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[0:00] Please turn with me to the second passage we read in Galatians 2, Galatians 2 verse 20, which I'll read again.

[0:13] I have been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. In the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

[0:30] In the three points, the three headings that will direct us, I pray, to consider the greatness of the work of the Lord Jesus in salvation.

[0:42] You'll see the centrality of Christ in each of these sections where Paul speaks of his having been crucified with Christ, and then speaking of Christ in me, notice the little prepositions, and then Christ for me.

[0:58] Crucified with, with Christ, Christ in me, and Christ for me. We'll develop what Paul has been teaching there to the church in Galatia, crucified with Christ.

[1:12] Back in 1988, the Irish rock group U2, they wrote a song, When Love Comes to Town, and it was a song that was made famous by the American singer B.B. King.

[1:27] But one verse in that song goes like this, I was there when they crucified my Lord. I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword. Of course, in one sense, these words are absolutely correct.

[1:40] Through my sin, through your sin, through the sins of the world, we were there when Jesus was crucified. Our sins placed Jesus on the cross.

[1:54] But of course, there's so much more to the crucifixion of Jesus than simply saying, you know, when they crucified my Lord, I was there when I held the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword.

[2:07] There's much, much more to the association, if you like, of the Lord's people with the Lord Jesus than simply these words. Because as we read there just a moment ago, as Paul declares, I have been crucified with Christ.

[2:26] You know, not just an onlooker to the crucifixion. Not just involved in my sin, your sin, and Jesus facing the penalty for sin. But as Paul says, actually, you being crucified with Christ.

[2:41] And so it's the relationship of the Lord with his people, the relationship with the Lord's people with the Lord, that I pray we'll look at this morning as we see what Paul is telling the church there in Galatia.

[2:54] These three very simple and yet three utterly powerful prepositions connecting the believer with the Lord Jesus. The preposition with, crucified with Christ.

[3:06] The preposition in Christ, in me. And then the preposition for, the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

[3:17] Little words. Whatever language you're going to look at. With, in, for, simple words. But of absolutely measurable power and meaning when it comes to remembering what the Lord Jesus has done for sinners such as ourselves.

[3:35] What he did for you by his death on the cross. What he did for you and what we remember even this morning. By his word and by the sacrament of the Lord's Supper. So by God's enabling, let's see what Paul's telling us here.

[3:49] What it really captures in the essence of the Christian life. That life that's made possible by the death of the Lord Jesus. Someone said of this verse that it's the Christian life in a single verse.

[4:07] And as you exercise your heart and your mind in appropriating these words, then I pray that you'll grasp that truth. In many ways it is the Christian life in a single verse.

[4:21] And particularly the Lord's people, when you come to take the bread and the wine, you'll testify that, yes, you have been crucified with Christ. You'll testify that Christ is in you.

[4:31] And you'll testify that Christ died for you. But what about the context? Why does Paul write these words there in Galatians 2?

[4:43] Well, as I mentioned right at the start, I'll maybe develop it a little more. Paul has already been talking about that confrontation that he had with Peter in relation to Peter and Gentile Christians.

[4:57] You see, Peter's issue was that he's a Jewish believer. He's a follower of the Lord Jesus. He knows Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.

[5:08] But he's been influenced by these Jews who'd come to see him and these Jews who confronted him and challenged him about his eating with non-Jews, with Gentiles.

[5:21] Now, at one time, Peter had these same opinions. At one time, even in his converted state, he actually considered that Gentiles were unclear and shouldn't be associated with.

[5:32] But then it had been revealed to Peter in a vision that God shows no partiality. If God shows no partiality, neither should Peter. And so Peter, we read in Acts 10.35, in every nation, of course, every nation, including Gentiles, anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him, acceptable to God.

[5:56] But then Peter, yes, he did meet with Gentiles. And at one time, he did eat with Gentiles, even baptised Gentiles, until these Judaizers came and condemned Peter for associating with these non-Jews.

