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So here we are wrapping up the book of Galatians. It is, it's a very dense book considering all the doctrine and all the great truths that are found in this book. So let's dig right into here. This is no different than any other chapters. With verse number 1, and in fact I want to just start reading in verse 26 from chapter 5 because it just flows together. Just remember the context of the end of chapter 5 where he was talking about walking in the Spirit and the fruits of the Spirit versus the fruits of the flesh. And of course, verse 25 says, if we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. And it says, let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another. And this teaching, this truth here, it flows right into verse number 1 because he's now specifically, he's talking more, I don't know if you want to say in general with the works of the flesh versus the works of the Spirit and just kind of identifying and differentiating too and clearly laying that out. But now he's specifically saying, hey, don't be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another and envying one another like within the church and a little bit more specific within the church. And then says this in verse number 1 of Galatians, brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such in one in the spirit of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. And this is an important truth within the church and this is something that we all ought to love one another within the church, especially loving a brethren and caring about people. And if someone is overtaken in a fault, if you think about that, if something is, they're at fault with, something is their fault and they're overtaken with that, the Bible says, hey, you that are spiritual, help that person. When you take note of someone who's overtaken in a fault, now, it could be someone who's overtaken in a fault doctrinally, which is the case here that there are people who are all getting carried away with this circumcision thing, right? And you which are spiritual, you which are more mature in the faith, you which have put off more of the lusts, maybe you need to restore such in one in the spirit of meekness. So approach them, help them and try to get them to see the truth and see their own error. Now, this can be applied much more broadly because it's not saying specifically just doctrine, it's saying just overtaken in a fault and that can be any type of fault. I would say any kind of sin or where they're in error and it's something that is overtaking them, it's something that they're not handling very well themselves and they're not able to kind of control that, hey, the spiritual ones restore that person in the spirit of meekness and instructs you how to do it in the spirit of meekness. So you humbly approach the person, you meekly approach the person and you identify the problem with that person and offer the help for that person to help them so that they're not overtaken in their fault but then it adds this considering thyself lest thou also be tempted. So with whatever the fault is that this person is overtaken in, you need to just be aware and be careful that whatever it is they're dealing with, that you don't get so close that maybe you start getting sucked in and you start getting drawn in to whatever their problem is, right? So you want to be able to help but not getting so deep into everything. And this is a little piece of advice and I try to do this in general when helping people. Obviously as a pastor of a church and being pastor for so long, I've tried to help people with issues and people have come to me privately with some private things and things that they deal with and in general, I don't like hearing all of the nitty gritty and all the details that when people have problems in their lives, like especially sin problems, I don't need to know all of the details and I will often just say like, well wait, hold on a second, I don't really need to know this, right? Because it's just, there's no point to it. There's no reason to get involved because typically sin, when it boils down to it, when you're not involved, it's usually a lot clearer for someone who's outside to see what's going on. You don't need all these details to just identify, okay, look, here's a sin and here's what the Bible says about it, right? Here's what you need to do, here's what's wrong and here's what's right and regardless of all of these ins and outs and details and everything else that you think make it all so complicated, it really isn't and no one really needs to hear all of the details over things like that and you know, depending on what it is, you don't want to start hearing things, maybe lascivious things or unclean things and then have that trigger some, you know, base temptation in your flesh, right? You don't need to be getting involved in all that stuff just be able to be aware and consider yourself lest thou also be tempted, right? Because the whole point is to help that person not to get sucked into their sin with them. Keep your place here in chapter six but we're gonna turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 10 and I brought this up last week, I quoted wherefore let him that thinketh he stand and take heed lest he fall which I quoted that before but the context is also very important in 1 Corinthians 10 of that verse that ties in exactly with what we're looking at here in Galatians chapter six verse number one of considering yourself lest thou also be tempted. Look at verse number five in 1 Corinthians chapter 10. The Bible reads, but with many of them God was not well pleased for they were overthrown in the wilderness. It is talking about the children of Israel back in the Old Testament and all the things here that are written that we read about in the Old Testament and what we could learn from them. So verse six says this, now these things were our examples to the intent we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted, neither be ye idolaters as some of them were as were some of them as it is written the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play and it's referencing of