians to realize that here is a man in earnest he uses strong language at times in delicate language he's filled with alarm and concern on behalf of these churches in Galatia and that spirit and emphasis is expressed in these words that are our text. He is doing the kind of thing here that he had done and always did at the end of other epistles that he wrote. He would, as it were, take the pen himself and write a farewell greeting or benediction and sign his name in order to certify the epistle. He had been using a secretary, you see, an amanuensis. And verse 11 of Galatians 6 indicates that. And the apostle draws the attention of these Galatians to it. He says, see with what large letters, and he means by letters actual consonants. This isn't an epistle being referred to, but the actual letters in words. See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. Some have regarded this as an indication that he had poor eyesight. Others have said, no, he's doing this as a way of emphasizing what he had been saying, teaching throughout the epistle as a whole. But clearly he wants the Galatian Christians to notice what he goes on to say. And what he goes on to say is lengthy, not brief. It's weighty. We could even say that these concluding verses of Galatians chapter 6, they're a summary of the content of the letter. And they express the concern with which the apostle spoke it and had it written. And what he has to say in these concluding verses revolves around two terms that he uses a number of times. They are the terms circumcision and crucifixion. You might like to sit down when you're at home and read through Galatians and look. For his uses of these terms, they appear frequently. But here, they come time and time again, on each other's heels, as it were. Look at verse 12, circumcision and crucifixion. Verse 13, two references to circumcision. Verse 14, three references to crucifixion. And then in verse 15, circumcision and uncircumcision again. So, circumcision and crucifixion are the pole points around which his thinking, his teaching, his preaching by way of letter is organized. And then you note, there's another big term that he uses, creation, a new creation. Which is, as he says later, the Israel of God. So, circumcision, Judaism, crucifixion, Christianity. The Israel of God, not Israel according to the flesh, marked out by circumcision. But the Israel of God marked out by crucifixion. The gospel is at the heart of the church. It's to be at the heart of the Christian. God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which or through whom the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world. Now, I want us to think about circumcision and crucifixion this evening, but mainly about crucifixion. Because, you see, what Paul does is that he opposes these two things, circumcision and crucifixion. He will not countenance any combination of the two. They are in diametric opposition to each other. And the verses that we read from Galatians chapter 5 surely makes that abundantly clear. Again, verse 2 of chapter 5, look. We have C in verse 11 of chapter 6, exactly the same word. Look, I, Paul, each of those words carries weight. I, Paul, say to you that if you accept circumcision, Christ will be of no advantage to you. Now, why did he say that and why was he so emphatic about it? Well it was because there were certain Jews who had professed Christianity and it's doubtful whether they were truly converted. But anyway, what they were saying was that in addition to faith in Jesus Christ for salvation, that these Galatian Christians, Gentiles, they had to be circumcised and to keep the law of Moses as well. And I, Paul, Paul the Jew, Paul who had been circumcised on the eighth day, remember, Hebrew of Hebrew parents, he is apoplectic about it. He will not countenance this for a split second. What he says is this, in spite of all the value that circumcision had, if you now accept it, You will have no value from Christ. No benefit from him whatsoever. Now it couldn't be put more starkly and emphatically than that, could it? It's one or the other. And the question that I want to explore with you this evening is this. Why is it one or the other? And the answer that I will be unpacking is this. It's one or the other, because crucifixion does what circumcision depicts. Crucifixion does what circumcision depicts. You see, it's exactly like all those ritual sacrifices in the book of Leviticus. They had meaning and value because they pointed forward. So it was with circumcision. When Christ came and the reality and the substance and the finality and the new covenant was inaugurated, the shadows fall away. It's exactly the same with regard to circumcision as it was and is. And is because the Lord's Supper is not a mass and is with regard to circumcision. Now then, there are three crucifixions here. Let me point them out to you. The cross of our Lord Jesus Christ is the first. Then, I, then the world crucified to me is the second. And I crucified to the world is the third. Three crucifixions. When we think of the term crucifixion, our minds automatically, hopefully, go immediately to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. But there were three crosses on Golgotha on the first Good Friday. And whether that influences Paul's thinking here and his use of terms in this verse is arguable. There are some links, but the connection is not complete and total. Here there are three crucifixions. But it's