His Life For Yours

[0:00] All right, if you've got a Bible, make your way to the book of Galatians, the book of Galatians.

[0:24] And while you're turning there, Sarah, what a fantastic job at putting that worship set together. Like, what a great time of worship we've had tonight through music, and I am ready to preach.

[0:36] I hope you're ready to listen. All right? So look at Galatians chapter 2, and also turning your Bibles to 2 Corinthians 5. We're going to read a few different verses this evening.

[0:47] So Galatians chapter 2 and 2 Corinthians chapter 5. We started a series, for those of you that maybe have been out a few weeks, I've actually been out several weeks.

[0:57] I just got back last week from a five-week sabbatical, and last weekend I kind of started what's really a mini-series, just a few weeks, as I went on the footsteps of the Apostle Paul and went on that journey and really studied and looked at his life while at the same time reflecting on my own.

[1:19] There were things about the Apostle Paul's life that really convicted me, and the Lord really taught me. And so I'm just kind of taking a few weeks as I enter back in here to Faith Family to share some of those things before we start our next series in the book of Acts.

[1:34] And so tonight, I want to look at something that is very—and by the way, if you missed last week, I don't normally say this, but I do encourage you to go back and listen to last week's message, not because it was a good sermon, but because it's incredible truth.

[1:50] And what we looked at was how the Apostle Paul learned that where real strength is found is not in strength, but in weakness. And in a world that's trying to tell you to be strong, if you want to experience the power of Christ in you, it won't be in your might.

[2:12] It won't be in your strengths. It won't be in anything about you but your weakness. As Paul said, I learned that his grace is sufficient. His power is perfect in weakness.

[2:24] So if you missed last week, go back and listen to that message, and I trust that it will be an encouragement to you. So tonight, we look at Galatians chapter 2, and then also 2 Corinthians chapter 5.

[2:37] And so if you're able to stand, would you please do so as we honor the reading of God's word. Galatians chapter 2 and verse 19, again, familiar verses, but something that just hit me even deeper on sabbatical, and I want to encourage you with it tonight.

[2:54] Galatians chapter 2 verse 19 says, for through the law, I died to the law so that I might live to God.

[3:06] I have been crucified with Christ, and it's no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me.

[3:17] And 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.

[3:30] Now, if you're in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, look at 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 14. If not, it'll be on the screen. For the love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this, that one has died for all, therefore all have died, and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

[4:07] We'll spend the rest of our lives understanding this truth. So would you pray with me as tonight I try to teach us from God's word? Lord, we're here. We're ready.

[4:18] We're excited for what you're going to speak to us about tonight. Give us ears to hear. Give us hearts to receive this glorious truth. Thank you for reminding me again, just through sabbatical, what the Christian life really is all about.

[4:36] Because honestly, Lord, you know how I drift in my thinking. You know how easy it is for me to get sucked into wrong ways of thinking about this life.

[4:48] And so I know there are people here this evening and there are people listening online that have had that same drift. Bring us back to what this life, the Christian life, is really all about.

[5:01] And I pray this in Jesus, who is going to do all the work and get all the glory here tonight. I pray it in his name. And God's people said, amen. Amen.

[5:12] You can be seated. According to Greg Zuckerman, who is a writer for the Wall Street Journal, it was the greatest trade ever.

[5:23] In fact, in his book, by that exact same title, Zuckerman gives a behind-the-scenes look at the hedge fund manager by the name of John Powelson.

[5:34] Back in 2006, Powelson realized something that very few other people realized. He recognized that the housing market and the value of subprime mortgages were extremely inflated and was headed for a major crash.

[5:53] But even though his background was in like corporate mergers and acquisitions, John didn't really understand anything about the real estate market. He was convinced that this was his opportunity.

[6:08] He took his idea to some friends in the investment banking industry and they dismissed him. They thought he was crazy. Still, there were a few people that bought into his idea and they began to invest heavily against the risky mortgages and financial companies.

[6:28] Initially, as they invested, they started losing a lot because the real estate market continued to go up. But he kept doubling down. He put his life and his reputation on the line.

[6:42] And then, and I know many of you remember this, summer of 2007, that big dive that took place as the markets began to implode.

[6:54] And by that year's end, Powelson had pulled off what Zuckerman calls the greatest trade and financial history.

[7:05] It set all new records for payouts on Wall Street. These trades earned Powelson somewhere in the neighborhood of this.