course the idolatry when Moses and Joshua were up in Mount Sinai and they came down and already made this golden calf and it's referencing that specific story in the Old Testament and it's saying look that was an example, don't be an idolater like they were neither let us commit fornication as some of them committed and fell in one day, three in 20,000. Hey, guess what? We get these stories from the Old Testament and you know what, that's for you to learn. These are examples for you to learn by and realize they commit fornication and then because of that fornication, 23,000 people died in a day, in one day. Yeah, it's there for a reason. It's not just an historical fact, which it is, it's not just that, it's written for our admonition, it's written as an example so that we could read and learn from this and understand how serious the sin is. It really is a big deal in God's eyes when that many people are losing their lives. I mean it's sad when one person dies, this is 23,000 people. Verse nine, neither let us tempt Christ as some of them also tempted and were destroyed of serpents. Neither murmur ye as some of them also murmured and were destroyed of the destroyer. Do we see kind of a theme here, people being destroyed from their sin? The wages of sin is death, we went over that not that long ago. Verse 11, now all these things happened unto them for in samples and they are written for our admonition upon whom the ends of the world are come. And it wasn't just for the church at Corinth's admonition. He's saying it was written for our admonition, which, amen, it was written for their admonition in Corinth at the time of the apostle Paul writing to the church. But it wasn't just exclusively for that one moment in time, it carries forward as well and also obviously showing us that the Old Testament, all of these admonitions, all of these examples are relevant today. They still should be looked to as something we learn from and what is it? Again, we're in the month of June as it is and people want to throw out Old Testament judgment because it's in the Old Testament and say oh yeah, things are all different in New Testament. Then why is he referencing all of these Old Testament things in the New Testament and saying look, all of these examples of all these horrible things that happened to people and all the death that happened because of their sin are written for our admonition. And they're examples for us. Okay, Sodom and Gomorrah is an example for all time, for all future to be able to look back and be like, yeah, we should never be like that because God rained fire and brimstone down upon that place. We should never, ever, ever let our culture, our society get to that point because that's just utter destruction. And it doesn't matter that it happened in the Old Testament. It's written for our admonition. The judgment came, that happened, but it's written so that we could be admonished, so that the generations of the future can look back and go whoa. Maybe I need to rethink this. Maybe I'm being brainwashed by the world who's trying to tell me that it's really not that big of a deal. Maybe I'm being brainwashed by a world that's trying to tell me, oh no, no, wait, it's way more popular than you think, and everybody, you know, like, just overemphasizing how many people even fit into that category. And here's the thing, it doesn't matter how many people do anyways. It's still wicked as hell. In fact, in Sodom, there was like a whole city full of them. There's a high percentage population of Sodomites in Sodom. Imagine that. They're written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come, and then comes verse 12, wherefore let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall. After bringing up all the admonition, saying, okay, now look, you think you're good, you think you're solid, you think, you know, just take heed. Doesn't mean you're gonna fall, just take heed, right? Beware. Be aware of these things, and if you're gonna go and help people, which we should, we're being commanded, hey, you which are spiritual, restore such a one in the spirit of uniqueness, that's what we should do, but when you do so, and when you help, and when you get involved in people's lives, take heed. Be careful. Don't get all in the middle of everything. You can help just fine without having to have all of the gory details. You can provide wisdom from scripture without all of that. And oftentimes when people wanna keep going on and on and on, it's just piling on of like the same thing. It's like, well, if this is the problem and this is the sin, I don't need to hear about every single time that sin was committed, I don't need to hear about all, you know, they're wrong, you know, whatever it is, and if someone did something that's wrong, then here's what it is, and if they, you know, did something 10 times, 20 times, 100 times, the answer's still gonna be the same. So there's no reason for that. And look, I hope that you're helping other people, other brothers and sisters in Christ, as much as you can, and with your own friendships and your own family and whatever, just take that advice to be able to take heed and not have to hear everything because you don't need to. And honestly, I like to keep the best view of people as possible. I don't want to know all of, you know, if someone did something really bad, like I wanna help the person who may have been transgressed against, or someone who's receiving something, or I wanna be able to help them, I wanna be able to help the person who's in the transgression, sure. I'd like to be able to help them to be restored and whatever, and be able to provide counsel, but it still isn't necessary to have to get every detail. And I'll leave it at that, and let's move on. Look at verse number two, the Bible reads this, bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. So again, we're seeing a ministering spirit of bearing other people's burdens. Turn, if you would, keep your place here in Galatians 6, turn, if you would, to Philippians chapter two, one of my favorite chapters of the whole Bible. Same principle here, Philippians two, verse three, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, and remember what the end of Galatians five said, let us not be desirous of vainglory, provoking one another, for what, strife? Strife, vainglory, envying one another. Verse three of Philippians two, let nothing be done through strife or vainglory, but in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves. Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others. Bear ye one another's burdens. Be there for people, be there to help, to support them, and be considering other people as more important than you. That's the attitude that we all should have of being able to be there for others. Back to Galatians six, and notice how it says bear ye one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. Like this is loving your brother as yourself. And I'm not gonna go in detail on the law of Christ, but it says it right there, that there's a law of Christ so yes, we're free from the law, we're free from the law of the testament and the curse from the law, but God still has a law for us to follow, right? And breaking it doesn't mean you're not going to heaven, it's just he's got a path laid out for us and there's right and there's wrong. Verse number three, Galatians six, the Bible says, for if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. And this goes to the heart of your attitude about yourself. Again, going from Philippians chapter two, you know, in lowliness of mind, let each esteem other better than themselves, contrasted with Galatians six, three, hey, if a man think himself to be something, when he's nothing, he deceiveth himself. And really, what are we anyways? You know, anyone that starts to get this attitude of how great they are, you're getting lifted up in pride. Bottom line, we ought not to have some high, lofty attitude of ourselves and thinking, you know, I think myself to be something. Well, when you're nothing, all you're doing is just kidding yourself, what the Bible teaches. Verse four says, but let every man prove his own work and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone and not in another. So you think that you're something, then just prove your own work. What does that mean? You don't have to be talking about it. So a lot of people who are proud want to tell everyone how great they are. And they think they're so great, well, you're just deceiving yourself, why don't you just prove your own work? And one of the things that this should teach us here in Galatians chapter six, and keep your place here in Galatians six, turn real quick to 2 Timothy chapter four. But everything that we see here in this section of Galatians six is the amount of work that you should be doing. It's a lot of work. Because just as it said in verse four, let every man prove his own work, verse five says, for every man shall bear his own burden. So what do we in command to do? Bear your own burden, do your own work, and what else? Oh yeah, bury one another's burdens too. So you bear your burden, you do your own work, you prove your own work, and then you also go and bear other people's work, and bear other people's burdens, and you go help them. The Christian values, the Christian truths here that we get from the Bible is, you need to be a hard worker, you need to be able to work and strive, to be able to be independent, self-sufficient, and take care of your own needs, take care of your own business, take care of your own family, take care of your stuff, do your work for yourself, and then also be able to help other people out, right? So that you're not a burden for other people, you take care of your business, you prove your own work, you do the work that you need to do, but then that's not enough, on top of that, go help other people, and go serve other people. That's the attitude that we ought to have. The admonition that the Apostle Paul gave to Timothy in 2 Timothy four, verse five, the Bible reads, but watch thou in all things, and do her afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, and then he says this, make full proof of thy ministry. How is he gonna make full proof, by doing the work? The work's gonna show for itself. He doesn't have to give a proof of his ministry, like, well, you know that I was baptized, and I got this degree, and I, you know, like, that's not what he's saying, you make full proof by doing the work, and your work should be evident based on the converts, based on the ministry, based on the fruit of what's happening, and what you're doing. Like, that's, there's the evidence, right? There's the proof, I should say. Let's go back to Galatians chapter six. And in verse number six, the Bible says, let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. And, you know, this is a real simple passage, but it's just saying, if you're taught in the word, you're taught the word of God, well, go ahead and communicate with whoever's doing the teaching, right? It would be a pastor, a preacher, or whatever. Communicate unto him, and what does it say? To communicate unto him, though, in all good things. It doesn't say go and rebuke the person who's teaching you, and tell them why they're wrong, and tell them all the things that they didn't say right. It says to communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things. So you bring communication, and I'll tell you what, the way that I read this, and the way that this is, comes to life for me is when I preach something out of scripture, and people come to me and say, oh, hey, thanks for that message. I really, you know, that really helped me. Oh, this is exactly what I needed to hear, or whatever, and communicates back something that they learned, or something that was helpful for that person. That is an encouragement for the person doing the teaching to hear of what's happening, and for me, it's just a proof that, you know, the Holy Spirit's working through the message, because it's not like I know anything, particularly, usually, I don't. I just, I pray about what I should preach on, and I just trust God will guide me, and then whatevers, here's the bottom line, at the end of the day, too, without trying to make it sound too, you know, too, I guess, overly spiritual. It's not, but it's the word of God is true for everybody, and