 Sunday. But today we're going to continue and conclude our study in Galatians. We're in chapter 6. Let's begin reading here in Galatians chapter 6 at verse 11. We'll read verses 11 through 13 and we'll get into our study. Galatians chapter 6 verses 11 through 13. Paul writes, See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand. As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh these try to compel you to be circumcised only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ for not even those who are circumcised keep the law. But they desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh. Now as we begin let's remember what Paul had just written in verses 9 and 10. Paul had just written to the Galatians that they should continue in serving the Lord. They should continue serving the Lord. He had said in verse 9 let us not grow weary while doing good for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. Therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all especially to those who are of the household of faith. And as we were together last time I concluded by looking at those two verses I'd like to go back and use that as our foundation as we move into our conclusion and so in verse 9 again notice how he said let us not grow weary while doing good. So as I mentioned before he's saying to the church you need to hang in there you need to persevere because it's very easy to grow tired while doing what is good especially if while you're doing that which is good the blessings of God are not obvious sometimes you might be thinking is it worth it I'm doing this I'm trying to do good I'm trying to do good to others I especially I'm trying to be good to my brothers and sisters in the Lord but I don't see the effects it doesn't seem to be obvious it's not paying off and so it's easy to grow tired while doing what is good because sometimes the blessings aren't obvious so doing good requires continuous effort you see because human nature lacks stain power it's easy to get tired while serving the Lord because when you serve the Lord it's not simply just the word serving serving the Lord requires several things it if you're going to be serving the Lord it requires discipline it requires energy it requires a proper ambition because you can actually serve with a selfish motive and so if you're really serving the Lord you need to serve with the proper ambition you need to have a motivating goal there needs to be a reason for all of this and for us it's the kingdom of heaven there's a need for patience and there's a need for endurance when you're doing well because it's not always that easy it's not always that simple it actually is labor because doing good is work and you can get tired when you work and sometimes the work conditions may not be that that pleasant Marie was pregnant with my son David and she was helping in the children's ministry she and I actually ministered in the nursery that was basically one of the very first ministries I ever did in church was serving in nursery ministry and so Marie and I served together and and she was pregnant and she was one of these ladies in the early months of her pregnancy she was one of the ladies who would get sick to her stomach fairly easy I know that many of you ladies probably suffered in the same way I remember Marie telling me when she was pregnant with her in I was driving her home from work and she was working while I was going to the beach no she was working and we only had the one car so I had to go and pick her up and and I can still remember driving on the 60 freeway going to our apartment in Roland Heights and and Marie's there in the passenger seat and she turns to me she says you have to pull over and I said I'm on the freeway I'm on the freeway I can't just pull over and she looks at me and my wife is the sweetest thing in the world you need to understand this but she looked at me she said I'm gonna vomit and if you don't pull over I will vomit on you I pulled over and I remember pulling over as she she kept her word she she vomited and I was like blown away I had heard that there's something called morning sickness I'd heard that obviously I'd never had it but Marie did and so Marie would get real queasy when she was pregnant there were certain colors that she couldn't be around she would actually vomit if she saw red and green so she couldn't eat salsas and various things it was very very miserable for me it was one of those but I put up with it I must confess it I she got sick so anyway that was that was with Marie and so she's now pregnant with our second child she's pregnant with David and she is working in the nursery and and one of the ladies had twins infants and the twins were sick and they were wearing cloth diapers and they made a mess of their diapers both of them and I still remember Marie holding those diapers and washing them off in the sink just losing it just losing it as I ran out the door it was just is something I remember very well you know sometimes when you serve it isn't that easy I don't know where we get the idea that it is sometimes we think oh I want to serve the Lord it's going to be easy it is not easy it is work it can be labor that's what it's called and you can get tired now some of you know that because you serve the Lord and you grow tired it can be tired obviously because it requires a diligence and an endurance it requires a patience and energy that's why Paul is saying that you're supposed to not grow very well doing good because you can you can get tired the ushers in this church get tired those who are in the cleaning ministry get tired those who work in the cafe get tired those who are the greeters or those who work in the parking lot those who serve in children's ministry the ones who go on the missions and those who help to work in the breakfast and conferences and and so many other things we wouldn't be able to do these things if they didn't serve and they can get tired Paul wrote to the Thessalonians in this way in 1 Thessalonians chapter 1 