[7:19] One billion, gajillion, fithillion. Shabbatoo-doodle-loo-ly-million, shabbatoo-daw-ly-million. Yeah. Let's just say he did all right.

[7:30] All right. It was somewhere between like 15 and 20 billion dollars that he received in return from these trades.

[7:42] And of course, great trades don't just happen on Wall Street. We see great trades that take place in other areas of life. One of those areas that you see it frequently is in sports.

[7:52] Back in 1996, the Charlotte Hornets traded their draft spot to the LA Lakers for Vlade Divac. Show of hands who remembers Vlade Divac?

[8:03] Yeah, three of you. Right? And in exchange, what did the Lakers get in return? Oh, just the guy by the name of Kobe Bryant. How many of you have heard of Kobe? Yeah, like everybody.

[8:14] Or what about in 1920, the New York Yankees, God's team in case you're listening, right? Gave the Boston Red Sox some cash. In exchange, the Yankees got a guy by the name of?

[8:28] Babe Ruth. Let me ask you this, faith family. Have you ever been on the good end of a trade? Have you ever been on the good end of a trade?

[8:40] No doubt you've probably been on the bad end at some trades, but you've experienced in one way or another a good trade. It may not have won you billions of dollars. It might not even have won you a championship, but you know what it's like to be on the good end of an exchange.

[8:55] Maybe for you, you traded in that stressful job, and in return, you got more time with your family. Maybe that was the trade. Maybe you traded in that momentary pleasure of dessert, and in return, you got the enjoyment of being healthy.

[9:12] Maybe you're on the other end of that example, and you traded in the salad to immerse yourself in the cheesecake, and all God's people said, amen. Or maybe you traded in that old clunker for something a little more reliable to drive.

[9:28] I mean, whatever it is, everybody knows what it's like to be on the good end of a trade. As I reflected during my sabbatical, I thought about, listen to me, faith family, come in close here and those of you online, I reflected on the trade that the Apostle Paul made, the trade that he made with his life.

[9:55] And of course, it's the trade that's at the heart of the gospel. And listen, listen, listen to me. It's the greatest trade ever. It really is the greatest trade ever.

[10:11] It's a trade I've known. It's a trade I've preached. It's a trade I've personally made. But listen to me. It is a trade I'm still, all these years later, still learning how to live in.

[10:29] And here it is. Notice it on the screen. The greatest trade you will ever make is trading your life for Christ's life.

[10:41] That is the greatest trade you will ever experience in your life. And I know that sounds good. Three of you clapped. I really appreciate those of you in the back who clapped for me.

[10:52] Rest of you, wake up, right? I know that this sounds good. It even sounds biblical. It's something that you amen. But can we also be honest about this?

[11:03] I'm certainly honest with you tonight about this. Most of us don't live in this reality. Trade your life for the life of Christ.

[11:13] Amen, pastor. How do I do that? And what does that look like? Because here's what I know about me. Here's the reason why I don't daily function out of that reality.

[11:27] Are you listening? Because the thing you and I are obsessed about most days is our life. So I'll amen.

[11:39] Yes, my life for the life of Christ, but I don't function out of that reality daily because the thing of which I am most obsessed with on most days is me.

[11:50] Amen? The greatest idol in my life is my life. Only me? Some of you are looking at me, you're such a sinner, pastor.

[12:02] The greatest idol in your life is your life, which is what's keeping us from living in this gospel freedom that is the trade of the gospel, that is the exchange of the gospel, a trade the apostle Paul understood.

[12:22] Let me break it down this way. This is kind of how I summarized it in my own notes, and maybe this will be helpful to you. There's kind of three approaches to life, three approaches to life that people take.

[12:34] Here's the first. You might call it my life and only my life. That is, I am obsessed with me. Now, people wouldn't necessarily admit that because that sounds really prideful, but in terms of just functionally, daily, they're pretty much just obsessed with themselves.

[12:53] There's no trade here. In other words, I have my life, I have my money, I have my time, I have my things, and they are mine. I'm not trading it for anything.

[13:05] My life is my life. And I would submit to you, faith family, that this is the unbeliever, the person that has never surrendered their life. They are all about their life.

[13:17] It's all about them. And so one way that you can live is my life and only my life, and there's a whole lot of people in the world that live that way, amen? Here's the second approach.

[13:28] Now we're getting closer to home for those of us in the church, those of us who would consider ourselves Christians. It's my life and Christ's life. Listen, this isn't a trade.

