"Brother, I wish you would frankly tell me what you think of my sermon this morning." So said a young minister to an aged servant of our Lord, who was present in his congregation.

"Well, my son," said the other, "There was much about it that could be commended. It was evident that you had studied your subject diligently, and spent much time in preparation. Your arguments were clear, logical, and forcible. Your delivery was excellent. And yet I must confess that I consider it a very poor sermon."

"But why?" asked the young man in amazed perplexity.

"Because you did not present the Christ and His Cross," was the answer.

"But," expostulated the younger man, "my text said nothing about Christ and the Cross."

"Ah, laddie," returned the aged saint, "it will be a great day for your ministry when you come to realize that from every text in the Bible there is a path which leads directly to the Cross of Christ, and to the Christ of the Cross!"

In our last study of Paul's Epistle to the Galatians, we saw that Chapter I furnishes an illuminating background for the corrective message of this Epistle. In that study, of necessity, we focused attention upon the man, Paul, and upon his ministry. But we would fall far short of a satisfactory exposition of this chapter if we were to fail to point out its rich content of teaching concerning our Lord Jesus Christ. And we would rob ourselves of rich blessing if we did not appropriate that teaching to our own lives. Let us, then, consider in this study what this chapter reveals concerning our blessed Lord and our relationship with Him. First we may learn from Galatians 1:1 that OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IS THE RIGHTFUL SOVEREIGN OF THE SERVANT:

"Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father."

In so saying Paul speaks not only for himself, but for every believer who has been willing frankly to face God's claim upon his life and to yield his life to Him and to enter His service.

In saying this we are not thinking exclusively, nor even primarily, of those who are engaged in so-called, full-time service. God wants EVERY Christian to yield his life to Him, in keeping with the appeal of Romans 12:1-2:

"I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.

Like unto this is the appeal of Romans 6: 13:

"Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin: but yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God."

The service of our Lord may take many forms. The preaching and teaching of the minister, the soul-stirring campaigns of the evangelist, the itinerant evangelism and teaching ministry of the missionary, are only a few. God needs consecrated laymen and lay-women to serve in a thousand ways in witnessing for Him; and the layman who knows that he is a business man by the will of God, and as such is seeking to serve his Lord, to bear his testimony for Him, and to give a faithful account of his stewardship, is just as much a servant of Christ as is the most devoted preacher.

And so, in another epistle, the Holy Spirit, by the Apostle Paul, addresses a stirring exhortation to those who are bond-slaves according to the flesh:

"Servants, be obedient to them that are your masters according to the flesh, with fear and trembling, in singleness of your heart, as unto Christ; not with eyeservice, as menpleasers; but as the servants of Christ doing the will of God from the heart" (Eph. 6:5-6).

Happy, indeed, is he, whether preacher or layman, who has learned thus to serve his Lord!

But we must hasten on to note here also that CHRIST IS THE SOURCE OF OUR PEACE:

"Grace be to you, and peace, from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1:3).

How wonderful is the peace which our Lord Jesus Christ gives to those whose hearts are occupied with Him! Of this peace Isaiah says,

"Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee: because he trusteth in Thee" (Isa. 26:3).

And none other than our blessed Lord could ever give such peace as is described in Phil. 4:6-7:

"Be careful (anxious) for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

"And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

Troubled believer! Cease from your faithless striving and straining to accomplish what only the Lord can accomplish! Lay down your crushing burden of worry and doubt! Nay! do not cease to labor, but as you labor let your heart rest by faith in the gracious providence, and wisdom, and power of Him Who has said,

"Peace I leave with you. My peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid" (John 14:27).

Again we note that OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST IS THE SAVIOUR OF OUR LIVES:

"Who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil world (age), according to the will of God and our Father" (Gal. 1:4).

Salvation has three tenses. The PAST TENSE is salvation from the penalty of sin. This was complete, final, and eternal the moment we trusted the Lord Jesus Christ as our Saviour (John 5:24). The PRESENT TENSE is salvation from the power of sin. This is progressive, and we experience it as we learn day by day to yield ourselves to our Lord and to walk in close fellowship with Him. (Rom. 12: 21). And the FUTURE TENSE is salvation from the presence of sin — that is, the sinful nature. This will be accomplished once and for all by the return of our Lord from Heaven (Phil. 3:20-21).

The past tense of salvation is suggested in the words which point us to the Cross: "Who gave Himself for our sins." But the emphasis is here laid upon the present tense of salvation: "that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of God, and our Father."

My brother — my sister — have you known the bitterness of defeat in your struggle with sin? Have you been crushed again and again beneath the heel of the Tempter? Take courage! "Greater is He that is in you than he that is in the world" (I John 4:4). "He is able to keep you from falling" (Jude 24). Take heart, then, and rise from the ashes of defeat to new and greater victories as you learn more closely to walk with Him who "always causeth us to triumph in Christ." Say not, "I can't!" Say rather, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Phil 4:13).

But note again that CHRIST IS THE SUBSTANCE OF OUR MESSAGE. Verse seven calls the Gospel of our salvation "the Gospel of Christ." And in discussing this Gospel, Paul says, "I was taught it . . . . . by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Gal. 1:12).

Full well we know that this phrase had a special meaning to Paul, for had not the Lord Jesus Christ unveiled His glory in Person to him when he was yet the arrogant, bigoted persecutor of the saints? It was in this personal meeting with the risen Lord, and in his subsequent fellowship with Him that Paul learned so well the Gospel which he preached.

But this experience has rich meaning for us, as well, for it expresses precisely what the Gospel is — "The Revelation of Jesus Christ!" Led of the Spirit of God, Paul defines the Gospel for us in the fifteenth chapter of First Corinthians as consisting of three facts, each centering in Christ:

1. Christ died for our sins — this for our redemption (Romans 4:25).

2. Christ rose from the dead — which, we learn from other Scriptures is ffor our justification and preservation (Rom. 8:34; Heb. 7:25).

3. Christ is coming again — coming for our resurrection and translation (I Thes. 4:13-18).

There are many things which are true which are not the Gospel. "Gospel" means "good news." It is true that "all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23). But that is not the Gospel. It is true that "The wicked shall be turned into Hell, and all nations that forget God" (Ps. 9:17). But again, that is not the gospel. Rather, if we would preach the Gospel we must preach Christ, the Saviour of sinners. It is indeed, good news that,

"God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" (John 3:16).

And it is to this good news that Paul refers when he says,

"I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth" (Rom. 1:16).

But, finally, we note that Christ is the SECRET OF OUR TRANSFORMATION. Paul expresses it in one sentence:

"It pleased God ... to reveal His Son in me" (Gal. 1:15-16).

Immediately, upon his meeting with Christ, this man who had been the scourge of the Church became the champion of the faith. He who had hounded the saints to the death for their love of Christ became willing to lay down his own life for the love of Christ which burned in his own bosom. What an amazing transformation! And yet has it not been repeated, again and again throughout the ages?

Here, then, O Child of God, is the secret of transformation — a simple secret, but a wonderful one — let God reveal His Son in you! Your mind has been occupied with other things, rather than with the Lord Jesus Christ. Let Him become the center of your occupation! So shall you "be transformed by the renewing of your mind," and so shall you prove "what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God" (Rom. 12:2). You have been trying to solve life's problems in your own wisdom. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths" (Prov. 3:5-6). You have been ignorant, or perhaps wilfully indifferent to the claims of Christ upon your life. Let Him become truly Lord to you, and learn to say with Paul, "Christ liveth in me, and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me" (Gal. 2:20).