[6:12] As a result, Peter separates himself from these Gentiles. And Paul condemns Peter. He condemns Peter to his face. And just as an aside, but maybe not an aside, it's not an easy thing for any Christian to confront someone else, another Christian, especially when another believer is committing something, doing something that is utterly contrary to Scripture.

[6:35] It isn't easy. But, you know, there are times that you have to do what is right according to God's Word, even in the very difficult times in speaking the truth and love to a brother or sister in Christ who is so acting contrary to the Word of God.

[6:54] But anyway, there's Paul confronting Peter. And Peter's been reminded of that great doctrine of justification. That's where our Catechism sums up.

[7:06] Justification is an act of God's free grace when he pardons all our sins and accepts us as righteous in his sight only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us and received by faith alone.

[7:22] In other words, when Jesus died on the cross, he took the sins of his people upon himself. And I'll continue to say these words because this us is absolutely crucial to your faith.

[7:34] And Jesus was made sin for you and in turn you were credited with Christ's righteousness. That's imputation. Big word, but that's what it is.

[7:46] Christ taking your sins upon himself and crediting you with his righteousness. But you see the key here. Salvation is by God's free grace.

[7:58] Not by your own efforts. Not by your own works. Nothing that you did or can do can save yourself. It's all of Christ. He died for Jew and non-Jew.

[8:11] Not by keeping the law that Jesus alone kept the law perfectly. He did that in life. He did that in day. But by his day, Jesus broke down that division between God and man.

[8:25] By Jesus' death, man can now enter into God's presence and not be condemned. Man through Christ. Christ, that bridge between man and God.

[8:36] When Jesus died, remember, the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom by God's great act of power showing. The way was now open for man to be reconciled to God.

[8:50] You can now enter God's presence because Jesus has died for you. And when you are the Lord, when you take the bread and wine, when you come to commemorate the death of the Lord Jesus, do it in remembering that Jesus has made it possible, possible, only possible by his death, possible to be reconciled to God by the grace of God, by the undeserved grace of God.

[9:20] Because if Jesus hadn't died for sinners, if he hadn't died for you, that barrier would still be there. There'd be no access to God. You'd be separated from him for all eternity.

[9:33] But remember that by the shed blood of Jesus, you now approach a holy God clothed in the blood-bought righteousness of Christ. Don't ever forget that truth.

[9:48] But there was something else that was removed. That's what Paul's alluding to here in the passage. Something else that was removed when Jesus died. When Jesus died, he made obsolete the wall of division, a wall of division that was in the temple.

[10:05] And it was a wall that separated Jew from Gentile. And Gentiles were forbidden in the pain of death to cross from one side of the wall to the other. But by Jesus' death for all peoples, that wall, as it were, was broken down.

[10:23] Jew and Gentile no longer separated. Jesus making the two one. So that when Peter refused to sit with Gentiles, it was as if Peter was rebuilding that wall of division.

[10:34] And that's why Paul condemns Peter. And that's why Paul goes on to speak about being crucified with Christ, which we'll look at in more depth in a moment. You know, Paul's saying to Peter, you know, if you're rebuilding, and we're rebuilding what God's torn down, Christ died in vain.

[10:54] And if he died in vain, then Jesus' crucifixion means nothing. And we gain nothing from Jesus' death if that wall of division remains.

[11:05] But Jesus didn't die for nothing. Jesus died to enable sinners such as you and such as me to be reconciled to God. Jesus means Jew and Gentile one, one in Christ.

[11:18] That's when Paul has spoken of these truths. He goes on to say, we've been crucified with Christ. You see the definition here of what it means to be a Christian.

[11:33] You've been freed from the demands of the law, free from the bondage of the law. You've been free to live as a new creation in Christ. And that's only possible by Jesus' death.

[11:46] You've been justified by faith and not by works. And Jesus complied with all the demands of the law. And so Paul's telling Peter that when Jesus died, Paul, he belonged to Jesus.