[13:43] It's a merger. It's not a trade. It's a merger. What I mean, and this is again where most Christians live, it's where I can easily drift towards, and it looks like this.

[13:56] Here it is. I worship Jesus. Now the first category wouldn't say that. They worship themselves. They only care about themselves. But in this category, I worship Jesus.

[14:07] I believe in Jesus. I trust Jesus. But, are you with me? My identity is in my life. My confidence is in my life.

[14:19] My acceptance is in my life. So it's, yes, I want to exalt the life of Christ and me.

[14:31] Again, it's not a trade. It's a merger. And I'm trying to live with this faith in Jesus, but building most of my confidence in what I do and who I am and how I live.

[14:47] That's where I am far too often if you want to know about your pastor. It's where I think many Christians functionally, not theologically, but functionally find themselves.

[15:01] But here's the third approach, and this is, as I reflected on sabbatical, this is what I began to be reminded of about the Apostle Paul's life, and it's this. Here's the third approach. My life for Christ's life.

[15:15] It's not my life and only my life. It's not my life and Christ's life. It's my life for Christ's life. This, are you listening, is a trade.

[15:27] It's not a merger. It's a trade. It's a trade where you wholly, fully, completely, and daily, I hope you're listening, base everything, and I mean everything, did I say everything, not on your life, but on his.

[15:45] Your identity isn't about your life, it's about his life. Your confidence isn't about your life, it's in his life. Your future hope isn't about your life, it's in his life.

[15:59] This is the trade of the gospel. This is the great exchange, and the Apostle Paul understood it. He got it, and it revolutionized the way he lived his life.

[16:16] I pray it will ours as well. So you say, are you ever going to get to the text? To which I say, hush, who asked you? But it's a good idea.

[16:27] Let's get to the text. The church in Galatia is why I spent all that time going through that. Because context matters. Listen to me. The church in Galatia was being influenced by approach number two.

[16:42] There were a group that's called the Judaizers. If you've ever studied the book of Galatians, you've probably heard that term. If not, it's not a big deal. But a group called the Judaizers was influencing these Galatian Christians, and what they were teaching was, yes, Christ's life.

[17:01] Of course, Christ's life. But your life as well. Let me show you this, an example in Galatians chapter 6. We'll come to Galatians 2 in just a moment.

[17:14] But look at Galatians chapter 6 and verse 12. Galatians 6 and verse 12. If not, you'll see it on the screen here. Paul says, It's those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they might not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.

[17:38] 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. So if I could break it down simply, this is what the Judaizers were teaching it.

[17:53] Notice point number one. It's my life plus his life. In other words, rather than a full and complete trade, as I've said earlier, they were attempting a merger.

[18:05] Listen, rather than losing everything for someone else, they were trying to keep their thing and get another thing.

[18:18] Think about that. They're trying to keep their thing, their life, and get another life, the life of Jesus. And Paul rebukes the Judaizers in the two verses that we just read, both in their message and in their motivation.

[18:33] Their message and their motivation was too much about their own life. Let me break this down. First, their message. It won't be on the screen, but if you notice in verse 12 again, he says that they forced you to be circumcised.

[18:49] You see, the Judaizers encouraged faith in Jesus, but they also encouraged that you had to keep the Old Testament law, specifically circumcision.

[19:00] And you had to do this, this is important, in order to have a right standing with God. Listen, if, come here, come here, come here, come here. If you want to have a right standing with God, if you want God to love you, if you want him to be pleased with you, it's his life and your life.

[19:13] It's not his life alone. No, you've got to keep the law. You've got to do these things. You've got to live up to that. You've got to be, if you're male, you've got to be circumcised. And on and on, they would hold these laws onto these Galatian believers.

[19:26] In other words, being right with God was based on your life and his life. It was a system, listen, built on self and Savior. Savior isn't enough.

[19:38] You must include self. But Paul will teach the Galatians this, and he does this throughout the book, notice it on the screen, that false gospels focus on what you do for God, the gospel actually focuses on what God has done for you.

[19:55] Let me say it a different way. A false gospel includes your life. The true gospel is only about his life. That's what Paul teaches in Galatians.

[20:07] So how do you know when you're not in alignment with the gospel? You're putting the emphasis on your life. Now, that's their message. He also, in these two verses, rebuked their motive.

[20:20] Again, it won't be on the screen, but verse 12 says that they were trying to avoid persecution. Verse 13 says, they use you to boast. Look at, like, in our time, it's look at how many baptisms we have.

