This is the second of three sermons published in Gweithiau Williams Pant-Y-Celyn, Cyfrol II (The Works of Williams Pantycelyn, Part 2) edited by Rev N Cynhafal Jones DD, published by W Jones, Newport, Mon, 1891.  Translation by Revd Meirion Morris, with thanks.

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Galatians 6.14: 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.

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Without question, great is the mystery of godliness!  It is beyond any comparison, it is wondrous beyond any ability that we have to compare it to anything in creation!  God was manifested in the flesh; but not only this, he was also crucified in the flesh.  Of all the mysteries, this is the greatest and the most difficult to give an account of.  That though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped … taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men ... becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.  This is a great mystery, so great that it goes beyond, and raises to eternity, all our imaginings, and it could never have been thought of, had it not been revealed to us.  And when it was revealed by God himself and preached by his apostles, men were so far from believing it that many were slandered, many were considered as nothing because of their eagerness to preach this gospel.  The Jews were offended to the extent that they raged against this truth as they were told that Christ, the one who was crucified in Jerusalem, was the Messiah.  So to them Jesus became a stumbling block.  And in the same way to the Greeks, who boasted continually in their wisdom and their knowledge, it became foolishness.  In this way the preaching of the cross came to be foolishness to those who were lost.  But to those who were called, the power of God.  ‘For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.’

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We find in the text firstly the apostle rejecting any desire to boast in and of himself.  Secondly, we get a statement of the object in which he did boast, the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.

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1.

The apostle’s rejection of boasting in himself.  Here he decides to negate that hypocrisy and the desires of the false apostles, those people who were eager to have an appearance of goodness – they wanted to be counted by men as righteous, they wanted the praise of men, they would boast in their lineage, in their earthly privileges, they would boast in those outward gifts they possessed, their natural gifts and the power that they had won, and they would boast in their teaching and in their ability to speak, etc.  But, says the apostle, ‘God forbid that I should boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.’  He not only rejects, but he hates boasting in anything else with a perfect hatred.  He doesn’t oppose their boasting in lineage and outward appearance because he himself was bereft of these things.  We are allowed to know in the third chapter of the epistle to the Philippians that he did have things that he could boast in, but that this boasting was in contradiction to the gospel of Christ.  If we were only to look around us, we would see that everybody is eager to boast in something or other.  Everybody considers themselves on account of something.  There is hardly anything on earth that some people will not boast in, although they have no basis or reason to do so.  So the Lord says, ‘“Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth.”’

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One will boast in his wisdom when perhaps his wisdom is very unwise.  Another will boast in his strength when his strength is but weakness. Another will boast in his wealth, but what is his wealth?  It is poverty in comparison to the blessings of God’s right hand.It appears that these foolish Galatians were ashamed of the cross of Christ.  They were of the persecution, the hardness of heart that they saw in people, and the way that the Jews treated them.  And in order to protect themselves these false teachers would preach circumcision, urging the people to the point where they would be trusting in law again.

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These foolish and unwise Galatians were only precursors to the thousands of people in our day who are ashamed to confess faith in Christ crucified.  But the apostle was of a different mind.  He expresses his opposition to boasting in anything.  Not in his privileges as a Jew, not in his moral righteousness, not in his gifts or his attainments, not in his labour or his success, not in his work in bringing his body captive to any legal ordinances, or even evangelical ordinances, but rather only ‘in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.’

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2.

We have here his declaration of what the object of his boasting was, the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ.  In speaking of the cross of Christ he meant either the weakness and the shame, the persecution he suffered for the cause of Christ and the gospel; or he meant the gospel itself, the doctrine of the cross, the doctrine of Christ and salvation through the cross; or perhaps the crucified Christ himself, the one whom he preached although many counted this to be foolishness and to others he was a stumbling block.  He boasted in him and he decided that he didn’t want to know or have anything to do with anybody who prioritised salvation other than through Christ.  He boasted in Christ, not only as God, or as the one who was able to perform so many miracles, but as the crucified one.  He boasted in the effects of the crucifixion, in the peace, in the forgiveness, in the righteousness, in the life, in the salvation, in the eternal glory that follows that work.  He boasted in Christ, in his wisdom, his righteousness, his sanctification.  *

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It is obvious that the meaning of his words is that he has decided to boast in the salvation which was worked out by Christ, despite the shame and the slander, despite the accusations, despite the pain that could follow the work of boasting in the cross.

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But I hear you ask, ‘In whom do we boast?’  We can see this quickly if we cast our eyes just for a short while on the cross and look to see who is on that cross.  Who?  The eternal Son of God!  The great God of eternity!  The man who is a friend of God!  To what purpose was he lifted up there?  He carried our sins in his body to the cross.  He bought us freedom from the curse of the law.  ‘He was crushed for our iniquities,’ etc.  ‘“Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!”  ’We can see, therefore, that it would avail us nothing were we not able to boast in this cross.  *  *  *

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In whom therefore can we boast?  Can we boast in anything other than the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ?  What does a sinner have to boast in other than the cross of Christ?  And as we consider his cross we mean all his sufferings from the beginning of his life to his ascension, through the cross to the right hand of God.

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Many are ashamed of the cross to this day, but he suffered the cross taking no account of the shame and he is now at the right hand of God. He boasted in the cross and all the ignominy that was associated with that cross.  So it was said of Moses that ‘he considered the reproach of Christ greater wealth than the treasures of Egypt.’  *  *  Many of the disciples rejoiced that they were allowed to be accounted worthy to suffer for the name of Christ.  Paul himself rejoiced in his sufferings insomuch as he was filling up what was lacking in Christ's afflictions.

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3.

Finally we are going to look at what the effects of this boasting in the cross of Christ are.  The effects are that ‘the world is crucified to me and I to the world.’  *  *  *

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By whom is the world crucified to me?  The apostle was not afraid of the world.  He wasn’t afraid of the worst things in it.  They were almost nothing to him compared to the one who was crucified for him.  As Christ through his crucifixion, his death, had conquered the world, the prince of this world, the anger and malice of the world and the sin which is in it, and showed himself to be more than conqueror.  Paul’s faith was in this conqueror who had conquered the world in such a way.  He looked at the cross as the Israelites looked upon the dead who were overcome by God’s power in the exodus.  He counted as nothing all those things that appealed to the flesh.  The doctrine of the cross and Christ crucified had taught him to deny all wealth, all honour, all pleasure, all gain, everything that the world could offer.  These things were to him as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus his Lord.

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* There are signs like this in the manuscript which indicate that Williams didn’t fully write his sermon but intended to add to what he wrote.

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Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.