the word of God talks about things that everyone has to deal with, so when I preach to a crowd of 100 people, odds are there's probably gonna be someone that's gonna need to hear that truth from the Bible on any given Sunday, because we all have to deal with stuff, and the Bible's very relevant, and it's gonna be talking about truths that people need to hear, so it's not because I am so in tune with God or something, it's because God's word is awesome, and the truth is here, and it's able to help, right, but when it says to communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things, I mean, that is an encouragement, and that's great, and it's good to get the feedback and to hear back from people who are being taught from the teacher. Let's keep reading, verse number seven, another very, very famous passage here, be not deceived, God is not mocked, for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap, for he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption, but he that soweth to the spirit shall of the spirit reap life everlasting, and one of the things we have to be careful of with what we do, you know, sowing, you think about sowing, here, it's referring to sowing a seed, right, seeds are little, and you could go and sow the seed in the ground, the Bible has a parable of the sower, and he's throwing the seed on the ground, they're real little, and what comes up out of that is a much larger plant, and here, it's gonna be something that produces fruit, and it's amazing, it's amazing when you really think about the amount of fruit that can come from a plant, and that plant came from one seed. We used to get oranges from my wife's family, like from her grandmother back in the day, we would go and get all of these laundry baskets full of oranges, and even just one tree, you'd just look at the tree and be like, oh yeah, there's a bunch of oranges on there, it might look kind of full, but then you really start getting into it, and it's just like, man, there's a lot of work getting all those things down, and then you see there's just like, basket, basket, basket, like all these baskets full, it's like, man, that's a lot of fruit that came from that tree, and then there's the thing like, hey, that tree just started with one little seed. Well, there's a reason why the Bible is talking about a man sowing and then reaping. Well, when you sow, it's small, but when you reap, it's big. So we need to be careful with the small things that we sow. The seed that's coming out, even just when we speak, or actions that we do, whatever it is we're doing, it might not seem like that big of a deal at the time, but if you're sowing things that are not good, and here's the thing with reaping, you don't usually reap immediately, right? Like when you sow a seed, you gotta wait a while for the thing to take root and grow and come up, and then still even longer to be able to bear fruit afterwards. We don't always receive or reap what we sow right away. You can be sowing some things that are bad, and then it just escapes your mind altogether before you end up reaping from what you've sown, and we don't wanna have a false sense of security, which unfortunately people are really, really narrow-minded. Again, I brought this up recently, but it's important to bring it up again, of being too narrow-minded on, let's say you get involved in some sin, you get involved in doing something wrong, but like nothing seems to be happening, and so you just continue until something finally does happen, but then it's like, man, do you know how much you've just sown now? Like you're just starting to reap. You don't want to get to that point, just realize and have the faith to understand, and be like, oh, look, man, if I've been sowing bad, I need to just quit now while I'm ahead and start sowing good, and then hope I can get some mercy for what I've done in the past, and this is just a theory of mine, so again, I'm not dogmatic about this at all, but what I think is kind of interesting, and I think it's true, which is why I'm even gonna say it, but you look at the life of the apostle Paul, and he said he was like the cheapest of the sinners, and he persecuted the church of God, and was there even consenting unto the death of the prophet, and he was wreaking havoc on the church, so he was really fighting against God, and really sowing some bad things. Now, of course, we know he did it ignorant and unbelief, but he still was doing a lot of damage, right, and what ended up happening is we see his life then serving the Lord, but we also see a life serving the Lord that was wrought with a lot of turmoil and tribulation, especially when he goes down the list of all of the things that he then ends up suffering for Christ's sake, and I think that could be due to all that he did persecuting the church, his now coming home for him to reap, but hey, at least because he's right with God, he could reap it in a way where he's still serving God, but hey, you've made your bed when you did this. Now you're not gonna have that easy of a time going forward, and again, his sins are forgiven. Obviously, the moment he gets saved, but it still doesn't change the truth of reaping what you sow, right? Our sins being forgiven, meaning that we have a home in heaven because of what Jesus did for us, still doesn't change the fact of an earthly recompense of what we've done wrong. Right, like if you commit murder, you can still be saved and go to heaven, but it doesn't mean that you're not gonna suffer some consequences for the crime that you commit here on earth, right? Like hey, that punishment of hell is satisfied. Great, amen, that's awesome, but it doesn't mean there's not other consequences. Why, as believers, we still know that there are consequences for the actions that we commit and also one more point here on God not being mocked, right? Whatsoever man soweth, that shall he also reap, and when you sow to the flesh, you reap corruption. In Hosea chapter eight, you don't have to turn there, but Hosea eight, seven, the Bible says, for they have sown the wind and they shall reap the whirlwind, and hath no stalk, the bud shall yield no meal, if so be it yield, the stranger