[20:35] In their time, it would have been, look how many circumcisions we have, which is really weird. Like, that's a really weird invitation at church. Like, if anybody needs to make a decision for the Lord, never mind.

[20:46] All right? But they would boast in how many circumcisions. Like, look at all that we have done in our ministry. So who is the emphasis on in their ministry? Their life.

[20:57] What they have accomplished. Look at this on the screen. Their message was focused on self, what you do for God. And their motive was focused on self, or their life, trying to look good for others.

[21:13] The Jews are happy with us. You are something we can boast in because our ministry is successful. And so what Paul had to address with these Galatian Christians is that their approach was his life and my life.

[21:31] Now here's my question. Why the pull towards our life? What's the pull towards self? And it's what I said earlier.

[21:43] that the greatest idol in your life is you. The greatest idol in my life is me. That was certainly true of Old Testament Israel.

[21:53] Look, this is so, anybody like me, I just, I love the Bible because it is so insightful to the human condition. Like, it just, like it brings, it's sharper than any two-edged sword.

[22:06] It cuts, it convicts, it brings the junk out of my heart and soul. And so look, look here at Israel and what God says to his own people.

[22:16] This is Hosea, one of my favorite Old Testament books. Hosea 10, verse 13. God says to people, you have plowed iniquity, you've reaped injustice, you've eaten the fruit of lies.

[22:31] Now here's why. Here's why you've plowed iniquity and reaped injustice and eaten the fruit of lies. Because you've trusted in what? Your own way.

[22:43] And in the multitude of your warriors. Therefore, this is so insightful, the tumult of war shall rise among your people and all your fortresses shall be destroyed.

[22:56] Can I break that down simply and plainly? Here's what God is saying to his people. Look at it on the screen. The trouble in their life was directly connected with trusting in their life.

[23:11] The reason why you're so burdened, the reason why you're dealing with all the stuff that you're dealing with, the reason why you've got all these problems is because you're trusting in you.

[23:25] The emphasis of your life is your life. I mean, God is telling his people, Israel, the reason why all this is happening to you is because you've trusted in you.

[23:39] You've looked to your own way. You see, Israel, just like the Judaizers, listen, we're trying to pull off a merger. The same merger that many of us in this place are trying to pull off.

[23:52] It's the merger of our life and his life. And what is so insightful about this passage is this, at least it is to me, most of your problems would go away if you'd stop making your life about your life.

[24:09] Most of your problems would go away if you'd stop making your life about your life. And it's so insightful, and here's why I think this is insightful. So let me take just a moment here, and then we'll get to the other side of the coin, which is the freedom of the gospel.

[24:22] Come into your close, Faith Family. Let's talk. Here's what I know about Faith Family. Faith Family. Here's what I know about Faith Family. We are a Jesus plus nothing people.

[24:34] Amen? We're Jesus plus nothing. So in other words, if I came in here one weekend and I started teaching Jesus plus something, almost all of you would sniff that out and rightly rebuke me.

[24:51] If I started saying, if you really want to be loved by God and have a right standing before God and make God pleased with you, it's Jesus and baptism. It's Jesus and a specific spiritual gift.

[25:03] It's Jesus and whatever. You would sniff that out and you would say, that is not the gospel. It is by faith in Christ alone and not of works, lest anyone be able to boast.

[25:17] It's a gift of God. And other verses that you would quote at me and you should. So what's my point? Listen. While we know our life cannot save us spiritually, all of us know that our life cannot save us spiritually, we still look to our life to save us functionally.

[25:43] Think with me. Okay? Think with me. While all of us here at Faith Family, your preacher included, knows that our life can't save us spiritually, your preacher often looks to his life to save him functionally, just like Israel.

[26:00] You trust in your own way. That's why you are where you are. Now, what's even more insightful here is how even the secular culture we live in has picked up on some of this.

[26:11] This article was written some time ago in the New York Magazine, an article called The Culture of Self-Help, talking about how if you walk in Barnes & Noble, the biggest area is the self-help section.

[26:23] Like, we are a culture obsessed with looking to ourselves to save ourselves, to look to ourselves, to help ourselves. And the writer of this article, not a believer so far as I know, was so insightful about the problem with self-help.

[26:40] Do you know what the problem with self-help is? You stink at it. You're terrible at helping yourself. And here's what the author writes, quote, say you want to be skinny.

