So turn with me first, if you
would, to Galatians chapter 1. Galatians chapter 1, look at
verse 6. He said, I marvel that you are
so soon removed from him that called you. into the grace of
Christ unto another gospel, which is not another." There is not
another gospel. There's not another gospel. There
is only one gospel. There is only one truth to tell. There's only one message that
will save a sinner's soul. One message. I know that that
goes against what most everybody believes
about religion. It goes against mainstream religion for sure,
contemporary religion. Most people believe that there
are subtle differences in everybody's beliefs. You know, everybody
believes a little bit differently. But it's okay. It's okay. It's all going to be all right
in the end. You know, it's every person's
right as an individual. Everybody's an individual. And
it's every person's right as an individual to believe whatever
he or she wants to believe. Right? And who am I to step on
another person's belief? That's what the world says. You
know, who am I? If that's what you believe, that's
fine. And it may be different from mine, and I may see myself
as being right, and I may even see yourself as being wrong,
but it's okay. It's okay, and the reason is
because it doesn't matter anyway. Doesn't matter. Everybody's going to end up in
the exact same place. Did you know that's not so? You know that's not true. That
is not true. The belief of the average religious
man and woman today is wrong. It's wrong. And it's not okay. And the reason I'm saying this
is because I love people. I really do. I love people. I have a heart for people. I feel, I believe reading this
as much as I do, it's very fresh to me how bad the situation is. It's very fresh to me just what
men are going to meet, how they're running to it and they don't
know. And these liars are lying to
them saying it's all right. Run on. Run on. I feel so sorry for people. I
feel so sorry for people, and I've thought about the fact that
even if they hate me, it's okay. I have to tell them the truth.
I've met people in different states. I've lived in different
states. I've lived in different towns. I've come to know people.
I've hoped somehow they would find God's truth through His
providence, through His mercy. I've thought somehow if they
would cross the path of the truth, and if God would confront them
with the truth, even if that good relationship went south,
that's fine. It's the only hope they have.
And I have to tell them the truth. I have to tell men and women
the truth, and the reason is because everybody is not going
to end up in the same place. They're just not. Verse seven
says, which is not another gospel, but there be some that trouble
you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. The good news of what
Christ did. You know what we preach here.
You know what the gospel is. This is the message. This is
by God's grace, our message. It's the good news of what Christ
did. That's all we preach. We don't push people to do anything, do
we? We closed the message this morning
with, come to Christ so we can be saved? No. That would be our
evidence. If this dead man starts walking,
it means God did something. So we don't persuade men to do
anything, but we simply declare what Christ has already done
and then His Spirit goes to work wherever His purpose to bless
the Word and send life. And the message that we preach,
the only message that there is, the only gospel is the will of
Jesus Christ alone and the work of Jesus Christ alone and the
glory of Jesus Christ alone. That's it. Verse 8 says, But
though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto
you, then that which we have preached unto you, let him be
cursed. It's not just okay. It's not
just okay. A man who does not preach what
this book has to say about Christ is going to spend eternity cursed. People say, and this was our
message this morning, they say, it's close. It's close. That's not so. It's cursed. If
it's close, it's cursed. It's cursed. Men who preach anything
other than what this book says, And men who believe anything
other than what this book says, and I say it with a heavy heart,
they're cursed. They're cursed. Verse 9 says,
As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any
other gospel unto you than that you have received, let him be
cursed. For do I now persuade men or
God? Or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
Yes, I see that in the word, but I'm not going to tell them
that because I don't want to ruffle feathers. I just don't
think that that'd go well. I don't think it'd be good for
the congregation. If I try to hide any truth from you, I am
not the servant of Christ. I am not the servant of Christ.
All right, now chapter 2, verse 1 says, then 14 years after I
went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas and took Titus with
me also. And I went up by revelation and
communicated unto them that gospel, which I preach among the Gentiles,
but privately to them, which were of reputation, lest by any
means I should run or had run in vain. But neither Titus, who
was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. And that because of false brethren,
unawares, brought in, who came in privately to spy out our liberty,
which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into
bondage, to whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an
hour, that the truth of the gospel might continue with you. They
were trying to make an issue out of Titus being circumcised,
saying he couldn't be saved without it, just like they do with baptism.
Can't be saved without it. Paul said, our liberty is in
Christ. It is in Christ. He alone is
our salvation. And he said, if you're going
to ruin that precious token, If you're going to ruin that
precious confession by adding that to the death of the Lord
Jesus Christ as a work for salvation, saying that what he did wasn't
good enough and saying that he lied when he said it is finished.
Paul said if you're going to do that, We're not doing that.
