12 Galatians 6:11-18 Paul’s Final Comments

Speaker: This is Wednesday in the Word, Women's Ministry of Trinity Presbyterian Church in Charlottesville, Virginia. Today is November 30th, 2011. Our passage is Galatians chapter 6, verses 11 through 18, and our teacher is Krisan Marotta. For more talks in this series, please visit our website at www.wednesdayintheword.com. Speaker 1: Good morning. Wow. I'm surprised how many came back. It's so hard. And and it's almost the end, it's hard to stop doing what you've been doing and come back. So I'm grateful you're here this morning. Um I just one of the things I discovered as I was finishing up this week, um, in all my years of Bible study, it is always difficult for me when we come to the end of a study. And I I I think that's because that I um, you know, you spend time and you and you really marinate in a study and and it just becomes so amazing to you as you read God's word and learn all these wonderful things and and just the endless depth of God's grace that is just woven throughout the scriptures and and I think I always get to the point that I think, well, the next study cannot be equal to this at all. There's no way. Even though Krissan says so, I don't believe her, it just can't be. And and I especially feel that way about Galatians. I I have just loved this study. I I have, I've I've loved learning and I've loved reading and I've loved praying through it, and I just I I it's the gospel. And it's something I need to have held before my eyes every day. Every day I need to re-immerse myself in God's grace. I just do. And that's what my heart needs. And so in Galatians, the gospel is adorned in all of its fullness. And um I remember when Krissan was was teaching, and one of the things that I so loved about that was that that she, as she took us through what Paul was teaching, she showed us the promise that the gospel was coming. And then she showed us the weight for the gospel, and then then the cost that it required. And then finally we entered into understanding the freedom the gospel gives us. And then we spent the last few weeks talking about the Holy Spirit and just the gift that the Holy Spirit is and how the Holy Spirit brings us freedom to love and and to be set free and to be who we were made to be in Christ, and to lead us on that path, that we might learn not only to love the Lord God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, but to love one another. And just just to be free from bondage to sin. And I I feel like as we've studied about the Holy Spirit, that um it's it's as if the Holy Spirit comes in and the things we've talked about, and he just says, wake up, wake up and be who you are in Christ. And and so those are things I've just loved about this. I've loved about this study. And and I love that Paul is a warrior for the gospel, and it and it teaches my heart that I need to be like Paul, that that he holds nothing back, that Paul knows the gospel is life, and and he just he just keeps telling that. He he just keeps impressing that upon our hearts. And and I don't know about you, but one of the things this has done, and I am not an evangelist, I'm not, and I love teaching, but when it comes to talking to someone one-on-one who's an unbeliever, that's hard for me. And yet there's something about this study that has challenged my heart that that I am to speak the gospel to people. That it's a gift. It's not something that's bad, it's something, it's a gift I can tell people about. And I want preachers from every pulpit to preach the gospel, and that's what this study has done for me. I I want I want all of us to be saying to people, this is life, and this is truth, and this is freedom, and this is God's glory, and this is what your heart has longed for all of your life. I long that to happen. And that's what this gosp this gospel um letter has done for me, and I think that's what Paul is crying for our hearts to know. So I'm so grateful for this. But the there's always this, but but uh the thing that has happened as I've gone through this is I have had to ask myself this question and had to think about are Christians today ashamed of the gospel? And um I I think to Paul, and I I think where he writes in Romans, he says, I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes. And I ask myself, do we still believe that? Are we still passionate for the gospel? Are we still proclaiming it truly and purely? Or have we dressed it up in such a way to fit in with our culture that the gospel is no longer astonishing to us and it's no longer beautiful and it's no longer costly? And we've taken away every offense of the gospel because we don't want to offend anyone with the gospel. Is that where we are in our lives? And do we do that because we want to make the gospel so palatable that everyone will find it lovely? And are we afraid to say to people that when they come to the gospel they must come to die? Yes, they come also for newness of life, but first they have to die. Well, I ask those questions because Paul ends this letter with those