verse 3 he spoke of remembering without ceasing their work of faith that word work is Ergon it speaks of the energies that they put into it your work of faith but he also spoke of the labor of love that word labor is is toil that produces fatigue so when they would serve in their energies they were toiling in love and that's how you serve that's what God calls us to do work yes but work with a heart of love and God remembers the work that you do sometimes we need to remember something very basic it's so basic that I failed to communicate this very clearly and I don't communicate it very often I certainly more than likely don't communicate it very well at all but the bottom line is is we've all been saved but we're saved to serve we're saved to serve because we are at his command when Paul was writing to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 7 verse 22 Paul said he who is called in the Lord while a slave is the Lord's freed man but he goes on to say likewise he who is called while free is Christ's slaves and a slave had no personal rights they were totally owned and possessed by their master somewhere in the history of the church we stopped using and it was early on it was probably somewhere I believe around the 11th or 12th century that the word slave was really not want they didn't want to use that word in the translation very often and say so many of the translations that we have in our New Testament and even the old will will use the word servant but we need to remember that that servants had certain rights but slaves didn't slaves had no rights servants could have rights if I was a a voluntary servant I sold myself into voluntary servitude I was paying off a debt I had certain rights as a Jewish person and so the one that I sold myself to as an indentured servant I didn't have ultimate control over my life he couldn't put me to death and there were a variety of things that the law actually stated he could not do but but was different with slaves it was different with slaves in the sense that I really didn't have any rights I was at the beck and call of that master and whether he's harsh or whether he's fair I was a slave and it's interesting and I want to point that out that that when Paul was speaking of us he said likewise he who is called well free is Christ slave he was saying to us that our personal rights have been given over to to God God has the authority over me and that means that that we're to do what he tells us to do and the reason that we're to do that there are several reasons obviously one he's God but two is that he purchased us he redeemed us redemption is the price of the blood of Jesus Christ and and so he redeemed me by the blood of the Lamb and therefore I have been bought I have been bought like he says in 1st Corinthians 6 verse 20 at a price and the price of my being redeemed was the blood of Jesus Christ and so when God redeemed you when God purchased you he flat out owns you you belong to him now for Americans our sensibilities real at that are you saying to me that God owns me and the answer is yes the Bible is saying that you are God slave I am God slave God purchased me and I belong to him and therefore he has total rights over me that's what the Bible teaches concerning our relationship with him at least one aspect of it in Luke chapter 17 verses 7 through 10 Jesus said it like this which of you having a servant plowing or tending sheep will say to him when he has come in from the field come at once and sit down to eat but will he not rather say to him prepare something for my supper and guard yourself and serve me till I've eaten and drunk and afterward you will eat and drink does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him I think not so likewise you when you've done all those things which you are commanded say we are unprofitable servants we have done what was our duty we have done what is our obligation to do and so when Paul is speaking to me in this passage and says don't get tired of doing well he's speaking to a man under orders and the responsibility that I have as a Christian is to even when I don't see things blossoming the way I'd like even when the labor is long and the toil is difficult and and the dividends don't seem to be there I'm still supposed to serve the Lord regardless because he owns me the funny thing about that is though he does own me he still rewards me and he rewards us for being faithful servants Colossians 3 24 says knowing that from the Lord you will receive the reward of the inheritance for you serve the Lord Christ when you serve the Lord Christ it puts a different spin on service when I got hired to be an assisting pastor on staff my first work week was 70 hours 70 hours the job I had prior to that which provided for my family I would work 40 hours and I didn't want to work 41 I would go in for my set time and I wasn't one of these guys would volunteer for overtime I was doing the job but I didn't love the job so 40 hours were pretty much the maximum that I was willing to put into a job but when I was released from that job my very first work week was 70 hours I almost doubled that and I enjoyed it I loved it I loved going in early and I love staying late because when you're serving the Lord there's a reward to it there's a joy to it and that's how we can keep strong and that's how we can endure is to remember who we are serving again sometimes people get tired because there may seem to be a lack of fruit in our effort it seems that what we're doing is in producing very much that's why we're encouraged to stay strong even though we may grow exhausted in 2nd Thessalonians 313 Paul said it like this as for you brethren do not grow weary in doing good do not grow weary in doing good that's an interesting thought because it seems to me that some people don't tire of doing evil they enjoy doing evil they don't get tired of doing evil they stay up all night doing evil but Paul has to say don't get tired doing good because sometimes we do the Bible says that we should hold on