We're not doing it. It's Christ alone. Everything
in salvation is Jesus Christ alone. Verse 16, he said, knowing
that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by
the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ,
that we might be justified by the faith of Christ. and not
by the works of the law, for by the works of the law shall
no flesh be justified, period. Verse 20, he said, I am crucified
with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not
I, but 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. I do not frustrate the grace
of God." I love that line. I do not frustrate the grace
of God, for if righteousness come by the law, then Christ
is dead in vain. He said, I would not dare diminish
His glorious work. I would not dare diminish it
by trying to add anything to what He did for salvation. I
wouldn't dare deny the fact that the only reason I will not die
in my sins is because I died in Christ on that cross. That's
the only reason. It's appointed unto man once
to die and that's where I died. That's where I died. I died in
Him. I now live Because He lives. Because He arose, I arose. All of my hope, all of Gabe Stoniker's
hope, this is my hope. Okay, I'm going to go meet God
and I need a hope. All of my hope is in everything
He has done. I look at all the things that
He has done and that's my hope. That's my hope. Every single
thing that He has done. That's all I have to hold on
to. That's all I have. The work of Jesus Christ. That's
it. Chapter 3. Verse 10 says, For
as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse. Every person who is trying to
be saved by obeying God's law. And I say this carefully. I say
this carefully, but every person who is trying to be saved by
obeying God's law is a cursed person. God said don't kill,
so I'm not going to go kill anybody and that's going to get me into
heaven. That's a cursed person. Every
person who reads what God commands and tries to obey it in order
for God to allow them into heaven. Any person who believes, if I
want to be saved, I have to do this, that's a cursed person.
That person is going to go meet God and hear God say, cursed
into eternal damnation. The reason is because no person
can, no person can obey the commandments of God. No person has the ability. The problem is not with this
perfect, perfect law. The problem is with this sinner
right here. That's the problem. I cannot
please God. I cannot please God by obeying
His law. Does that mean I have no heart
to try? Absolutely not. I would love to obey this law
every jot, every tittle, and as soon as Christ cuts all this
sin off of me, I will. I'll do as I want to do. But
right now in this flesh, I cannot please God by obeying His law. Verse 10 says, For as many as
are of the works of the law are under the curse. For it is written,
Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God, that right there is evident.
No man is justified by the law in the sight of God. It is evident. For the just shall live by faith. Faith in what? everything Jesus
Christ did. Verse 12 says, And the law is
not of faith, but the man that doeth them shall live in them.
Christ hath redeemed us. paid the price, paid it in full,
redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for
us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. Now look at verse 19. Wherefore then serveth the law? What's the point of the law then?
What is the point of the law? Verse 19 goes on to say, It was
added because of transgressions, till the seed should come to
whom the promise was made, and it was ordained by angels in
the hand of a mediator." God made Adam and Eve, and they sinned
against God. And as soon as God made them,
that's all they could do was sin. They sinned. Man did not
start sinning after God gave Moses the law. Man did not wait
2,000 years to start sinning. God gave Moses the law to show
man his sin. That's why he gave the law. Verse
19 says, it was added because of transgressions. Verse 24 says,
wherefore the law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ. And you remember we looked at
the definition of the word schoolmaster. That word does not mean the principal
and it does not mean the head teacher. The schoolmaster was
a slave that a father would hire to take his children to school
and bring them home from school. That was his job. He made sure
that the children made it to the teacher. That's your teacher. You have to get to him. You have
to get to him. That was the law's job. It showed us you have to get
to him. There's no I'm taking you straight
to him. He's the only one that you must
get to. Verse 24 says, Wherefore the
law was our schoolmaster to bring us to Christ that we might be
justified by faith. Now chapter 4. Verse 1 says,
Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing
from a servant, though he be lord of all, but is under tutors
and governors until the time appointed of the father. Back
then, the owner of a house, he and his wife would have a family.
They'd have children. And especially on plantations
and things like that, they would have servants. Servants lived
in the house that the owner had. And sometimes the servants would
be married and they would have a family. They would have children. And the children of the owner
And the children of the servants, they all needed to be taught. All of them. The children of
the owner did not know how to lead. They didn't know how to
own. And the children of the servants
did not know how to serve. So they all had to sit under
tutors and governors, teachers, all of them. Verse one says,
now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing
from a servant, though he be Lord of all, but is under tutors
and governors until the time appointed of the father." All
the children are on the same level. That's what he's saying.
There's really no difference in them. They're just all children.