shall swallow it up. You know, it's saying yeah, they sowed to the wind, but when it comes back, it's gonna be a whirlwind. It's a lot stronger, it's a lot worse. So we really need to be mindful, and again, Sunday I was preaching on this too, to be mindful, right? So we don't walk in the flesh, and we really have to be mindful to walk in the spirit, because the more you think about it, and if you just take a step back and think about your sin and be like, look, this isn't gonna be worth it. We could look at the past examples of what God has done with many people who have been involved in various sins that we saw in 1 Corinthians chapter number 10, right? That whole list, the fornication, the idolatry, right? These various sins, and you can look at stories of people who've done all these different sins, and see what the result was, and be like, yeah, I don't think I wanna pay that price. At least I hope you think that way. And see that like, well, I didn't think it was that big of a deal, but now, yeah, when you start sowing bad, you start sowing evil, it's gonna come back worse, you're gonna reap the whirlwind. And on top of all of that then, if you're walking in the flesh and sowing in the flesh, then you're not in the spirit, and you can't please God. But know this, that of course, it's not just all the negative, because you can sow good things, and when you sow good, that also comes back at a magnitude higher than what you've sown. And that's a very encouraging thought, that even doing the smallest things, like what Jesus said in Matthew 25, I think it is at the end of the chapter, he's saying that like, when he's separating the sheep from the goats, and he's saying like, I was sick, and you comforted me, I was in prison, you visited me, and he was saying all these things, and he says, as much as you did it unto Lisa's, you've done it unto me, and he's giving a reward to those who were saved for all the little things that they had done. And the unrighteous that were not saved, of course, no matter how much they might have done in vain, and said it doesn't count for anything, because they're sinners, and they don't get anything, but those who are saved, all the little things that you do still get rewarded, because none of that pays for your salvation, and God is gonna reward you for doing any good that you do. And hey, if you're sowing to the Spirit, then amen, you're gonna reap so much better. In verse nine there in Galatians six says, and let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap if we faint not. So don't get tired doing good, don't get weary, right? Keep working, keep at it. In due season we shall reap if we faint not. Psalm 126, real famous passage, verse number five, they that sow in tears shall reap in joy. It may be hard, it may be difficult, you're sowing in tears, right? But you're sowing good. You're going out, you're putting forth the effort, it's not easy, it's hard, you're sowing in tears, but you know what's gonna happen? You're gonna reap in joy. The time of reaping will come. Let's not be weary in well-doing. In due season we shall reap if we faint not. Verse six of Psalm 126 says, he that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him. The time of reaping comes. It will come no matter what, so we wanna make sure we're sowing good that what we end up receiving from that is much greater. And what an awesome investment because it's a multi-factor reward that comes back to you, right? We see in the Bible that there were people who brought forth fruit, and specifically about bringing forth fruit and sowing seed, right, the parable of the sower, that some that brought forth 20 and some, 50 and some, 100 or whatever, that's the amount of reproduction, the amount of reaping that comes back from the sowing the good seed, right? And you can get a lot back, and God is more than fair with us and promises good on Judgment Day for those that have been sowing good. Turn if you go to John chapter four. One more sowing and reaping truth, I guess you can say, found in John. This is in John chapter four. Starting in verse number 34. Bible reads, Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me and to finish his work. Say not ye there are yet four months and then cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest. And he that reapeth receiveth wages and gathereth fruit unto life eternal, that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together. And herein is that saying true, one soweth and another reapeth. I sent you to reap that were on ye bestowed no labor. Other men labored and ye are entered into their labors. And this is what it goes when you go with sowing and reaping, especially with the word of God. Sometimes you're sowing the word of God and you don't get to reap right away. And we've got sowing, it's important to remember that too. You know, don't get discouraged if someone doesn't get saved. We may be hitting ground, we might be digging in the ground in some areas where no one's been there preaching the gospel, right? And we're just going in, kind of for the first time in an area. And hey, we've got to be sowing that good seed of the word. And this is why it's important to have more churches and more sowingers and all these laborers that are going out because then someone else could come along and water that seed, right? And oftentimes, that's what we're doing. And sometimes I think we do hit areas that might have been hit multiple times, that might have been, they might have a good church in the area or something. And we end up getting to reap a lot more in an area because other people have already worked on those that we talked to, right? And we just get to come along and reap. But you know, the Bible also says that he that soweth and he that watereth are one. In 1 Corinthians, it just says like, hey, you're, you know, because you're doing, sometimes you're doing one job, sometimes you're doing the other. But we all want to reap and we get to gain the results and the rewards of that at the judgment speed of Christ. Let's go back to Galatians chapter six. Galatians six, verse number 10. As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. And as we have opportunity, part