kinds of accusations against a group of people who do not want to face persecution for the cross of Christ. These people have come to the point where they want to boast in the flesh instead of the cross, and Paul will have nothing to do with that. He shouts out with great clarity, that is not the gospel. Paul knows firsthand that yes, the gospel is beautiful, and yes, it is powerful, and yes, it is absolutely true, but Paul knows firsthand the gospel is costly, and the gospel is offensive. And Paul says here in this letter, he says, I bear in my body the marks of the cost of the gospel. And Paul then goes on to say in his last words to the Galatian churches, he says, My boast is in the cross of Christ. Paul can never be accused of being ashamed of the gospel. He has counted the cross, the cost, and he has found no c no price too high to pay. And so it is with a final flourish that he will end his defense of the gospel. And before we look at his final um words to these churches, beautiful words, um, I just want to do a real quick wrap-up of what we talked about last time. It's been two weeks, so let me, I want us to lead right in, lead from that into what we're going to be talking about today. So if you remember that in our last time together, that what we did is we we began by remembering what the Spirit's purpose is. And we said the main thing that the Spirit came to do is to point us to Jesus Christ. The Spirit comes to dwell in our hearts and to point us to the beauty of who Christ is and what Christ has done, and to lead us step by step in becoming more like Him. And we said that when the Spirit comes, that He teaches us to die to our flesh and to live as who we are in Christ. And he teaches that as we walk with Him step by step, that we will become more like Christ. And and um but but the first thing that we actually looked at is that we looked, what happens when we aren't keeping step with the Spirit? What does our fleshly heart tend to do? And we looked at this passage that said that what we tend to do is that we we um we try to fill ourselves up with something because there is this space in our heart that longs to be filled, and nothing but Jesus will fill it. And yet we try to fill it with false things. And we said when we're walking in the flesh, that's what happens, that that we try to fill it with a false glory, and it what we do is we end up either provoking one another or envying one another. And we said when we provoke one another, basically what we're doing is we're challenging one another to a contest. That there's something in our lives that we think will fill us up that we can boast about, and so we look for a way to do that, and so when we find that, we whatever it is, it might be children, it might be schools, it might be money, it might be whatever it is, whatever it is, we find some way to boast about that. But the what happens on the other side of the coin then is we put the other person in a position of envying us. And so what that does, Paul says, what that does is it severs our ability to grow in love toward one another. But Paul showed us that juxtaposed to that, that it that we looked at the way that the Holy Spirit calls us to live in Jesus Christ. And we said that we that he calls us to love and live in community, and that one way we can do that is we are to come alongside those who are caught in any sin. And and the idea of being caught in sin, we said, was like someone was in a pit and couldn't get out and needed someone to come along and help them get out of that pit of sin. And then we are to restore them, and we said that word restore is like it's a medical term, it's like setting a bone so that it will grow in the right direction, and we're to do that with a spirit of gentleness, not arrogance, that we do it because we know that we too stand on the precipice of being capable of falling into any sin. And so what we do is that we we hold hands together, we help that person up, we stumble along in this journey together. All of our lives are lived by grace, and we need to remember that in all of our relationships with one another. And then there was a second thing that Paul said. He said, we also need to be available to help those who are carrying a burden which is just too heavy. And we said, this is not about sin so much as it is about brokenness, broken hearts, broken lives. It might be sorrow, it might be poverty, it might be depression, it might be divorce, it might be abuse, it might be cancer, it might be death. Whatever it is, Paul says, no, we need to come alongside one another. And the image that Paul gives us is that we are to bend down and get underneath that burden with our brothers or our sisters and help them be able to stand, and we stand together, carrying that burden together. And Paul says, that's what the Spirit comes to teach us, because then we become like our Lord Jesus Christ because he was the true burden bearer. That he took a burden that together all of us could never carry, together all the whole world could never carry, and he took it alone, and