why because because God will make us strong Isaiah 40 verses 30 and 31 says even the youth shall faint and be weary and the young men shall utterly fall but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength they shall mount up with wings like eagles they shall run and not be weary they shall walk and not faint how do I remain strong I need to walk in the power of the Holy Spirit I need the energy of the Spirit because it's the energy of the Spirit that gives me the ability to serve the Lord in labor and to enjoy that and so that's what he's saying when he says that in verse 9 don't grow tired doing those things that are good notice again in verse 10 therefore as we have opportunity let us do good to all especially to those who are of the household of faith that word opportunity as we have opportunity it's not simply an occasional opportunity I happen to notice something he's saying you have a lifetime of opportunities and believers entire life is looked at as an opportunity to serve and therefore he says let us do good when he says let us do good let us actively do that which is good at all times let us pursue moral and spiritual excellence all the time because doing good actually is part of my witness for the Lord it's it's one of those living testimonies it's it's a living evidence that God saved me that's why Jesus would say let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father who's in heaven and so when you and I when we serve the Lord when we're doing good it's not simply for the right now but we actually can have an impact for eternity now as you're doing good that includes people in general that's why as I was mentioning earlier prior to beginning the study that there's a need in Japan and the Bible says do good unto all men and so we the body of Christ in the United States can respond to that we can do good but he also says especially to those who are of the household of faith so when you love the Lord you're gonna love people in general but you're also gonna you're gonna love his children that's as we we saw not that long ago as we're studying through the book of Acts the concern for others was was really much pretty much the earmark of the early church you know the word love we use it so easy and so often but it's a very practical word and in the in the early church and the Bible tells us in Acts chapter 245 that the believers sold their possessions and goods divided them among all as anyone had need they saw the need and they would do something with generosity for them and that's how it works and so as he's been speaking concerning that he is now rolling into his conclusion and we'll look at verse 11 now this is all an introduction to verse 11 see with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand now when he says this see with what large letters I've written to you with my own hand there are various ways to look at this and I'll share a couple of those things a few of those things one it may be look at I wrote to you six chapters now there are other books that he wrote that were longer first Corinthians second Corinthians Romans those are all much longer books but but when you look at Romans and you see the conclusion it's interesting to note that Paul actually dictated that letter there was an individual who was writing it on his behalf and so this was written in his own hand and it would be demonstrating to the people that he had a personal concern for them it also could be speaking of the size of the letters behold the large letters remembering that he had eye problems for him to take the time to write in the way that he would have to have written all of this to them would have demonstrated a great concern to them because it was difficult for him to write but not only that he's also given to them a sense that this is an authentic letter you need to remember that during the time of the writing of the New Testament there were those who are going about saying that the Apostle Paul had written a letter when in fact he had not the Thessalonians had received a letter that was supposedly from Paul and it had caused great concern and so in second Thessalonians chapter 2 Paul said it like this in verses 1 and 2 he said concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered to him we ask you brothers not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy report or letter supposed to have come from us saying that the day of the Lord had already come and so there were those who believed that that Paul was writing letters and so Paul would authenticate it by giving his own signature and so he's saying this is a way for you to know that this is the real deal I actually wrote this to you and now he goes back into concluding his letter by saying as many as desired to make a good showing in the flesh these try to compel you to be circumcised only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ I want to spend a couple moments developing this with you because he's concluding his exposure of the false teachers who had infiltrated the churches of Galatia remember with me from the very beginning the Apostle Paul has been dealing with false doctrine again there are those who I've had discussions with in the past I've heard them on television say some things similar to this what does it really matter what you believe as long as you believe sincerely and there are many people especially today that really don't put up with Bible studies they can't for some reason and I think it's pretty much because our society is just very much amusement oriented that if it isn't amusing it's not worth doing even even Christians who go to church if it's not amusing remember with me what the word amuse means and it's a very simple word amuse it simply means without thinking that's what amuse means it's a Greek word a muse muse means to think when you put the letter a in Greek before that word what it means is without thinking you're not thinking people many people don't like to think they don't want to be challenged to think I think that very often