obvious from the way in which he sets out his material that he's putting one in a category all on its own, isn't it? Doesn't he? God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. There it is, one side. And then he goes on, through whom or by which The world has been crucified to me and I to the world. The other two are put together, though there's an important distinction there as well. But he's talking about three crucifixions, but not in a way that impairs or diminishes the uniqueness, the absolute and utter uniqueness of the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, what we want to do this evening is to look at these three crucifixions, and to see the distinctions between them. And then, finally, the connection between them. Now, first of all, then, the distinctions between them. First of all, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. Paul says something about this that he doesn't say about either of the other two. And it is, of course, that he glories in it. And his expression indicates that the last thing he's going to do is to glory in any of the other two. He glories in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ alone. And that indicates how special it is. Because to glory, as we heard from Jeremiah 9 at the beginning of the service, To glory is not just to boast, but to trust. Boast and trust are expressed in this word that Paul uses. And that means that his response to the death of the Lord Jesus Christ is one of abounding exaltation. He sees no reason for any kind of shame as he confesses the death of the Lord Jesus Christ. He exults in it. Well, what's special about it? Well, in a sense, of course, there was nothing special about it. Because, though here we're arguing from silence, the cross as cross was the same instrument of execution and torture for the other two who were crucified, as well as Jesus. Two pieces of wood joined to be carried by the one who was to be stretched on it, nailed on it, through hands and feet, wrists and ankles probably. That happened. Paul is speaking here literally. He's talking about something that happened physically. And physically in time. And physically in space. Nine o'clock in the morning to three o'clock in the afternoon. Six hours of your clock and mine in a place called the place of a skull outside the city of Jerusalem. On our earth, this happened. We've just said that we believe he suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified. It took place, it happened. There were those there to witness it and they recorded what they saw. You remember the words of John the Apostle, he that sees it bears witness concerning these things, and his testimony is true. Eyewitness accounts are what we have in the New Testament scriptures. So there was a sense in which there was a sameness about those three crosses, but there was a uniqueness about one of them. why well because of the one who died on it because of the one who died on it that's what paul is stressing here the cross of we don't know the names of the other two our lord jesus he doesn't just say the cross of jesus he doesn't say the cross of jesus christ as he does in the epistle to the corinthians here's the fullest description conceivable our lord divine person jesus of nazareth human christ the messiah of god prophet priest and king here's a death in which god's involved here's a death in which his purpose is being worked out it's the death of his promised appointed anointed prophet priest and king for his people that's what's special about the cross there's nothing special about it in any other sense but the person who died on it and therefore the significance of the death that he was dying paul is speaking literally here where he says the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and using the noun the cross he wants to express its starkness its brutality its ultimate horror here is agony on agony the worst form of execution devised in that day and in that time and he wants these Galatian Christians to realize that that here was the death of deaths that Jesus underwent well what about these two other crucifixions Paul refers to uses the verb crucified with regard to these by which or through whom and that doesn't matter because the noun cross is masculine and Jesus Christ was male so by which or through whom doesn't make much difference the world has been crucified to me and I to the world now how is he using the language of crucifixion here he isn't talking physically is he he isn't talking literally there he is, he's alive and yet he says he's been crucified he's not talking physically or literally does that mean that his words have no real meaning? no, not a bit of it, not a bit of it he's speaking metaphorically, figuratively he's describing something else that's real by means of this figurative language when you come across a picture in scripture don't say to yourself, oh that's only a picture and dismiss it. Pictures have meaning in Scripture. They don't always have meaning or the meaning they have isn't always obvious. In the last few weeks I've seen outside several churches three crosses. I don't know what they mean. I've been on the website of one of these churches. They don't explain the strange architecture outside them. But what I've noticed is this. that these three crosses are not arranged in a line with perhaps the center one set back a little, which is what happened on Golgotha. Jesus was crucified, two robbers with him, one on the