[12:01] Paul died to the old way, the old way of thinking of, you know, his separation from Gentiles. Paul knew that he had come to love the Lord and come to love all of the Lord's people.

[12:14] So Paul's telling Peter, Peter, we've been crucified with Christ. And yet we're living. We're united with Jesus and his death. We're united with Jesus and his resurrection.

[12:26] We've come to faith by the grace of God. We're a new creation, a new order, and our life's begun. Now bring all this to yourself. In that verse that we read, I have been crucified with Christ.

[12:40] You are the Lord's. Echo these words. I can echo them, as it were, on your behalf. You have been crucified with Christ.

[12:51] So that when the Lord Jesus died, when Christ died, you died. When Jesus died, you died to the power of sin. When Jesus died, you died in order to live.

[13:05] So that when Jesus died, yes, you were there. But when Jesus died, you weren't just an odd looker holding the scabbard when the soldier drew his sword. When Jesus died, you were actually with him on the cross.

[13:18] And you've got that status of having been crucified with Christ. Yes, it's happened in the past. But there's a present reality.

[13:30] That's how the words are written to speak of these truths. You were there. You were there on the cross. Now, of course, you weren't there by your own will. It's by the will of God.

[13:40] You have been crucified. That's something that was done to you. You were passive in that. God was active. And yet, in grace, God counted you who were crucified with Christ.

[13:53] He counted you as righteous. As righteous as Christ. When Jesus was crucified, you were with him on that cursed cross.

[14:05] That's your status as a Christian. Crucified with Christ. That's the unity that you have with your Savior, the Lord Jesus. Yes, when Paul speaks of a Christian, he uses that expression, in Christ or into Christ.

[14:22] In other words, that expression of unity, that's what you can testify to, that you are his, that he is yours. That what he did for you, he did for your salvation so that you can say, yes, Jesus died for my sins.

[14:38] Yes. When he died, I died. I died to the dominion of sin. I died to the condemnation of the law. I died in order to live.

[14:49] To live in his presence. So that no longer will death and sin somehow terrorize me. Because, as you can say and testify, I am crucified with Christ.

[15:02] Do you think I really thought of that? In your relationship with the Lord Jesus, that you have been crucified with Christ. I know it's often said, it's often there was, maybe it's a little apocryphal, but the African believer summing up for salvation, him die, me no die.

[15:21] And of course, that's absolutely correct. But surely there has to be the added truth that when Christ died, I die. And because I died, I live. That's what Paul says.

[15:33] I've been crucified with Christ. It's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. There's our second preposition, in Christ, in me.

[15:45] No longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. Now, what's Paul saying here of that relationship that he has, that every believer has, with the Lord Jesus?

[15:58] Well, the first thing we have to say is this, that Paul's echoing Jesus' words. Remember in a number of instances that are recorded in Scripture, when Jesus spoke of that unity that believers have with Christ.

[16:11] Think of the analogy of Jesus, that Jesus gave of believers in him, and he in them, in the vine. John 15, verse 5, I am the vine, you are the branches, whoever abides in me, and I in him.

[16:27] He it is that bears much fruit, but apart from me, he can do nothing. So there's that expression of believers in Christ. He is you in him, he in you.

[16:39] In other words, that inseparable relationship that you have with the Savior, that relationship that can never be broken, because of the love, the great love, the saving love of the Lord Jesus for you.

[16:53] But it's not just unity in Christ. Jesus actually has made his home in your heart. He's made his home in you, and as we know from Scripture, he's done that by his Holy Spirit.

[17:06] The Holy Spirit who dwells in every believer. As Paul tells us in Romans 8, verse 9, you are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if in fact the Spirit of God dwells in you.

[17:20] In you. And Jesus is in you by his Spirit. Again, back to what Paul said on another occasion. Colossians 1, verse 27. How great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.