they think that a bible study is supposed to be an entertainment that when the guy opens up the book you better tell a lot of a lot of jokes and a lot of personal stories and a lot of illustrations and what we have is we have an entire society based on based on entertainment orientation an inability to put up with sound doctrine and yet it concerns me and I have to be open with you about it because the bible says in the last days that people will no longer endure healthy teaching they're going to heap into the south's teachers having itching ears they're going to turn aside voluntarily from the truth and be turned into fables they're going to turn in other words to that which is not true because it's more entertaining one of the individuals who's on tv that people love he's got a huge group of people showing up was asked concerning whether or not he's a pastor and he said no I'm a motivational speaker he's got a huge group of people he's got a seventy three million dollar budget a yearly budget of seventy three million dollars huge group of people that come but when asked is Mormonism Christian he said yes because they say that Mormons say Jesus is their is their lord and I say he's my lord and therefore my my brother and and the interviewer who was not it was not it wasn't a religious show it was a news talk program the interviewer says but Mormons believe and starts telling him what Mormons believe and this individual says I didn't know that yet he's pastoring the largest church in the United States when given an opportunity by Larry King when Larry King asked him the question are you saying that Muslims and Jews will not go to heaven if they don't have Jesus his response was I don't know only God knows yet Jesus says in his word if you confess me before men I will also confess you before my father who is in heaven but if you deny me before men I also will deny you before my father who was in heaven and so rather than saying the Bible says I am the way the truth in the life no man comes to the father but by me if you have an argument Larry it's not with me it's with Jesus Christ if you don't like what he's saying I have to give it to you rightly and divide it straight this is what he said now if you have a difficult time with that then take it up with the master take it up with the creator take it up with the man who inspired the word of God don't take it out on his servant I'm simply given to you the message he gave to me to give now I can live with that but when you look at somebody in face and you got millions of people watching you and you deny Christ that's not a wise thing to do that's not a wise thing to do and if you can stand before thousands of people telling them what you think will motivate them to live a good life maybe ought to motivate them to live for Jesus Christ and that's what Paul's talking about does that do you value that I pray you do because a lot of people don't a lot of people don't oh how harsh how unloving Muslims Jews Christians we all serve and worship the same God really speak to a zealous Jew and ask him if we worship the same God people say that I've never spoken to an orthodox Jew they will say no you don't speak to a zealous Muslim say do we worship the same God they will say no your religion is a dog religion you serve us because that's what you learn in Islam so when we speak about Jesus Christ and we read the word of God and we say thus sayeth the Lord it cuts against people's hearts they get upset they get upset but Paul would not be on some Christian TV programs today more than once because if he told the truth they'd get upset how many times do you think John the Baptist would be interviewed on tbn I don't think he'd be asked back seriously because what he had to say cut the heart that's how it works opens it up reveals it to you then you say God I need you and you get right with him through humble repentance that's what the bible teaches now as we've been going through Galatians Paul has been making it clear he's been speaking about those who have entered in he said in chapter 1 verses 7 through 9 that they preach a false gospel in chapter 2 verse 4 he referred to them as false brethren in chapter 2 verse 5 he said they're attempting to undermine my authority over the church in chapter 2 verse 21 he said they're contradicting the grace of God supplanting it with the law of moses in chapter 3 verse 1 he said their teachings are hiding Jesus from people in chapter 4 verse 17 he says their teachings are designed to cut off their relationship with Jesus in chapter 5 verse 1 he said they brought people into bondage rather than freedom in chapter 5 verse 7 he said these false teachers encourage disobedience and in chapter 5 verse 10 he said they trouble rather than encouraging and they will be judged those are strong words now why are they doing all of this well he says it to make a good showing in the flesh as false teachers their real goal is to capture them in order to avoid the cross of Jesus Christ they're trying to avoid the cost of bearing the cross because they are unwilling to suffer for Jesus you know in mouth you chapter 10 verse 17 Jesus said be on your guard against men they will hand you over to the local councils and they will flog you in their synagogues in 2 Timothy 3 verse 12 we read everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted they did not want to be persecuted if you want to be persecuted just be open and say I really believe Jesus is the only way you will definitely have people upset at you your own family your friends your co-workers those in class and college there are going to be people that come out of the woodwork if you talk about God and it's kind of a nebulous oh there's a God there's a great power there's a higher power there's some cosmic other there's a first principle whatever you want to call it and people are all right with that but when you say there is a God and he sent us in Jesus who died on the cross now you're gonna have a problem and people very often will avoid that