it crushed him unto death. And then Paul challenged us to look at ourselves as we are, and Paul said, really, we are nothing without Jesus. And he said, in order to admit that, if we admit that to one another, that we are nothing without Jesus, not one person in this room is anything without Jesus Christ. Then Paul said, in that way we can look at one another, not with arrogance, not provoking, not envying, but holding hands and walking together. We're free to admit that to one another, we're free to admit that before the Lord, and we're free to admit that to ourselves. So basically, um that was some of the main things Paul taught us, except he said one more thing. He said we had to look at sowing and reaping. And he said, We will reap what we sow. If we walk by the flesh, we're gonna by the flesh reap corruption. And he said, if we walk by the Spirit, then we should be sowing with liberality of love toward one another, and we will reap eternal life. And that was the promise. And Paul said, So don't grow weary. Don't grow weary in doing good, because someday you will inherit the greatest gift of all. You will be with Jesus face to face. So that's where we were, and now we're going to turn, sadly, to our final verses. And I will read those to us, and then I'll pray and we'll take a look at what Paul is talking about. Starting in verse 11. 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, or 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. Father, um, thank you for the beauty and the depth and the wonder of your word, and thank you for Paul's last word. Be with us now by your spirit. Teach our hearts what you want us to know. Help us to be, even today, as we leave this place, as we learn to love one another, as we learn your truth, as we love your word and love your son. Oh Father, help us to be more like him. Father, be with me, and let me not speak anything unworthy of you. And I pray these things in Christ's name. Amen. Okay. Notice that the first thing Paul begins by saying is he says, See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hands. Okay, we could go through, there are all kinds of things that commentators say about that, and they go through all things, but if we boil it down, here's what they say. They say that up until now, what has been going on is that Paul has probably been dictating to a secretary of sorts. And now he has come to the point, and this secretary probably has been writing these in this beautiful script, and and it and it's really nice, but now Paul takes the pen, so to speak, in his own hand, and he's going to write himself. And and the writing is going to look really different. And what what the commentators say is that Paul's purpose in doing this is to do two things. The first thing is that he's trying to draw attention to what he's saying. It's as if he's underlining, it's as l if he's putting it in bold print. It's as if he's saying, pay attention. One commentator says this. He says, Paul is using these large letters to arrest the eye and rivet the mind. So that's the first thing Paul is doing. He's saying, listen, these are my final words, pay attention. And then secondly, Paul uh was in this way adding his autograph, so to speak, to the final word. It's Paul does this in many letters. It's to show the apostolic authority that he gives to this letter. So that's why he starts out with these large letters writing in his own hand. Some things it has to do with Paul's eyesight and all that kind of thing, but mainly I think that's what it is. So with pen in hand, Paul is about to end this amazing letter, and in so doing, he's going to take his readers that this was originally meant to, and you and I, and all the readers from all generations, into an engagement with the very center of the center of the gospel. Okay, Paul has been in Galatians building his case against the Judaizers who have come in and they've sought to steal away the freedom of the gospel. And so Paul has been building all of this, and and Krissan talked to us about this the first, what, eight weeks that we were together, and and she and she showed us how Paul was building his case. So now what we have to say is that now Paul is doing his summation. Paul has has built his case and now he's doing his summation before the jury, and he's he's going to um he's going to tell us, he's just going to sum up what he's been saying. And and he's going to do that by showing us that the Judaizers are frauds. He uh in the first two verses, what he does, which is just absolutely stunning, is that he just completely annihilates any sort of substance that these people had who were coming in to the Galatian churches to distort the gospel. And the first thing he does is he's going to, well, he's going to for the whole time expose their motives for wanting to add circumcision. But first he says, one reason they do it is to arrogantly promote themselves. And they did that in two ways. Paul says that they desire to make a good showing in the flesh, and then he says, secondly, they desired to have you circumcised