[17:40] Now, let's bring this to a practical sense, practical application. If Paul's doing that, he's saying, it's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

[17:52] No longer I. Who's the I here? It's no longer I who live. Well, it's the I who died to the law. So that, verse 19, so that I might live to God.

[18:03] It's the I of the old self. That old self, when Jesus died, the old self died. It's the I of the once righteous, self-righteous Pharisee.

[18:14] When Paul based his hope on salvation according to his own works. It's the I of this once independent self who now can say he's been crucified with Christ.

[18:28] And so now he can say his life is utterly dependent and, if you like, intertwined, interconnected with the Lord Jesus. As we said at the start, this is the Christian life in a single verse.

[18:40] You're not your own. You're bought with a price, the price of the cost of the life of the Lord Jesus. You're utterly dependent on the Lord Jesus in you.

[18:53] You're not your own. And your life then is in him and he in you. That's the case, as Jesus said. You'll bear fruit because he is in you.

[19:06] You're no longer the master of your life. You're no longer the captain of your soul. And you're going to, as a Christian, that's in Christ, you're going to seek.

[19:18] I pray that you more and more do so. Seek to grow in holiness because Christ is in you. And you'll the more seek to love God and your neighbour as yourself because Christ is in you.

[19:32] And the more you'll seek his guidance and direction in your life because Christ is in you. And you'll know that you've got a new identity. A new identity in Christ because Christ is in you.

[19:45] You've been crucified with Christ. Christ is in you. But then thirdly, the preposition for, for I now live in the flesh, I live, for the life I now live in the flesh, I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

[20:04] You know, you can just see Paul writing these words there. And you can just see tears flowing from his eyes. Tears of gratitude. You know, the Christ whom Paul had once hated.

[20:17] The people who followed Christ whom Paul once hated. The Christ whom Peter at one time had despised and slandered. That Paul was given life in Christ.

[20:32] You know, Paul called himself the chief of sinners. And that Jesus should give himself for Paul for this chief of sinners.

[20:43] The sinless Christ for the chief of sinners. You know, surely this is, this captures amazing grace. That Jesus, the Lord Jesus, should have so loved this once unrighteous sinner and gave himself for Paul and for all whom Christ died.

[21:02] You know, you can just see there. Paul's so utterly overwhelmed. He's so utterly overwhelmed. That's why we were singing these psalms of praise. These deep words of praise to our Lord and Savior.

[21:16] And you who know the Lord Jesus as your Savior. In a few moments time, you're going to actually echo Paul's words that the Lord Jesus gave himself for me.

[21:28] You're going to echo these words in your participation in the act of communion. When you take the bread, the little piece of bread, you're going to affirm, yes, Christ died for me.

[21:41] When you take that little cup of wine, you're going to affirm that Christ shed his blood for me. For poor, sinful, hell-deserving me.

[21:54] Because Christ was crucified, yes, for you. And he's in you. Because he gave himself for you. And you can say, yes, with the greatness of humility, you have that new identity in Christ.

[22:12] We said the old is gone. Romans 6, 6, our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing so that we'd no longer be enslaved to sin.

[22:23] You are a new creation in Christ. You're going to testify to that new identity that you have in Christ. You're going to take the symbols of Christ's body and blood.

[22:35] You're going to take what was given for you. You know, a time of communion is a very precious time. Because in a time of communion, you display what Christ has done for you by an act of taking these elements of bread and wine.

[22:58] And there can be absolutely no self-pride in being a Christian, no self-pride in being at the place where the communion is taken. Absolutely no pride in being seen to take the bread and wine.

[23:12] You are in Christ because of what the Lord Jesus has done for you. Bread and wine is there. It's showing what Jesus has done for you.

[23:24] It's representing the body and blood of Christ. It's showing that Jesus gave himself for you in that once for all sacrifice for sin. This is the last communion service that I'll be involved in as your minister.