because they don't want what results from saying that they don't want the persecution he says in verse 13 for not even those who are circumcised keep the law they can't keep the law if they deny that Jesus fulfilled it and in their attempts to have righteousness from the law they have failed to follow the righteousness that comes from God now he says in verse 14 but God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ by whom the world has been crucified to me and I he says to the world I want you to see this with me I'm going to take a moment to look at this God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ this is the last thing anyone would normally boast in the cross was an emblem of shame criminals died on crosses they would force you to bear the the cross far you would carry your own instrument of death on your shoulders they would force you to carry the cross even as Jesus carried it and they did so in public so that all people would know that you are criminal guilty of a capital offense and to be hanging on a cross openly to the was your great shame and so when Jesus says deny yourself pick up your cross daily and follow me he was given a revolutionary call he wasn't saying when it's convenient and when you feel like it you can be one of mine he was saying on a daily basis die to yourself and be willing to bear the shame of being identified with me Paul by saying I'm going to boast or glory in the cross is actually boasting in an emblem of shame but the cross is a place where our pride is exposed and it's at the cross that our sins are revealed the cross is a place where God dealt with our sin and the cross is a place where we are made right with him the cross is our source of spiritual power remember what he said in chapter two verse 20 I am crucified with Christ nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ lives in me and the life that I now live in the flesh I live by faith and the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me he was glorying in the cross because it's at the cross it's the death of Christ that gives to us access to God and it's the reservoir that we have spiritual power it's where the love of God was most clearly revealed to a lost and a sinful world the cross God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life it's the symbol of God's love for us it's it's a place where God's love was most clear clearly expressed and manifested it's it's where God demonstrates his love for us God demonstrated his love toward us and that while we were yet sinners Paul said Christ died for us that's that's the whole center the cross and first John in chapter four verses nine and ten this is how God showed his love among us he sent his one and only son into the world that we might live through him this he says is love not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins not that we loved God but that God loved us we love him because he first loved us we are only responding to the love God is already shown to us why do I love the Lord because he's good to me because he sent his son Jesus to die on the cross for me because he set me free from the bondage of sin because he cleansed my conscience and because he gave me power to live for him because he's blessed me with with a great wife and wonderful children and beautiful grandchildren a mom that I love with all of my heart brother sisters nieces and nephews brothers in law and sisters in law because he has been good to me I love him and so do you for the same kinds of reasons because he washed you clean because he showed great patience he endured for so long for you to come to him whether it was 20 years or 30 years or 40 years or whatever he showed long suffering with you he didn't want you to perish I have in my in my office a plaque I've had it for many years now about 30 and it simply says this I asked Jesus how much do you love me and he said this much and he stretched out his hands and he died how much do you love me this much I have a picture of my daughter Corinne at the age of a year and a half we're on the campus at Cal Poly Pomona I used to go to Cal Poly and my little girl I asked my Corinne I said honey I said do you love your daddy and she said yes and I said how much and she started stretching her little arms out and I said that's not very much and so she tried to stretch it as far as she could and she's got this strain in her little face you can see her straining as he's stretching as far as she can and we got the picture of her and I still have it and so when I'm at it or I pull it out and I look at it then I send it to her how much do you love me I love you this much how much Jesus do you love me I love you this much it wasn't nails that keep kept Jesus on the cross it was his love for you it was his love for you nails couldn't keep him on a cross his love did and his holiness he's got a righteous father a holy father and he's a holy savior but we're unholy people so justice needed to be served a perfect sacrifice needed to be given god sent the perfect sacrifice his own son in obedience the desire to satisfy the righteous demands of his father Jesus came he was placed voluntarily on a cross for us nailed to it but it was love and obedience that kept him there so why should you love Jesus Christ why should you because he first loved you and because you can never out give him you could never do more for him than he did for you and that's why we love him the cross the cross is where love's clearest expression was manifested and the cross is what is used by god to remove the love for the world from me clearly understanding that Jesus suffered and died for me for you results in you and me results in our turning our hearts to him when you can have a glimpse and they come every once in a while of what god has done for you changes your life it changes the way you think and it changes the way you live when you see that so naturally the cross has to be center of all true preaching and that's the difference between a genuine teacher and a false one the