[26:52] You sign on with Weight Watchers. You get the membership at the gym. You read books about losing weight like French women don't get fat. You record every workout. You track your steps.

[27:02] You count your calories. So how do you explain the impulsive Oreo binge? Or say you're a self-identified codependent. You have a therapist.

[27:14] You talk to yourself every morning and you tell yourself what you will and will not do that day. So how do you explain being back in that unhealthy relationship again? Or say you're a professional writer who knows that good writing takes time and should be finished on time.

[27:30] So how do you explain, okay, let's drop the pretense. Why am I writing this article at 4 a.m. in the morning two days past my deadline?

[27:42] How can I want to achieve a goal so badly that I will spend significant time, money, and energy trying to reach it while at the same time needing to be bribed, motivated, helped, persuaded, tricked, or punished with a compliance rate that is inconsistent at best?

[28:07] That's really insightful. Let me summarize what that, again, secular author is saying. Here it is on the screen. The problem with self-help is it finds help in the self.

[28:20] You are, like Israel, looking to your own way. You're looking within yourself to save yourself. Not spiritually. Oh no, you're far more theologically advanced than that.

[28:32] But functionally you do. You get in trouble, you have problems, you have things in life, and you think my life will be what gets me out of this.

[28:44] Can I open the mailbag in my own life? Some of you even last week even shared like, man, pastor, we could really sense your heart. And I hope that's true when I preach.

[28:57] I'm no different than you. The Lord has just given me a different gift for the body of Christ, which is the proclamation of the word. But I can be real and upfront about my life, and so let me give you an example from my life and then we'll move on.

[29:12] Here's how all this came to light for me. As many of you I've told during sabbatical, I worked with like a ministry counselor, and in one of our sessions, the ministry counselor said this.

[29:25] I don't think I'll ever forget this. He said, what's your greatest concern? what's your biggest fear? And I thought and reflected and I said, well, I think I have several of them because I'm a mess, but I think one of them is I'm afraid that people will think I'm a failure.

[29:50] I mean, what if the sermon's bad and nobody comes back? Or what if like people get to know me and I totally destroy their pastor bubble of the perfect pastor life or whatever?

[30:04] Like, what if people think I'm a failure? And this is what he said to me. And this is where, again, Paul's understanding of this just came alive. He said this, your problem is not that you're afraid to be a failure.

[30:18] Your problem is you think you can be a success. Ow. Ow. That hurt.

[30:30] Let me say what he said again. He said this, your problem is not that you're afraid to be a failure. Your problem is that you think you can be a success. And what I begin to understand is this. Listen, Faith Family, my fear of failure was a looking to myself for some kind of salvation.

[30:48] Are you tracking with me? Are you thinking with me tonight? In other words, your pastor will preach Jesus plus nothing all day long.

[31:00] Why? Because that's the gospel. And yet daily, I'll try, listen, to merge my attempts at a successful life with his life.

[31:13] And so that's what I'm saying. Like, even if you're here and you're like, I don't really need this message because I don't think it's faith plus works. I think it's faith alone. And what I'm saying is yes, you believe that theologically. Yes, you believe that spiritually.

[31:25] But you more than you realize and I more than I realize though I'm coming to realize it more, like Israel, trust in your own way. You base your confidence, identity, and righteousness more on your life than you think you do.

[31:41] And this, if we're going to experience the freedom of the gospel, is what we must unpack. I'm not trying to be controversial here, but I remember, and some of you will know what I'm talking about, but there was a well-known pastor that had a whole thing on don't waste your life many years ago and wrote a book called Don't Waste Your Life, and I think there's a lot of things in that that are good, some things I would agree with, but I remember hearing that don't waste your life and being like, yeah, ooh, because I know there are things in my life I've wasted.

[32:19] Like, I know there are opportunities that I've wasted. Anybody with me? Like, if getting to the end is hoping I haven't wasted my life, I'm terrified at that.

[32:32] And then I begin to realize that the good news of the gospel is that there actually is one and only one unwasted life, and it isn't mine.

[32:46] And so therefore, if I'm putting my confidence in that I'm not wasting my life, that could lead me to despair. But if I realize that regardless of whether or not my life is wasted or unwasted, they're actually, never mind, and there is one who didn't waste his life but lived the perfect life, and that leads us to what Paul understood, the trade that Paul made.

