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WEEKLY
Volume 3 Number 18
28 September 2008
Glory in Jesus’ Cross
(Message delivered by Rev Hien
Nguyen at the Worship Service, 2:00 pm, Sep 28, 08)
Text:
Galatians 6:14
People in this world have many
things to glory in or to boast of. Many boast of their nationality,
their noble race or family, their achievements, their personality or
good works, their wisdom or knowledge, their wealth, their might, their
children, and so on. The Jews boast of their God (but sadly, they reject
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as their Messiah!), and their nation
Israel, the chosen people of God, their race as Hebrews, the children of
Abraham, the covenants, and the law of Moses, the promises, etc. (Rom
2:17, 23; 9:4; 2 Cor 11:22; Phil 3:4-5; et al). How about you and me?
No flesh should glory in God’s
presence. Why? “But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world
to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world
to confound the things which are mighty; And base things of the world,
and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which
are not, to bring to nought things that are: That no flesh should glory
in his presence. But of him are ye in Christ Jesus, who of God is made
unto us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption:
That, according as it is written, He that glorieth, let him glory in the
Lord.” (1 Cor 1:27-31), and “Therefore let no man glory in men”
(1 Cor 3:21).
Even our salvation, “For by
grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the
gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph
2:8-9).
We have learnt that God
delights in our knowledge of Him and that we should glory in His
knowledge, “Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his
wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich
man glory in his riches: But let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise
lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these
things I delight, saith the LORD” (Jer 9:23-24).
How about the apostle Paul? He
gloried in (rejoiced in) Christ Jesus (Phil 3:3) and counted all his
gain (a Hebrew, his own righteousness, etc.) as loss and as dung so
that he might win Christ and be found in Him and have God’s
righteousness by faith in Christ, “Yea doubtless, and I count all
things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my
Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them
but dung, that I may win Christ, And be found in him, not having mine
own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the
faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Phil
3:8-9).
Paul also gloried in his
infirmities to enjoy Christ’s grace and power, “And he said unto me,
My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in
weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities,
that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor 12:9).
Paul even gloried in the cross
of the Lord Jesus Christ, “But God forbid that I should glory, save
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified
unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal 6:14). What encouraged Paul to
glory in or boast of the cross of Christ while “Christ crucified,
unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness” (1
Cor 1:23)?
Salvation by the Cross of
Jesus Christ
We are saved by the
blood-shedding death of our Lord Jesus Christ on the cross, “For the
preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us
which are saved it is the power of God” (1 Cor 1:18), and “Who
his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being
dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were
healed” (1 Peter 2:24), and truly, “without shedding of blood is
no remission” (Heb 9:22). Let us not be ashamed of the cross of our
Lord Jesus Christ, but glory in it.
True Unity by the Cross of
Jesus Christ
Many nowadays promote unity
and love while ignoring God’s Truth and God’s Word! They can never have
true and biblical unity acceptable unto the Lord. We can have true
unity only by the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, “And that he might
reconcile both (Jews and Gentiles) unto God in one body by the
cross, having slain the enmity thereby” (Eph 2:16), “And, having
made peace through the blood of his cross, by him to reconcile all
things unto himself” (Col 1:20). When each one of us is willing to
die to his or her own selfish “I,” and submit to Jesus Christ and God’s
Word, then there will be true unity, “Where there is neither Greek
nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond nor
free: but Christ is all, and in all” (Col 3:11). Shall we not glory
in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ for true unity?
True Liberty by the Cross
of Jesus Christ
Only by the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ can we have true liberty from the curse of the law, from
our “self,” from our sinful nature, and from worldliness.
From the Curse of the Law:
No one can keep the law and “no man is justified by the law in the
sight of God” (Gal 2:16; 3:11), and “Cursed is every one that
continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to
do them” (Gal 3:10). Only by the Cross of Jesus Christ, we are freed
from the curse of the Law (Deut 28:15-68), “Christ hath redeemed us
from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written,
Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Gal 3:13). Shall we not
be thankful to our Lord Jesus Christ for being a curse for us while we
deserve to be cursed?