false teacher will direct your attention to themselves to their opinions to their organization the genuine teacher points you to the cross of Jesus Christ it's like what paul said to the Philippians in chapter 3 verses 7 and 8 he said what things were gained to me these i've counted loss for christ yet indeed i also count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of christ jesus my lord for whom i have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish that i may gain christ so he goes on in christ verse 15 in christ jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything but a new creation and as many as walk according to this rule peace and mercy be upon them and upon the israel of god from now on let no one trouble me for i bear in my body the marks of the lord jesus brethren the grace of our lord jesus christ be with your spirit amen all who accept the claims of the gospel may peace and mercy be upon them that he would refer to according to verse 16 as being the true israel of god the true israel of god would be those jewish believers who are regenerated through faith in christ like he said to the romans in chapter 2 verse 20 29 he is a jew who is one inwardly circumcision is that of the heart in the spirit not in the letter whose praise is not from men but from god in romans 412 he said abraham is the father of the circumcision father of circumcision to those who not only are of the circumcision but also who also walk in the steps of the faith which our father abraham had while still uncircumcised and so it's always been faith and god's grace that works through us that we might have a relationship with him and he finally says in verse 17 let no one trouble me i bear in my body the marks of the lord jesus take this message to heart and cease causing me concern over you my physical wounds suffered for jesus should be sufficient to establish my credentials while these others are unwilling to communicate to you the power of the cross i have paid a tremendous price for preaching that and paul was one who had been beaten he had been scourged he'd been shipwrecked many nights in the deep he had been hungry and many fastings in long times of prayer he'd gone through so many things and that's why he says i've bearing my body the marks of the lord jesus christ look at me and see my physical wounds that should be sufficient to establish my credentials there are those who want to be leaders who've never earned their stripes they want to be leaders just because you may have a bar on your collar when i was in the military they had bars they had silver bars and all lieutenants second lieutenants and all of that captains you didn't necessarily listen to the guy who just gotten out of school he may have that little bar on his on his collar you'd listen to the hardened sergeant the guy who'd gone through something the guy who understood the guy who knew the ropes the guy who'd been there the veteran the guy who had experience just because somebody may be able to talk out of the bible doesn't mean that this person is walking according to the bible just because somebody has eloquence somebody might have have an ability to communicate might have so many various things that that endear him to others doesn't mean that he's worthy of following you have to make sure that that person has the credentials and paul said i've bearing my body the marks of christ if you ever want to see the most open-hearted letter of the apostle paul read 2nd Corinthians when you read 2nd Corinthians you'll find no less than 21 times he has to answer accusations that have been lodged against him no less than 21 times because the Corinthians had infiltrators and the infiltrators had come in and they said things like he's not worthy of supporting they said his yes is yes is no is no this man is not really saying yes and no his yes can be no and his no can be yes he's a double-minded man they said he's he's got weighty letters but in person he's just he's just he's just weak he's not even good looking i mean there were so many things that they said about the apostle paul and and from chapter went all the way to the conclusion no less than 21 times he has to answer the things that were said against him he even had to go so far as to boast about things that had occurred in his life things that he wanted to keep silent even things like when he went to the third heaven and and was there before the lord and and he said i saw things that are not lawful for me to express to you see you want to talk about visions you want to talk about the variety of things that god has done he said truly the signs of an apostle been done through my hand i've got credentials he had told them earlier though you may have 10 000 instructions yet you have but one father i begot you in the gospel how can how can you turn your heart away from me how can you turn your backs on me when these infiltrators have come in and they do you no good they only do you harm that's what false teachers do they glory in your flesh and they glory in the money you give to them they glory in the ability they have to brag about how many people show up to listen to them but paul said look at me he wasn't a good-looking man whatsoever the only description we really have that may be accurate was that he was a small man with a big nose oversized head and he had a back condition and bad eyesight he was not impressive to look at but he had something about him and he said look at me and you'll see someone who bears the wounds of Jesus Christ somebody who has lived for him somebody who is literally burning out for him right before your eyes and that's what paul said let no one trouble me i bear in my body the marks of the lord jesus and then finally he says brethren the grace of our lord jesus christ be with your spirit amen in contrast to the law of moses may your life be filled with the grace of jesus christ may it live in your heart may it enlighten and change your soul and may god's grace be conspicuous in your life and may that be so for us