[23:46] But remember, this isn't the end of a fellowship meal. Because remember this, and remember this, that you have that prospect, that sure prospect of glory when all the Lord's people, all the Lord's people will know that perpetual feast in the glory of heaven, know that fellowship one with another and fellowship with the Lord Jesus who gave himself for you and for me.

[24:17] for all who are his. And yes, give thanks even as I look back over these near 13 years of fellowship with you each and every Lord's day and each and every time of communion.

[24:32] Give thanks for these precious times, these precious moments of fellowship with our Saviour and with one another. But I'm going to make one more plea. I'm going to make this plea to you who haven't yet made a commitment to the Lord Jesus.

[24:50] Now, you may well have watched on many as a time, even the pre-pandemic days when the Lord's people physically came to a section of the church. Very much we do now as we remain in our seats.

[25:00] But you may have watched on. You may have wondered and even known the separation. You'll have been so aware of that separation between you and the Lord's people and, of course, ultimately between you and the Lord.

[25:16] Maybe even you long to be amongst the Lord's people, but then there was that hesitation maybe for different reasons. But don't let this opportunity pass you by.

[25:29] I have many desires in ministry, but it's certainly my greatest desire even in these few weeks that I've got left with you as your minister.

[25:41] that they'll be amongst you, even amongst some here this morning. My greatest desire is to know that you have given your life to the Lord Jesus, that you give your life to him who gave his life for you.

[25:57] I pray that God will grant me that desire of my heart as he grants you the desire of your heart to know Jesus as your Savior. Amen.

[26:11] Lord, our God, our loving Heavenly Father, you who sent your one and only Son to come to give his life for sinners.

[26:24] Lord, may it be that as we in a moment's time testify to that great act of obedience of the Lord Jesus, that great act of salvation and his giving himself for us, that Lord, you will speak to the hearts of all here this day, to those who are your people, Lord, bless as they participate in the supper, and to those who watch on, Lord, bless as they are convicted of their sin.

[26:54] So, Lord, work, we pray by your Holy Spirit, even in this small corner here in Livingston. Hear us, Lord, as we continue before you now in worship.

[27:06] We pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. We're going to sing now in Psalm 103, Psalm 103, the Scottish Psalter version, verse 1 to verse 5, the tune is Gormarnik.

[27:24] O thou, my soul, bless God the Lord, and all that in me is, to stir up his holy name to magnify and bless. 1 to 5, Psalm 103, the God of God.

[27:37] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. O thou, my soul, bless God the Lord, and all that in heaven.

[27:59] His misericordiae, holy name, do magnify and bless.

[28:14] Bless, O my soul, the Lord thy God, and not forgetful be ye.

[28:30] Of all his precious benefits, he hath been stoned on thee.

[28:44] All thine inequities do not most preciously forbid.

[28:59] To thy detainer, O my grace, all heal and be relieved.

[29:14] To not be deep, thy life, that thou couldst, let this not go down.

[29:30] To thee with holy kindness, all and tender mercy to come.

[29:47] Who may thou have done so good things? God's sacrifice, thy love.

[30:03] So that he must be evil, they bring you with it by new.

[30:19] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. We actually participate in the taking of the bread and wine. Let me just say a few words before we do so.

[30:32] Because it's my privilege, again, to invite the Lord's people to share in this fellowship meal and the Lord's Supper.

[30:44] And for you who are not ashamed of the Lord, yes, it's for you to show that testimony of faith in the Lord Jesus, that you're not ashamed to make a public profession of faith in the Lord Jesus.

[30:58] It's a time of professing and it's a time of confessing. Confessing, again, that Jesus is your Lord and your Saviour, that Jesus washed you clean by his blood.

[31:13] You're forgiven your sins because Jesus, the blood of the Lord Jesus, cleanses us from all our iniquities. You are invited to come and dine with the Lord and with the Lord's people.

[31:28] In this simple and yet so profound ceremony, if you like, that Lord Jesus commanded the Lord's people to participate in.