right hand, the other on the left. Jesus himself in the midst. So anyone looking at Golgotha would have seen, Just as I can see the back wall of this church, three crosses. But outside these churches, these three crosses, they're arranged looking, as it were, into each other. It's as if their arms are almost interlocking. Don't understand that. That's the danger, of course, of all symbolism. You can draw your own conclusions. Doesn't matter, really, what you understand. it's there to attract no no truth is to be communicated by words and here are words about three crosses or words about three crucifixions what's the kind of crucifixion then that Paul is describing here when he says the world has been crucified to me and I to the world well the key is in the words to me and to the world. To me and to the world. He's describing not something visible, physical, demonstrable, external, but something internal. Something that has gone on in his mind and in his heart. He's describing how things now appear to him in contrast to how they appeared to him before. He's seeing things differently. Now, perceptions, they can be unreal, can't they? But they can be very real and powerful too. Each and every one of us has certain convictions, preconceptions that do correspond to reality. And they are powerful and they affect us. Well, what Paul is saying here is that because the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ and him crucified has dawned on his darkened mind and deadened soul and spirit, now he sees the world as he never saw the world before. And, of course, the world sees him and regards him as it never saw him and regarded him before. It isn't a matter of regard, is it, in these cases, but of disregard. Because as far as the Apostle Paul is now concerned, what he is saying is this. The world deserves to die. And to die by the most horrible, malingering death conceivable. It's worthy of that. Because it is the world. And correspondingly, and by extension, the world says of Paul, if that's what you think, you are worthy of death. By means of an equally horrible execution to me and to the world. You see, it actually happened, didn't it? Paul in Jerusalem in Acts 20. And what does the mob of the Jews cry? Away with him. You heard that before? It is not fit that such a man should live. That's an echo of the crowd inspired by the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The religious world of the day. On that Passover week. In the first Good Friday. Away with him. Crucify him. Release to us Barabbas. We are the world. We want the world. We don't want Jesus. And what Paul is now saying is this. The world that doesn't want Jesus deserves to die because of what it did to him, does to him, and because supremely of what God did in him. For he bore our sins in his own body on the tree. The Apostle Peter's words I've just quoted. And you'll remember that Peter couldn't understand the idea of a suffering Messiah. It was repugnant to him. He couldn't countenance it. There at Caesarea Philippi. One moment thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God. The next moment this shall not be unto thee. The moment Jesus said that he was going, the Messiah was going to Jerusalem to be crucified. Later on, Peter came to understand. You remember these words when he's saying to the Christians in Asia Minor, the same region as Paul was writing Galatians 2. This is what he says to those who were already suffering for Jesus and would be called upon to suffer even more. He wrote this. If, when you do good and suffer for it, you endure, this is a gracious thing in the sight of God. For to this you have been called. Because Christ also suffered for you. That's the logic, isn't it? Why is it that the church suffers? Because it's joined to Christ. And the servant is not above his master. And it is the way the master went, should not the servant tread it still. Well, be sure that you tread it as he trod it. Which is how? He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return. When he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. That's how we are to suffer. And then Peter says this. He himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree. Do you see how explicit he is? Guarded, definite. He himself, not he and the church, his own body, his humanity, not him and us, and on the tree. One place, one time, one person, one body. Sins were born. Sins were paid for. Sins were cancelled. That's the distinction between the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ and these two other crosses. Jesus was dying for sins. These other two, they were dying in sins, weren't they? And then, something happened. The crowd beneath the cross, Gentiles, soldiers, Jewish religious leaders, mocking him, deriding him. And the two thieves with them. And then suddenly, inexplicably, one of those thieves said to the other, Don't you fear God, seeing we are in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we are receiving the due reward of our deeds, but this man has done nothing amiss. There you've got a distinction, you see. There is someone who was dying in sin, now dying to sin, and to the world. Why? This man has done nothing amiss. King, coming in his kingdom, he'd seen something, we don't know how much, but he'd seen enough of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ crucified. To cause him to say goodbye to the world. Goodbye to his partner in crime. And to suffer now in fellowship