that they might boast in your flesh. So they wanted you to be able to look at them and and that that they could boast in you. That that they could say, look, they've been circumcised. I had them circumcised, and they could boast in that. But then Paul says, Paul also says that that not only do they want to do that, they want you to see them as the one who should receive the boast. And and what Paul is saying is, in a sense, making a play on words, because circumcision is, of course, the removal of flesh, and the Judaizers want to have as many circumcised as they can. It's like they're counting up numbers. It's like, here we go, I'm going to boast in that and that and that. And then, but the other thing is that Paul is also in this play on words showing that they were acting in the flesh and not by the Spirit, and that their purpose was self-promotion. But Paul doesn't stop there because he has another charge to bring, and he says that the Judaizers are hypocrites. That what Paul is pointing out here is that for even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law. And we've talked about this before, but but what he is saying is the Judaizers had said, be just believing in Christ is not enough. That's not enough. You have to be circumcised. Christ is not enough. And so what they were saying is, you must be circumcised, and then you'll be more righteous, and that means you must keep the law. But when you're circumcised, it means you must keep the whole law, and no one can keep the whole law. Only Jesus Christ did. And so Paul is saying, they're telling you that you need more than Christ, but they can't keep the law either. So that's the second thing. Paul says they're hypocrites. And then the third thing Paul points out, and remember, this is his summation, this is how he's he's bringing it all together. The third thing Paul points out is he says they want to circumcise Gentile Christians to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. The Judaizers, Paul says, wants to add Jewish rituals to remove the offense of the cross. And thus they can avoid persecution. And the thought was that if you required Christians to be circumcised, then the offense of the cross would be greatly diminished. Here's an important thing to remember, and I think uh as I was looking through this, I it it reminded me that it was the Jews who were persecuting the Christians. It wasn't the Romans, it was the Jews who remember, it was Paul who was going out and seeking to have people beaten and thrown into prison. In fact, that's where he was going when he met the risen Lord on the road to Damascus. It was the Jews who were persecuting those who were part of this Christian sect. And Paul had done everything he could to persecute Christians. And now, and now Paul is saying, you know what the purpose of all of this is the Judaizers wanting to add circumcision to Christ is for the very reason that it will help them avoid persecution, which the Jews were bringing upon the church. In other words, if circumcision is added to the cross of Christ, then there's really not much reason for persecution to continue. Because the church has essentially become Jewish in its identity. And all in all, what Paul has said in this summation is he has said, okay, here's what it is. They want to boast in your flesh and not in Christ. It is a devastating unveiling of what lies at the bottom of their motives, and Paul really leaves no room for escape. It is the final summation, and the only verdict that one can have is that they are guilty. But it's also a beautiful way that Paul uses to lead us into these two most glorious verses. Paul is going to draw a huge distinction between the Judaizers and himself. And he's saying this, okay, what they boast in or glory in, and this word boast or glory, it depends on what translation you're using. One says glory, one says boast. Basically the same thing. What do you find your greatest meaning in? What do you want to talk about? What consumes your mind? What is your boast? What is your glory? That's what the idea is. And Paul says what their boast, what they boast in is your flesh. They want to consume you for their own glory, but Paul says this far be it from me to glory, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Paul here is drawing a distinction that is as deep as the ocean, as high as the heavens, and here's what he says. I do not boast in anything but the cross of Christ. That's my boast. I don't want to boast in you. I want you to come join me in boasting for the cross of Christ. That's my glory, that's my joy. To the Judaizers, the cross is a stumbling block. Something they need to dilute, it's a scandal, it's something they want to avoid, but not to Paul. Not to Paul. The cross is Paul's glory, and it's his only glory, he says. John Stott says that when Paul says his glory is in the cross, he means he boasts in it, he glories in it, he trusts in it, he rejoices in it, he revels in it, he lives for it. The cross is Paul's passion. It's his obsession. Lest you think that Paul is getting