[31:39] And you're testifying that you know the Lord Jesus, that he is your Saviour, and that your true satisfaction is found in him and him alone, that Christ is utterly central to your life, that Christ is the one whom you love more than anything else in the whole world.

[31:56] And you know that by the Holy Spirit testifying to you, that you are his, that you are the Lord's.

[32:07] Because by the grace of God, you're unable to drink from the fountain of life that's the Lord Jesus. But if you won't be participating this morning in the supper, remember this.

[32:20] It's not for perfect people. It's not for, you know, some kind of spiritual elite that only those who are of some kind of spiritual elite that are to be at the place where the Lord's suppers to spend.

[32:32] It's not at all. It's a meal for sinners, but sinners saved by grace. It's a meal for those who've repented of their sins and asked Jesus into their heart as Saviour.

[32:43] It means that everyone who's going to be in this act of remembrance, that you're testifying to what Jesus has done for you.

[32:56] It means that it's possible for you to come into fellowship with him. And you who have given your life to Jesus, well, yes, testify.

[33:08] Testify by this simple, silent act of remembrance. But if you haven't yet come to know Jesus as Saviour, yes, you'll be looking on.

[33:20] But look on with hope of your salvation. Long to know Jesus. Long to meet with him. Be assured of this when you know him as Saviour.

[33:30] When you give your life to him, you know that your place amongst the Lord's people is assured and utterly assured for all eternity. We're going to sing in Psalm 118.

[33:44] Yes, prepare your hearts for participating in the supper. As we sing these words, use them to prepare your heart to receive the bread and the wine.

[33:57] We'll sing from verse 15 to 18 in the Tunis Cunningham. 21, rather. The tune of the Tunis Cunningham. In dwellings of the righteous, his hair the melody of joy and health.

[34:08] The Lord's right hand does ever valiantly. 15 to 21.예요. Amen. Coloss 팔� Лето.

[34:25] The tune of the Tunis Cunningham. the melody of joy and hell, the Lord trident of ever valiant thee. The light and hope of the mighty Lord, exalted in the night, that I must offer thy dear Lord, the ever valiant thee.

[35:23] I shall love thy heart with and shall the works of all this love earth. The Lord that may just have the heart of the earth.

[35:55] O set me, O plan, unto thee, the gates of earth.

[36:09] I just have and will I enter into death, and I the Lord will plan.

[36:27] the this is the gate of God, and I in the God shall enter in.

[36:43] the and will I pray for thou be earth, and that might save thee.

[36:59] Amen. Amen. Our Lord and Saviour, we truly do give thanks for this time of communion.

[37:18] We remember your death until you come, until you return. Lord, bless, we pray this time. Bless the hearts of your people gathered to, to remember, and then remembering to act upon that remembering of what Jesus has done for them.

[37:37] Bless those who will be watching on. Lord, draw them to yourself by the power of your Spirit, that they will in turn come to sit with the Lord's people and show forth by public testimony and confession that Jesus is Lord, their Lord.

[37:57] hear us now as we carry out what you've commanded us to do. For the glory of your name we pray. Amen. For I received from the Lord, for I also delivered to you, that the Lord Jesus on the night he was betrayed, took bread.

[38:19] And when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, this is my body which is for me. In the same way also he took the cup after supper saying, this cup is the new covenant in my blood.

[38:32] Do this as often as you drink it in remembrance of me. For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes.

[38:45] options that I buy rich in the Read .

[39:06] Thank you.

[39:36] Thank you.

[40:06] Thank you.

[40:36] Thank you.

[41:06] Thank you.

[41:36] Thank you.

[42:06] Thank you.

[42:36] Thank you. Thank you.

[43:36] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[44:38] Thank you. Thank you.

[45:10] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[45:22] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

[45:34] Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. family. To their hope and gratitude glory and So let it be Let me praise mercy and peace from God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit rest upon and remain with you both now and forevermore. Amen.

[46:29]  Amen.