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Become a person who only
boasts about the cross
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2
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May I
never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ,
through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
(Galatians 6:14)
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If you
were given time to boast about yourself, what would you boast about?
People like to boast about how much better they are compared to others.
People who have a lot of money enjoy wearing expensive cars or expensive
clothes to show off their wealth to others. Also, a person who has learned a
lot likes to show off the knowledge he has learned. Also, people who consider
their appearance better than others enjoy boasting about it.
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4
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Apostle Paul, who was martyred for
preaching the gospel of God all his life, was also a Jew with a lot of
boasts. According to Jewish tradition, Paul was circumcised on the eighth day
after birth. For Jews, being circumcised on the 8th day is a great boasts.
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5
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Also, Paul was from the tribe of
Benjamin, recognized as the highest-ranking tribe in society at the time.
Also, as a descendant of Abraham, Paul was born with the pure blood of the
Hebrew people. Even in Jewish society, people with pure blood are highly
respected.
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6
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In Jewish society, keeping the law
well was a matter of great pride. Among them, the Pharisees were exalted as
those who best kept the law. Such people are called Pharisees.
Paul was also one of these Pharisees.
That much tells us that he was a person who kept the law well.
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7
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Paul was a man with excellent
conditions for learning. Among the Pharisees, Gamaliel was the most respected
teacher of the law. Paul learned the law from this teacher Gamaliel.
Paul is perfectly educated when it comes to keeping the law.
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8
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Also, Tarsus, where Paul was born,
was a Roman jurisdiction.
It was very difficult for a Jew to obtain Roman citizenship. However, from
the time Paul was born, he was a Roman citizen.
Paul was close to a perfect person with no faults in Jewish society.
Paul himself was very proud of everything he had.
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But at some point, Paul confesses
that he realized that the things he valued and boasted about were useless.
[But whatever was to my profit I now
consider loss for the sake of Christ.
(Philippians 3:7)]
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He confesses that he regarded not
only the things he valued and boasted about, but also all the things that he
said were precious on earth, like excrement or garbage from a person's body.
The reason is because he discovered something precious and valuable that
cannot be compared with all of these things. Apostle Paul confesses that
there is nothing more precious and valuable than knowing Jesus. And he says
that for the sake of Jesus he has given up everything he considered to be
proud of.
[What is more, I consider everything a
loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord,
for whose sake I have lost all things.
I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ (Philippians 3:8)]
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Paul,
originally called Saul, did not believe in the existence of Jesus.
He hated those who believed in Jesus so much that he thought of them as
people who should be eliminated from this earth.
He thought that believing in Jesus was something mad people did and was
worthless.
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Paul was on his way to arrest believers
in Jesus living in a place called Damascus.
At that time, Jesus himself appeared to Paul on his way to Damascus.
Paul, who saw that Jesus was alive, changed all his thoughts until now.
In the meantime, he realized that believing in Jesus and being saved was the
most precious and valuable thing, more than anything he thought was valuable.
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After
that day, Paul begins to live a completely different life. He only, he began
to do everything he could for the sake of Jesus.
He did the work of preaching Jesus wherever he went.
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14
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Paul suffered many hardships while
testifying about Jesus. He even went through being imprisoned unjustly for
preaching Jesus.
He was beaten five times, less than one stroke from 40, the most dishonorable
punishment in Jewish society. He was even stoned to death.
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Even under such great suffering, Paul
did not stop preaching the gospel. Paul was rather honored that he suffered
for Jesus. And he confessed that his only boast was the cross on which Jesus
himself died to save us.
[May I never boast except in the cross
of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me,
and I to the world(Galatians 6:14)]
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The apostle Paul tells us what those
who believe in Jesus and are saved should boast about.
We who believed in Jesus and were saved received as a gift the kingdom of
heaven, which cannot be bought even with all the most valuable things in this
world.
The reason we can go to heaven is because Jesus died on the cross, bearing
all our sins.
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To
us, the cross of Jesus is more valuable and valuable than everything in this
world.
Those who are saved by the grace of the cross and possess the kingdom of
heaven confess like Paul.
¡°I have
nothing to boast about except the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.¡±
Those who
are saved do not worry or daunt because they do not have what others boast
about.
It is because we are the ones who have been given the gift of salvation that
cannot be bought with all they boast about.
Like the apostle Paul, we must become
people who confess that our greatest boast is the cross.
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(This
is the sample conclusion provided by CTM. Please feel free to change the
conclusion to best suit the listeners of your sermon.)
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