[33:15] What's the salvation for the my life and his life? Look at chapter 6, verse 14. Chapter 6, verse 14, we're in Galatians. But far be it from me, so he's just exposed the grounds of boasting of the Galatians, 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.

[33:47] In other words, Paul's emphasis is, listen, are you listening? Paul's emphasis is not on the exaltation of self, it's on the crucifixion of self.

[34:01] life. The Judaizers teach and are motivated by their life. If I can keep the Old Testament law with faith in Jesus, his life and my life will be enough.

[34:18] And Paul actually takes a very different approach and he says this, when it comes to your life, here's what you do. Die! be crucified!

[34:35] Come to the end of basing anything on your life. Here's the point, it's my life for his life.

[34:48] Paul is saying that the gospel way is boasting not in yourself, but in the crucifixion of yourself. And now we get to the verses that I read at the beginning.

[34:58] Look at Galatians 2 verse 19 again. For through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. You know this verse. I have been what?

[35:10] Crucified with Christ. It's no longer what? I who live, but what is it? Christ who lives in me. What life is the accent on?

[35:23] The life of Christ. I died, but it's Christ who lives in me. And 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.

[35:35] Look at 2 Corinthians 5.14 again. Are y'all with me tonight? I think you are. The love of Christ controls us because we have concluded this, that one has died for all, therefore all have died.

[35:50] He died, Jesus died for all that those who live might what? No longer live for their life, for themselves, but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

[36:10] Listen, faith family, Jesus died on the cross not just to forgive you of your sins. Listen, Jesus died on the cross that you would no longer live for you, and that nothing in your life would be about your life, that you would come to a crucifixion of yourself that you might truly live.

[36:36] This is the great trade. This is the great exchange that the apostle Paul understood, that we die to ourselves in every way, that we might find our boasting in and only in the life of Christ.

[36:51] I surrender my life. I trade it away. It is dead to me that I might have him and him alone.

[37:03] And it allows us to do this. First, to boast in my death. To boast in my death. Andrew Murray, great missionary, writes this.

[37:15] This was part of my reading that I did on sabbatical. It's a great quote. He says, one of the blessings of the cross consists in this. It teaches us to know the worthlessness of our efforts.

[37:28] The cross brings man to utter bankruptcy of himself. Then God can come to his aid. I love this last line. Are you ready? Here it is. We can have no Easter, resurrection to new life, or Pentecost, a spirit filled life.

[37:47] until we've had a good Friday. That'll preach. That'll preach. Two people are clapping, all of you should be.

[38:01] The good thing is, it's not about your clapping, it's about the righteousness of Jesus. All right? You cannot have an Easter or a Pentecost until you have a good Friday.

[38:11] God is the life, the risen life, and the spirit filled life. You're too late now, all right? Should have clapped earlier, right? Comes when you die to yourself.

[38:27] That means that nothing in my life is my identity, nothing in my life is my grounds for justification, nothing in my life is the basis of my future hope, nothing in my life is the grounds for God loving me more, and here's why, and this will set you free.

[38:42] Here it is, because my life is no longer about my life. I traded it away, and in exchange I got the life of Jesus. That to an American sounds awful, but to a Christian it's the hope of the gospel.

[38:58] We boast in our death that secondly we can boast in his life, and that's what Paul is saying, I boast in the cross. We looked at that last week, and listen, the super apostles want to talk about their strengths, and their amazing visions, and how great they are.

[39:13] Listen, I've got things I could boast in, but it wouldn't do any good, because you know what would come of it? You'd probably think greater of me than you should. So instead of boasting in those things I could boast in, here's what I'll boast in.

[39:26] I'm a mess. I'm weak. But you know what I've discovered in my weakness? The power of Christ, and that his grace is sufficient. It's similar to what he's saying here.

[39:37] I've come to the end of myself. There isn't anything to boast in. Oh yeah, we could talk about churches planted. We could talk about places traveled. We could talk about converts. I mean, you want to talk about converts, Judaizers.

[39:48] Listen, I would more than happy be willing to compare resumes on that, but here's what I've discovered. It's an absolute waste of time to boast in me, or anything I've done in my life.

[39:59] I boast in the cross. That's the only thing I have to boast in, and what that means practically is this. My identity is in his life, and my grounds for justification is in his life, and my desire for sanctification is in his life, and my basis for future hope is in his life, and my guarantee of eternal life is in his life.

[40:19] My assurance that God loves me is based entirely on the life of someone else, and his name is Jesus. That's the boasting in the cross. That is coming to the point where you've made the greatest trade you could ever make, which is giving up your life for his.