From Our Selfish “I”:
“I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but
Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live
by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me”
(Gal 2:20). Many are miserably enslaved to their selfish “I,” as a
result, they cannot submit themselves to the Lord and God’s Word nor
enjoy peace and joy in the Lord. How can they be happy when they are
enslaved to their self-will, self-image, self-love, self-complacency,
self-righteousness, self-glory, self-importance, selfish motives,
selfish ambitions, selfishness, etc? Many still like to attend their
charismatic church with their selfish reason, “I like the pastor and I
like the music, and I have so many lovely friends over there” regardless
of whether they are walking in the narrow way in the boundaries of God’s
Word! Why? It is their self-complacency! Others are willing to leave
their Bible-believing church because they are hurt or offended when
hearing the preaching against sins, selfishness, wrong doctrines and
worldliness or when being ignored or criticised. Why? It is their
self-love and self-importance! Many are serving the Lord but still want
to promote themselves and their own ideas? Why? It is their self-image
and selfish motives! Many are serving the Lord but still expecting the
recognition, acknowledgement, and praise from men. Why? It is their
self-glory! The only way to be freed from our selfish “I” and
selfishness is to be crucified with Christ. No more “my will”, “my
goodness,” “my likes,” “my dislikes” and no more “I am holy, I am
spiritual, I am humble, I am good, or I am important,” but Christ alone.
Let us have our Lord Jesus’ mind so that we may humble ourselves and
have the same purpose to seek and do God’s will, not our own will, to
glorify God alone, to serve Him and to obey Him unto death (John 6:38;
17:4; Phil 2:5-8)
From Our Sinful Nature:
Although we are born again and enjoying new life in Christ, our old
sinful man is still there. We can never crucify it by ourselves. Only
the Holy Spirit can help mortify it with Christ, “For if ye live
after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify
the deeds of the body, ye shall live” (Rom 8:13), “And they that
are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts”
(Gal 5:24), and “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with
him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should
not serve sin. For he that is dead is freed from sin… Likewise
reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God
through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 6:6-11). Although our old man
has been crucified with Christ, it does not totally disappear, but is
only subdued by the Lord and by our new life in Christ. Our old sinful
man is like the gravity (instead of the force of gravity, it is the law
of sin), always pulling us down when we are weak, but as long as we are
spiritually nurtured and strengthened by God’s Word and by being
attached to the powerful life of Christ, our True Vine, moment by
moment, we shall not be influenced or pulled down by our sinful nature,
“For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free
from the law of sin and death” (Rom 8:3). Praise the Lord!
From Worldliness:
Many are enslaved to
worldliness without awareness. They just love the world with “the
lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life”
(1 John 15-16) or are influenced by worldly mindset, values, comforts,
fashions, pleasures, entertainments, materialism, etc. It is not wrong
when we enjoy God’s spiritual and material blessings with thanks and
gratitude, but when the material things much influence us and choke
God’s Word and God’s new life in us (Matt 13:22), we shall be
spiritually weak and be pulled down by our sinful nature and by the
temptations from Satan. The only way to be freed from worldliness is,
“the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world” (Gal 6:14).
That means the world is dead unto me (no attraction at all) and I am
dead unto the world, I am not of the world, I am only a stranger or a
pilgrim on this foreign land with a purpose: to be a witness for Christ
to share His salvation to others till He comes.
Conclusion
Dear friends, our Lord Jesus
Christ still challenges each one of us, “If any man will come after
me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me”
(Luke 9:23). May God help us see the spiritual blessings from the
cross of our Lord Jesus Christ: our salvation, our true unity, and our
true liberty from the curse of the Law, from self, from sinful nature,
and from worldliness. May the Lord help us look unto Him, take up our
cross daily, deny ourselves and follow Him faithfully until He comes,
“Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of our faith; who for the
joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and
is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Heb 12:2).
Amen.
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