with the one who had suffered for him. That's what's here. By whom the world is crucified unto me. And I unto the world. The distinctions. Between these crucifixions. Quickly. What about the connection? Because there is a connection. And the connection is in these words. Well this word. By which. Or through whom. You can translate it either way. If you take the translation through whom. The reference is of course. To Jesus Christ, not walking about doing good, not teaching as no other person taught, not healing and accomplishing strange, uncommon, unusual things by his word and touch, but to his cross, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. It doesn't much matter then, whether you think of through whom or by which. It's through Jesus Christ crucified that these other two crucifixions come about. God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ through whom or by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Paul isn't just saying, of course, that Christ's death preceded, in chronological terms, it had. That's obvious. That isn't the point. The point is this, that something happened in the death of the Lord Jesus Christ that is productive of an immense transformation. What he calls here a new creation. It's like the word of God. Let there be and there was. He picks that up doesn't he? In 2 Corinthians. The God who commanded light to shine out of darkness. Has shined in our hearts. To give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God. In the face of Jesus Christ. Have you seen sufficient of the glory of Jesus Christ crucified to unmask this present, dominating, alluring, enticing, confident, arrogant, godless world? Which do you believe? What they said about him or what God says about him? What do you believe? That there on the cross he died for your sins or there on the cross he died for his own. You see, here are two wells. Here are two messages, two schemes, two religions. Here's day and night. Here's death and life. Something happened on the cross. Never anywhere else did it happen and never anywhere else need it be re-enacted. It was this. That the crucifixion of Jesus Christ was his circumcision in reality. Remember we said at the beginning, circumcision does, I'm sorry, crucifixion does what circumcision depicts. Well, what did circumcision depict? It was the indicator of the need of cleansing. It was the promise of that cleansing. But it was also an indication of the judgment if that covenant obedience was not forthcoming. The soul would be cut off. Now Paul talks in Colossians 2 verse 11 about the circumcision of Christ. Not the circumcision done by Christ, but the circumcision done to him by God the Father. He was circumcised on the eighth day as Saul of Tarsus was. That was symbol, that was right, that was fulfilling all righteousness. But there came a time when he, the obedient incarnate Son of God, took the place of disobedient human beings and endured the curse, the curse of God instead of them. That's why you see the expression, he bore our sins. Though true, is inadequate. It's not self-explanatory. It doesn't mean that he suffered physically because we had suffered spiritually, because he suffered spiritually as well. Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. It means this, that he suffered spiritually as well as physically. The wages of sin is not just physical death, it's spiritual death. And for 180 minutes out of that 360, darkness from midday until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, darkness engulfed the land and darkness engulfed the soul of Jesus. The light of his father's countenance could no longer be seen. The love of his father could no longer be known. My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? And that is why when you see this and set it over against the ineffectiveness of the world's wisdom and religions to deal with sin and guilt how can anyone anyone in their senses I know the answer sin is madness but how can anyone in their senses not see glory in the face of Jesus Christ and him crucified he bore our curse so that there is nothing left for you to do as a condition of finding favor with God and nothing left for you to fear when you fail because Jesus obeyed and was punished he did it all he bore it all and you know when you see that by faith and the enlightening Holy Spirit. Do you know what happens? These other two crucifixions happen. What is all the world's pomp and show in comparison with these solid joys, lasting treasures? Nothing can't be compared. And what takes place is circumcision in reality or what it points to which is the same as what baptism points to which means death and life the world crucified to us and I crucified to the world without a sight of Jesus Christ and him crucified it's all vain it's all worthless can you say amen to what Paul can you make Paul's words his own your own he spoke in the first person singular he didn't mean only me he uses the first person singular in order to rouse and stir quicken enlighten embolden these Galatian Christians to say with him God forbid that I should glory too save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by which the world is crucified unto me and I unto the world we'll sing a well known hymn in a moment there's a verse of that hymn that isn't printed in the book it goes like this his dying crimson his blood like a robe spreads o'er his body on the tree then am I dead to all the globe and all the globe is dead to me Amen