[40:34] not trying to merge the two, but crucify yourself that you would no longer live for you, but that Christ would live through you, and you say, well, can you give me an example practically as to what this might look like, and I'm almost done.

[40:50] I really am. Here's an example. Somebody asks you, how is your walk with Christ going? How are things going in your relationship with God? And listen to me, faithfully, I'm not trying to be picky with words.

[41:02] So what I'm not trying to turn you into is you're listening to somebody's answer and you're like, huh, I'm a whole lot more spiritual than you are. No, I'm not trying to get people to be picky, but I am trying to get you to think of this.

[41:16] Where's the accent? When you answer the question, how is your Christian walk going? How's your Christian life going? What's the emphasis on? So here's what someone might say.

[41:27] Oh, my walk with the Lord is going great. I'm teaching Bible study. I just led a lady to the Lord. Our church is growing. I just memorized the whole book of Romans in Greek or whatever.

[41:37] What's the accent on? Look at what I'm doing. And compare that to this response that could be worded a little differently. My walk with Jesus is going great, but trust me, it's not because of anything I'm doing.

[41:53] It's because Jesus has already lived the life I can't live for me. He died for my sins on the cross. He was raised from the dead to give me the victorious life, and he's making in me and doing things in me that are making me more like him.

[42:11] And however it gets worded, I'm not trying to make you picky Pharisees, but I'm just saying when you answer, how is your Christian life going, is the accent on your life or someone else's?

[42:24] Because where the accent should be placed is not on your life, but Christ's life in you. Here's what Jesus is doing for me.

[42:36] Here's what Jesus is teaching me. Here's how Jesus is conforming me. Let me tell you nothing about my life. Let me tell you everything about his life in me.

[42:47] Are you with me? That's the great exchange. A.B. Simpson wrote it this way, I often hear people say, I wish I could get hold of divine healing. I wish I could get hold of the blessing.

[42:59] I wish I could get hold of the theory. I wish I could get hold of the healing. I wish I could get hold of the sanctification. But I thank God that it is not the blessing, it's not the healing, it's not the sanctification, it's not the thing.

[43:14] It's something better. It is the Christ. It is himself. it is the life of Jesus Christ that we want.

[43:30] I close with this example. First, let me show you one thing in the text, and then I have an example, and we're done. What is the result of this trade? When you trade your life for his life, when you die to self, and you begin to realize that all of your identity and all your grounds of boasting and all your righteousness and basis of future hope and assurance of God's love, all of that is based on his life and not your own.

[43:54] Look at chapter 6, Galatians in verse 16, chapter 6 in verse 16, and as for all who walk by this rule, peace and mercy be upon them and upon the Israel of God.

[44:13] Do you really want peace in your life? Then stop making your life about your life. Israel, the reason why you're in so much trouble, the reason why you're experiencing so many problems is because you're trusting in your own way.

[44:31] But there's a different way, and the different way is not looking to your way and not looking to your life, but looking solely and completely and daily to the life that has already been lived for you.

[44:46] And when, and faith family, I feel like I'm relearning this, when you begin to realize, okay, what they say about me, what they think about me, what they whatever, who cares?

[45:00] Because it isn't about my life. My hope isn't getting to the end of this life and hoping my life was enough.

[45:12] I'm trading that in for the life of Jesus for me. And Paul says that those who learn to live by that peace and mercy be upon them.

[45:27] And do you know why that's the case? It's because if you want to go back to the book of Genesis, you were created not to image you. You were created to image God.

[45:40] You don't exist for you, which is why the culture of self-help will never work, because you're trying to find help in yourself. When God is saying, I created you as an image bearer of God, you exist to reflect him.

[45:57] And so when you realize that you were created for God and not yourself, and when you cling to his life instead of your own, then peace and mercy will be upon your life.

[46:09] Thank you. And I join you in that applause, but let us also say we clap and we applaud it, but we need to embrace it and seek to live in it.

[46:25] All right, one example and we're done. And this is, I'll read this quickly, but I think this is a good way to end to give us an example of what I've just taught from the scripture, and then we'll close.

[46:36] It's actually from Hudson Taylor, another great missionary, and he actually wrote a letter, this is it, we're done, he wrote a letter to his sister, and the letter was called, you can go online and read it if you want, it's very, very long compared to the section I'll read, but the letter to his sister was actually called The Exchanged Life, and it's about when Hudson Taylor finally got it, when he began to realize this isn't a merger, it's a trade, where I've traded my life for his, and so this is what he says, and I'll close with this, you ready?