of the point of the challenges is to recognize opportunities, especially the one in June. It's easy to say, oh, I didn't have any opportunities. There was no opportunities. But what we don't want to do is deceive ourselves to the opportunities that really exist. Because I think for all of us, there's opportunities that exist that we don't always even think of because it's just not in our mind and we miss out on opportunities and it's just like, oh man. I mean, it literally still, it still happens to me to this day. I mean, it just happened to me a couple of weeks ago where I was in this perfect situation, but I was in a rush or I was in a hurry or whatever and was thinking about something else and then it was like, I'm already in a car. I'm about 10 minutes down the road. I'm like, oh man. That would have been a great opportunity to try to give the gospel to this person, right? So we want to be thinking about it. Of course, we miss them sometimes. But what I don't want you to have is this attitude of just saying like, oh, I never get an opportunity. I think you're not seeing the opportunities and that we need to take the opportunities as we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men. You have opportunity. And the Bible says to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not to him it is sin, by the way. But look at this, then that verse continues, says especially unto them who are of the household of faith. Look, we ought to love all men. We ought to love the lost. But you know who we love more? Believers. You know who we're gonna be good to even more? Other believers, brothers and sisters in Christ. And that just makes sense. But remember that, right? That you're not mistreating brothers and sisters in Christ either. Right, if you think about, well, I love all these other people, well, how about especially unto them who are of the household of faith? Verse 11, you see how large a letter I've written unto you with my own hand, and I already covered this verse previously. Verse 12, as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh, they constrain you to be circumcised. So he's saying the people that want you to be circumcised, the people who are teaching this, they just wanna make a good show in the flesh. It's just about the flesh. It's just about this show. It's just about this outward appearance. It's just about this fleshly thing to be able to say, oh yeah, you need to be circumcised. It's not about anything spiritual. It's not about anything righteous. He says they just desire to make a fair show in the flesh only less they should suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. And you know, as long as they're gonna preach the flesh and as long as they're gonna teach works, he's saying they're not gonna suffer persecution for the cross of Christ because the cross of Christ does away with all the works and says, no, it's not about that stuff. It's not about the circumcision. It's about the faith in Jesus. Verse 13, for neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law. He's saying, first of all, those people that are circumcised are trying to tell you to be circumcised? Well, if you're gonna be circumcised and you gotta keep the law, he's saying they don't keep the law. They're trying to make you be circumcised and they're trying to come under the law, but they don't keep the law. But desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh or get their victory, aha, yeah, we got them circumcised too. Like it's a badge for them of getting these converts to get circumcised, but they're not even keeping the law and they're trying to bring these other guys, drag these other guys down with them to try to keep the law with them and they all are gonna fail. Verse 14, 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. Keep your place here. Turn, if you would, to 1 Corinthians chapter one. Look at glorying. Glory is not a word, well, we use it a little bit, I guess, but probably more like bragging or boasting would go follow along the similar lines as the word glory, right? He's like, I have nothing to brag about except for what Jesus did, right? I can brag about Jesus, I can't brag about me. 1 Corinthians chapter one verse 26, the Bible is basically saying the same truth here. For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world that confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world that 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 naught things that are, that no flesh should glory in his presence. God made it so that nobody can glory in his presence. The way that he designed salvation, the way that you could achieve this, the way that you could receive salvation has nothing to do with you, and man's wisdom that they think they're so lofty, and all this stuff, and God's like, no. No, it has nothing to do with that. It has nothing to do with how smart you are, and how well educated you are, and how many theology degrees that you have, and you don't need to have all of this stuff to try to figure it out. It's so simple that he took away any reason how anyone could ever glory in it themselves. I mean, if salvation was super complicated, well, you have to be like super smart to even understand it and to get it. He said, no, that's not the way it is. You can't glory and brag about how smart you are because you figured out salvation. It's simple. It's like the easiest thing in the world that little kids can understand, that anyone can understand. That's how basic it is. That's how simple it is, and just all manner in which a man can glory has completely been removed. No flesh should glory in God's presence, but of whom 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. Now, notice there in verse 31 of 1 Corinthians 1, it says, as it is written. Let's go back to where it's written in Jeremiah chapter nine because again, it's just so fitting with what we're reading in Galatians chapter six. It lines up perfectly because what are we seeing literally in Galatians six? It's the people who are trying to teach circumcision, and they're trying to get other people to be circumcised, and for them, that would be a glory to get these other people to be circumcised, and they want a glory in their flesh. It'd be like, ah, yeah, see, look, we got these guys circumcised, too, and trying to bring them into the law. Well, look what, and then the apostle Paul is saying, hey, God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of Jesus Christ. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, and doesn't that sound like 1 Corinthians chapter one that we're just reading? 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 loving kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. And then look how this is followed up in verse 25. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised. So he just gets done saying, hey, don't glory in any of these other things, but glory in the Lord, right? And this is where it's, and then right away, what's he saying? Well, I'm gonna punish the circumcised with the uncircumcised. And what are the people doing in Galatians six? Glorying in circumcision, glorying in the flesh. And then of course, verse 26 says, Egypt and Judah and Edom, and the children of Ammon and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners that dwell in the wilderness, for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart, and we covered that last week. This is that passage, but we didn't read the full context that in verse 24 says, led him that glory of glory in the Lord, glory in him, right? Why? Because they're using the circumcision for glorying. They checked the box. I did this. Well, I've been circumcised. And the modern day equivalent, because not as many people are into the circumcision thing, would be, well, I've been baptized. And look, we are Baptists. We believe in baptism, but not at all as a requirement for salvation. No, not at all. Because then you would have something to glory in. If something you could do in the flesh was part of you getting to heaven, then you get glory for that. You get to get honor in that. But what do we have to glory in? Seriously, we're sinners. How about we give Christ all the glory? And that's the way that God made it, too, by the way, that he gets all the glory, he gets all the credit, he gets all the honor, not us. And this is another thing that you may wanna try this at the door with people who seem very proud of their works and really are clinging tightly to them living a really good life, especially people who wanna say, oh, you think those people can be saved? Well, I don't do those things. Because what you're doing is you're glorying in your works, but what do you have to glory in before God? Right. God's saying, yeah, you think you're so great because you did this and this and this, you still need Jesus to save you. You're still a sinner. All of your righteousness is like filthy rags in God's eyes. We need the savior, everyone needs a savior, and that's more of a lifted up attitude. And what we need to do, and this is where I was getting at, actually, my mind's back on track now, with what I'm absolutely gonna like to explain this. Who gets the credit for your salvation? Who does? Do you get some of your credit? Can you say, well, I get credit for my salvation because I've lived a clean life? Yeah, Jesus helped, but you know, I did this work. No. God doesn't share the glory of your salvation with anybody. He did all of the work for you to be saved. He doesn't need your following to the best of your ability to his law because the best of your ability is still broken. It's still sinful because you can't keep all the law. So what is that? Oh, well, I tried. God doesn't give you an A for effort. And as far as like letting you into heaven, okay, well, you tried, so I'm letting you into heaven now. No, you need remission of sins. You need forgiveness. You need them bought and paid for. There's a debt that you owe, and no matter how hard you tried, you still owe the debt. So accept the price that Jesus paid. It was a high price. It was the price of his blood. And guess who gets the credit for that? Jesus does. Can you glory in some gift that someone gave you? Like, oh man, look at this awesome gift that I have. But you didn't go out and buy it. Glory in the person that gave it to you. You can't glory it into yourself. Jesus gives eternal life. We can't earn it. And these people wanted to make a fair show in the flesh. Let's go, oh, 2 Corinthians chapter 10. I guess I had one more reference here on this point. We'll work at wrapping this up. 2 Corinthians chapter 10, verse number 12. For we dare not make ourselves of the number or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves. But they, measuring themselves by themselves and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise. And think about, again, how this fits into Galatians 6. If a man think himself to be something when he's nothing, he deceiveth himself. And these are a bunch of people that are thinking themselves to be something, and they're comparing themselves against each other. And it's really just fleshly and carnal in their glorying of themselves. And the Bible just simply just says they're not wise. These people are not wise. Verse 13, but we will not boast of things without our measure. But according to the measure of the rule which God hath distributed to us, a measure to reach even unto you. For we stretch not ourselves beyond our measure as though we reached not unto you, for we are come as far as to you also in preaching the gospel of Christ. Not boasting of things without our measure, that is, of other men's labors, but having hope when your faith is increased that we shall be enlarged by you according to our rule abundantly. Now, one other thing comes to mind of people who want to boast in other men's matters, which everyone could understand this, is when you're cheering for a sports team. And you say, we won. We won. You didn't do anything. And I don't care who your team is, right? They are the ones that are on the field. They're the ones playing. They're the ones scoring the points or whatever. They won. You didn't win. But this is like a glorying beyond their measure, right? When people like to just associate themselves with this work going on. And look, if you're not involved in, for example, like the soul winning at church, you