carried away as he ends this letter, that he's just kind of in this flourish and he's just saying this, think back. What did he say in Galatians 2.20? He said this, I have been crucified with Christ, and it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Three more. I'll just give you three more passages, and this is out of in just just a tiny, tiny part of what Paul writes about the cross. This is from 1 Corinthians, the first two chapters. Paul says, For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God. Then he says, For Jews demand a sign, and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to the Jews, and folly to Gentiles. And then Paul says this, For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Okay? Those are only a minuscule part of Paul's statements about the cross, because Paul was always boasting in the cross of Christ. And my friends, we need to understand that Paul did not live in a time when the cross was something to be cleaned up, it was not noble, it was not beautiful, no one wore a cross around their neck. When Paul was talking about boasting in the cross, it was a scandal. The cross was despicable, it was contemptible, it was shameful. unknown: F. Speaker 1: F. Bruce says this. He said the word cross was unmentionable. It was a word that would not be even spoken on the lips of those in polite Roman society. Let's think about what Roman society was like, and they wouldn't even use that word. Let's think also a moment about Paul. Remember, Paul had been a poster child for Jews, circumcised on the eighth day of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews, as to the law of Pharisee, as to zeal, a persecutor of the church, as to righteousness under the law, blameless. And yet here's a man who closes his letter by saying, Far be it from me to boast in anything except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, and he says, more than that, he said, by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. The cross stood at the crossroads of Paul's life. It changed everything for him. It defined him, it was his glory. To Paul, not only did the cross mean forgiveness of sins, but it set him free to live free. Paul belonged body and soul to his Lord, and he lived a crucified life in the sense that the world had become nothing to him. The only thing that Paul wanted to glory in was the cross of Jesus Christ. The world did not define him, Christ did, and his past boasting, which had meant everything to him, Paul spoke always about who he was as a Jew. That was always his boast, but no more. He is dead to that. The world is dead to him, and Christ on the cross is his boast. The cross not only stands at the crossroads of Paul's life, but it is at the crossroads of every life, and every person must deal with the cross. There it stands, and its shadow is cast over all humanity for all time. It was there that God the Son entered into the worst of humanity. He did not stand back. Lightning and thunder did not come, the mountain did not shake. No, it was Jesus Christ who gave up heaven and took on flesh and came as a baby. He was born as a baby to a woman. He was born in the natural way. Jesus Christ, God the Son, came into this world. And he walked on our streets in Judea in the dust, and he dealt with the mess of life. And he saw humanity at its worst, and he saw the evil and the hatred and the brokenness and the sorrow and the confusion and the sin and the injustice and the war and the death and the separation between people. And he came into that. And he looked at it and he lived in it. And he came, and when he came, he was born to die. And Jesus walked his whole life in the shadow of that cross. It always loomed before him. As we began to celebrate his incarnation, we must remember that its purpose was that he was going to die. It was from the cradle to the cross. It was not for just the cradle. It was always for the cross. And there came that moment, that moment that would define every other moment in history, that God the Son was nailed to the cross. The one who spoke creation into being was hanging on this unspeakably shameful cross. He was beaten, he was bloodied, he was scourged, which one uh commentator said it just ripped your skin. It had these um points on it that just ripped your skin apart, and he was cursed, and he was hated, and he was spit upon, and he was hung stripped upon the cross, and there he died alone, completely. What is it about the cross that causes it to be the dividing line in all of humanity? It is just this. The cross holds out before the face of men and women like a mirror. And the cross says, this is the only way back in. And the cross says, you should have died here, but I came in your place. And the cross says you cannot save yourself. There is no work, there is no religion, there is no power of man that can ever save you. And the cross says you are helpless and you are unworthy, and the cross humiliates us, and the cross empties us of every other boast. And so there it stands, and men and women must deal with it, every