[47:11] The last month or more have been perhaps the happiest of my life. There's nothing new, and yet it's all new. In a word, whereas once I was blind, now I see, perhaps I shall make myself more clear if I go back a little.

[47:29] My mind has been greatly exercised for six or eight months, feeling the need personally and for our mission of more holiness, life, and power.

[47:40] I felt ingratitude, the danger of not living nearer to God. I prayed, agonized, fasted, strove, made resolutions, read the word more diligently, sought more time and rest for meditation, but all without effect.

[47:57] Every day, almost every hour, the consciousness oppressed me. I knew that if I could only abide in Christ, all would be well, but I could not.

[48:09] I began the day with prayer, determined not to take my eye from him for a moment, but the pressure of life and the constant interruptions apt to be so wearing often caused me to forget him, and each day brought its register of sin and failure.

[48:26] To will was indeed present, but how to perform, I found not. Anybody relate there? And then came the question, is there no rescue?

[48:41] Instead of growing stronger, I seemed to be getting weaker. I hated myself, I hated my sin, yet I gained no strength against it. I felt I was a child of God.

[48:52] His spirit in my heart would cry, Abba, Father, but to rise to the privileges as a child, I was utterly powerless. Now, I would not give the impression that this was the daily experience.

[49:04] There were seasons of joy in the Lord, but they were temporary. And when my agony of soul was at its height, listen, faith family, the spirit of God revealed the truth of our oneness with Jesus as I had ever known it before.

[49:23] But how to get faith strengthened, listen, not by striving after faith, my life, but by resting in the faithful one.

[49:37] Not by striving after faith, but by resting in the faithful one. Oh, finally, there was rest. Oh, my dear sister, it is a wonderful thing to really be one with the risen and exalted Savior, to be a member of Christ.

[49:58] For can I be poor, yet Christ be rich, and his resources are mine, for he is mine and is with me, and his life dwells in me.

[50:12] All this springs from the believer's oneness with Christ. He was agonized, had no idea if there was any rescue for this spiritual treadmill he was on until he realized it's not a merger, it's a trade.

[50:38] And he realized it wasn't about his life, but it was about the life of another, the life of Jesus Christ. So listen to me, faith family, regardless of what Greg Zuckerman says, John Paulson didn't make the greatest trade ever.

[50:57] He may have made millions, but that trade didn't give him peace, and that trade didn't set him free, and that trade won't last forever. And that's because the greatest trade that you will ever find, you won't find on Wall Street.

[51:15] The greatest trade you will ever find is found at Calvary. It was there that the one who was truly rich became poor so that you could be rich in God.

[51:28] It was there that the one who is truly righteous was made sin so that sinners like us could become the righteousness of God. It was there that the one and only perfect life was traded for yours.

[51:44] Look at me. Look at me. Make the trade. Make the trade. Stop with the merger.

[51:57] Stop with the merger. Make the trade. Come and die that you can live. Be crucified that his life might be in you.

[52:10] Oh, that we would in every possible way be crucified with Christ. That it is no longer we that would live, but it is Christ that would live in us.

[52:22] And God's people said, amen. Let's pray. Let's pray. Lord, teach me, teach your people. This is where it is at. This is where the rubber meets the road in the Christian life.

[52:38] Is this about your life and our life or is this completely and wholly and daily about your life? And even in those little ways, again, while we are a people that know it's Jesus plus nothing, we know that it's faith alone, it's not of works, we get that, we believe the gospel, and yet there are functional ways where we're looking to our own life to be our Savior, to be our identity, to give us confidence.

[53:14] And I pray that we would not only identify it, we would crucify it. so that we, this is what I want, and I need your spirit to get me there, we all do, Lord, I want us to get to the point where it is always and only about the life of Jesus.

[53:39] So help us identify the drift in our own heart and soul towards self, love, the way we look to that idol to save us and really help us live in the great exchange, the trade of the gospel, which is our life for his life.

[54:04] And we're going to celebrate that now. We're going to think and meditate on the cross of Jesus as we partake of communion. And I pray that we would be reminded that he made him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God.

[54:24] That's a good trade. That's the gospel trade. Help us worship in that now as we partake in Jesus' name.

[54:36] Amen. Amen.