can't really be boasting about to others that don't have soul, I'm going to this church, we have this much soul winning going on. What are you doing? You see what I'm saying? You don't be boasting in matters beyond. And hey, look, rejoice. You can go to a soul winning church, but don't be glorying in things that's not your work. Join the work. You at least have something to glory in. The Apostle Paul is literally laying it out here, and he's not being proud or boastful. He's just saying, look, we're not going to boast beyond our measure. We've reached as far as unto you with the gospel. Like they literally were going out and preaching the gospel to people that hadn't heard it, and they're going out into the world, and we've gone as far as to Galatia. Like we've gone all the way up to you guys. But see, what's also happening is other people are coming along on the work that they plowed on their field, what they did, and now they're coming in and trying to taint it with the circumcision garbage. They're coming along now to these churches that have already been established with the truth and with righteousness and the work of the laborers that have gone forward and plowed and sowed and reaped and planted, and now some other guy's coming along to try to screw things up. You see what I'm saying? And these guys are glorying in the flesh, are trying to steal away people from that work. So then they could glory in themselves and glory in the flesh. This is what's happening at that church. Verse 16 of 2 Corinthians 10, to preach the gospel in the regions beyond you and not to boast another man's line of things made ready to our hand. But he that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord. For not he that commendeth himself is approved, but whom the Lord commendeth. You want commendation, let God give you a commendation. Don't go bragging and boasting about yourself and how great you are and all the things that you do. And if you're gonna be exalted, let God exalt you. And that's the only exaltation that matters anyways. If you exalt yourself out of your own lips, it's empty and it's vain. And it doesn't even matter if what you're saying is true, if you're gonna be exalt, self exalting, it's vain. It literally means nothing. Oh wow, you think highly of yourself. Well that's so, that's so, what an honor that you think so great of yourself, right? No, honor is only gonna come from other people. Like it's an honor when other people are lifting someone up, when other people are saying, oh wow, this person's doing great work. This person's doing a great job. They bestow the honor on them, then that really is an honor. But someone to just come along and be like, you know what I did last week? You know what I'm doing tomorrow? I know, I know. I'm so humble. No, if you wanna glory in anything, glory in the Lord. Plain and simple. Let's go back to Galatians chapter six, verse number 15. A few verses left. For in Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision but a new creature. Circumcision has nothing to do with it. It's about being saved. It's about being a new creature. It's about being born again, is what he's saying. It has nothing to do with your circumcision. And as many as walk according to this rule, peace be on them and mercy and upon the Israel of God. From henceforth let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. And multiple times he's referenced the sufferings for Christ and the persecution of the cross and the preaching of the cross. That's what's bringing the trouble. That's what's bringing the persecution. Just as Christ preached the cross, he preached of salvation and he suffered for it. Well, anyone who goes forth and is preaching the cross of Christ and not the works of the law, not the works of the flesh, but is preaching Christ, will also suffer as well. And he's like, look, I'm bearing in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. Like, it should be self-evident. Okay, here's where I stand. I stand with Jesus and I've got the marks to prove it. Verse 18, brethren, the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit, amen. And he closes, brethren, right? Remember, he stands in doubt and he's calling out the severe heresy that's going on, the damnable heresy, but obviously he still believes that the church is saved by and large, or some people that probably aren't, but he's getting this whole thing settled. All of Galatians 6 is about that, but what great fundamental truths are found in Galatians as a result of him having to deal with this issue surrounding salvation, surrounding what must I do to be saved? Oh yeah, it's not circumcision, it's not baptism, it's not anything else, it's literally just your faith. And as a result, we get some great truths on being a child of God, on being Israel, on receiving salvation by grace through faith, and it's not of the works of the law. So much good content in this book. Let's probably always have a word of prayer. Dear Heavenly Father, thank you so much for the book of Galatians. Thank you for your word, we thank you for loving us, we thank you for the truth, dear Lord, and I pray that you would please help us to continue to grow in our knowledge and understanding of your word. Lord, help us to do what's right. I pray that you would please help us to have that humble and meek spirit, help us to be mindful of ourselves when we go to help others. I pray that you would please help us to be a blessing unto others and to know, because we talk to and care about other people, we know when they have issues or when people might be overtaken with a fault, and that we're not just a group of people that come together and don't know anything about each other and then just leave and have totally separate lives all the time and never know anything about one another, Lord, but help us to be brothers and sisters here that care about each other, love one another, and are here to help one another, and just, Lord, help us to take heed to the warnings, bring them to our minds when we live our life, that we would avoid the traps of sin as they're found and as they are all around us, Lord. We love you, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.