person, and most continue to hate the cross. Christ crucified is despicable. At the cross, God says, I am God, and there is no other, and you will either come by way of the cross or you will not come at all. You see, man still wants to be his own God. He still wants to be in control of his life, and the cross says no. Man still mocks the cross. Rock stars wear the sign of the cross to redefine it, to humiliate it, to own it, and they never will. Artists place Christ on the cross and urine. Most simply go through life ignoring it or trying to. But it will always be there. It will always be the scandal which every human being must deal with. If not now, then at the end of time. But thanks be to God that not everyone, by God's great mercy and grace, despise the cross. To saints, throughout the ages, the cross has been the boast of their lives, just as it was for Paul. Yes, it's a symbol of death, and yes, it's destruction of every other boast. And yes, the cross demands allegiance, but it is it is something more. It is on the cross that we see that there was a covenant made before the beginning of time, that Jesus would come to die. It is God that that has entered into life and begun his rescue plan. It is a symbol of our Lord's unimaginable love and his willingness to do whatever he must to come and save sinners. It is his willingness to carry that devastating burden and be crushed under its weight. And my friends, we never stop dealing with the cross. No, the cross no longer breaks us, it just reminds us. It is that amazing symbol that it says that we must be here. This must be our glory, this must be our boast. And that is what Paul wants his readers to be left with, as he tells them just before he closes. But before we close this morning, Paul has something else to say. In verse 15, he says this for neither circumcision counts for anything, nor uncircumcision but a new creation. Okay, we've talked a few weeks ago about well, what does it mean, circumcision and uncircumcision? And we said, well, simply what that means, it's two ways of living, though they're at opposite ends of the spectrum. One is seeking to earn salvation by works of the law, and the other is living without any limits at all. But Paul reiterates that in the end they are nothing. In the end, they both end in the same place. When everything is taken away, they are man trying to find his own way of salvation. It's a way of avoiding the scandal of the cross. But here, here in this passage, Paul says something new. He says, What does count, what does count, is a new creation. And what is that? Well, simply put, it's it's that inward transformation which we've been talking about, by which the Holy Spirit turns a sinner into a whole new creation. In fact, in 2 Corinthians 5.17, where Paul says, if anyone is in Christ, instead of saying he is a new creation, the actual transgration translation is this if anyone is in Christ, new creation. It's as if you're in Christ, new creation. The old has passed away, behold, the new has come. When he comes, when the Holy Spirit comes into your heart, it says he comes in and he says, Behold, I make all things new. And for that new life to come about, one must deal with the cross. Jesus in John 12, 24 says this. Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. First comes death and the cross, and then new creation. And what Paul is really talking about, he's talking about our union with Christ. He's talking about resurrection. He's saying we have died with Christ and we live with Christ. It is that that is how closely we are related we are in Christ, in union with him, is that we die with him and we will be raised with him. The cross was Paul's boast, but the cross was never to be the last word. Jesus did die on the cross, but in the end the cross was empty, and so was the tomb. And Paul wants his recipients to understand it is it isn't just dying that's important. It's the living of the new life in Christ. It's the loving of one another, it's the power of the Spirit to lead you to new heights of love and self-giving. It is a life with a new heart beating, and in that heart is growing this fruit of love and joy and peace and patience and kindness and goodness and faithfulness and gentleness and self-control. And you must believe that and you must seek that. It is the resurrected Christian becoming like their Lord. That's who we are, new creations. It is us, it is for us to believe that. And the path in this new creation is in the already and the not yet. Because just because we're new creations does not mean everything's great. We know that. We've experienced that. We see that in everyone's lives. We see that in our own lives. Because Paul says his body bears the marks of Jesus. It's the result. That word that he says is the stigmata. And it means it's like the wounds on Jesus' hands inside. But not exactly like that. But he has suffered these wounds for the cross of Christ. And Paul is saying, life here is new creation, but we live it differently. We live it in love, we live it in self-giving, and we live it in sharing in the sufferings of Jesus Christ. And Paul has just about said it all now. And he's about ready to lay down his pen, but before he ends, he has a benediction for the churches at Galatia. And he says this: he says, As for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them, and upon the Israel of God. Isn't that a strange thing to say? The word rule here means it's like a surveyor's line, and and what what it looked like to me, it was a little hard to follow what the commentators were saying, but it's it's just that straight direction. It's a line toward where you're going. And I think what Paul is saying, what it seemed to be, is that he is saying, peace and mercy upon all who love the cross of Christ and are living life in the new creation, death and resurrection. It is life in the Spirit, and Paul is praying that. He is praying for peace in the church. But why does he use the word new Israel of God? Well, really, Paul has been talking about this all along. Because the true Israel of God means Jew and Gentile, it means male and female, it means slave and free. It means that every wall is broken down by the cross of Christ. It means that these are true believers who are not bound by any identity other than the cross of Christ. And Paul says, peace and mercy upon that church. And then the last word he speaks is he commends his readers to the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Grace. Where would Paul want to leave his readers other than in the hands of their loving Lord? So there it is. I think it's one of Paul's most powerful letters. And I love that he leaves us with these two beautiful truths of life. The cross that remains part of our life here. And Paul experienced that to the end of his days. And in the end it cost him his earthly life. But that cost was always his boast. And it was always the reason that and the reason for that was always because Paul knew that was not the end. He always knew Paul saw the risen Christ. He always knew that there was a resurrection coming from him. Paul says this, he says, For I consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. Jesus is coming again. We will celebrate his first coming. But oh, what celebration will we have when he comes again? C. S. Lewis calls this world the shadow lands. I love that. Because what he is saying is here we see only in shadows, we see only a taste, but what we are left with is a longing for something else. And when Jesus comes, the shadow lands are gonna go away. And the new heavens and the new earth will arise like a sunrise, and we will always be with the Lord. But until that day comes, when the trumpet sounds and the clouds are rolled back, and Jesus comes with his armies. There's a life to live here and now, and we've talked about that. There are broken people everywhere looking for love in all the wrong places. There are friends with burdens too heavy to carry. There are brothers and sisters caught in sins. The lies of this world are destroying lives everywhere. And you and I have the words of eternal life entrusted to us. And yes, we will have to crawl, everyone, to deal with the cross. But as Paul has taught us, as all of Scripture teaches us, is that though there we must die, we lay our burdens down, and we are set free at last. If the Son has set you free, you will be free indeed. Martin Luther wrote this. He said, I keep only two days on my calendar. Today and that day of Christ's consummation. And I pray every day, Lord, help me live this day for that day. One last thing. There is this beautiful verse. That's just I I just this verse just grabs me. I it's just so astonishing to me. It's in John 20, 27. It comes after the resurrection and it and it deals with Thomas. And Thomas has said before this that unless he sees the wounds of Christ, he won't believe that he's risen again. And this is when Jesus comes and he says to Thomas, he says, put your finger here and see my hands, and put your hand in my side. And be believing and not unbelieving. Now, here's what's astonishing to me about that is that's the resurrected body of our Lord Jesus Christ. So what that says to me is that in heaven, even in the new heavens and the new earth, that Jesus Christ will have those wounds. And what it says to me is that there is nothing more beautiful in all the world than those wounds. There is nothing that we can count more lovely than the wounds of Jesus Christ, and it will be our boast for all eternity, because there is there is no man that could ever have conceived anything like the cross. There is no poet who could ever have written a poem about the cross. There is no one who could ever have imagined that God the Son and God the Father and God the Holy Spirit would agree that this is how they were going to solve the problem of humanity. Yes, and I think it is and true, and these are deep things. I don't know for sure, but I think it is true that in heaven that Jesus will bear these and we will all cry glory every time we see it. It will still be our boast. It will still be Paul's boast. Let's pray.