I'm sure they all played in the yard together. They're just children. The boys are all rolling in the
mud together. Their clothes are all covered
in mud. They all probably look exactly
the same. They're just children. That's all they are. Can't hardly
tell them apart. All right, verse 3 says, even
so we, when we were children, and that's spiritually speaking,
we were in bondage under the elements of the world. What does
he mean by that? Turn over just a couple of pages
to Ephesians chapter 2. Ephesians 2 verse 1 says, And
you hath he quickened who were dead in trespasses and sins,
wherein in time past you walked according to the course of this
world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the
spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience, among
whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind
and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others." Is
that not the truth? Is that not the truth? No difference. Couldn't tell them apart. You
just couldn't tell them apart. They were just running with the
rest. Verse 4 says, But God, who is rich in mercy, For His
great love wherewith He loved us, even when we were dead in
sins, hath quickened us together with Christ. By grace, you are
saved." What does he mean by that? Go back to our text, Galatians
chapter 4, verse 4 says, verse 3, Even so, we, when we were children,
were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness
of time was come, God sent forth His Son, made of a woman." God
appointed a set time, like He does for everything. He appointed
a set time. And He sent forth His Son, made
of a woman. What does that mean? It means
God became a man. That's what it means. God became
a real man, a true flesh and bone man. He said a body has
thou prepared me. Now hold your place right here
and go to John chapter 1. John chapter 1 verse 1 says,
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and
the Word was God. Who is the Word? Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus Christ? God. That's right. Verse 3 says, All
things were made by Him. And without him was not anything
made that was made. Jesus Christ spoke it all into
existence. Jesus Christ met with Adam and
Eve in the garden. That was Jesus Christ. Jesus
Christ is the one who told Noah to build the ark. That was Jesus
Christ. It was Jesus Christ who was in
that burning bush talking with Moses. That was Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the God of the
Old Testament. Jesus Christ is the God of the
New Testament. Jesus Christ, the Word, is the
God of all time and all eternity. Verse 14 says, And the Word,
God Himself, was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld
His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,
full of grace and truth." When God, the God who the heavens
cannot contain, The heavens cannot contain this God. But He chose,
when He appointed a set time, He chose to humble Himself into a body of true flesh and
blood. And He dwelt among us. Now, why did He do that? Why
did He do that? Go back over to our text in Galatians
4. Verse four says, but when the
fullness of the time was come, God sent forth his son made of
a woman made under the law. He did that to put himself under
the very law that he put man under. The law that was made
for man, God became a man to be put under it. Now why did
he do that? Why did he put himself under
the law? Verse 5 says, to redeem them
that were under the law. He did it to suffer in their
place. This is amazing. It's amazing. He did it to suffer in the place
of His people. He did it to pay a price that
they could not pay. And when He paid that price,
He paid it in full. He absolutely paid it in full.
It is finished. Verse 5 says, To redeem them
that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. That word receive, you know what
that does not mean? Accept. It does not mean accept. Now you need to accept it. The
offer's on the table. You're going to accept it or
reject it. Which one are you going to do? Receiving something
has nothing to do with accepting it or rejecting it. I love this
illustration. I've given it to you before.
You can be in the wrong place at the wrong time and receive
quite a beating whether you want it or not. Well, I reject it. Well, too bad. You're going to
get it anyway. Receiving something has nothing
to do with accepting it or rejecting it. God's people receive God's
precious gift whether their wicked flesh wants it or not. Isn't
that good news? It is irresistible. It is irresistible. God's goodness, His grace, you
can't not take it. Isn't that good news? You know,
we read, oh, we were all dead and we were all just like the
world, you know, and that was us in times past. Oh, I'm so
thankful I straightened up and flied right. I finally got my
head screwed on right. I got all my stuff together.
That's not what happened. God's grace chose a wicked, dead,
vile sinner and... And he has nothing to say but
thank you. If you didn't do that, I'd still be in the same path
I was in. Verse 4, right here in Galatians
4, says, But when the fullness of the time was come, God sent
forth His Son, made of a woman, made under the law, to redeem
them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption
of sons. And because you are sons, God
hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying,
Father, everything that God commands His sinful child to do, you know
there are some commandments in here that we must do. And everything
that God commands His sinful child to do is done by Jesus
Christ. Everything he commands us to
do. Everything we read in here that he commands his people to
do. Every one of them is done by
Jesus Christ. The Spirit of Jesus Christ enters
that child and does in that child everything that God commands
of him. Everything. That child is doing it. Well, you're making me sound
like a puppet on a string. Thank God that child is doing
it. God says come and he comes. How can a dead man come? How
can a dead man walk? How? Jesus Christ enters that
person, puts life in him and he starts coming. God says bow. He bows. God says believe. He believes. God says, cry out
for mercy and he cries out for mercy. Christ, in that child,
cries, Abba, Father. Verse 6 says, And because you
are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father. Wherefore, thou art no more a
servant, but an adopted son. And if a son, then an heir of
God through Christ." What does that mean for all of us, unworthy,
unparticipating? recipients of God's grace. We're
unworthy and we didn't participate. We just received it. What does
that mean for all of us? Go with me to Romans 8. We'll
close with this Romans 8. Romans 8 verse 14 says, For as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For you have not received
the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you have received the
spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself Beareth witness
with our spirit that we are the children of God, and if children,
then heirs, heirs of God and join heirs with Christ. That
right there is amazing. That is amazing grace. That's
what that is. That is just amazing grace. And
all we can say truly, I mean, coming to the end of this, all
we can say is thank you. Oh, thank you. Thank you. The commandment after receive
and bow and believe, the commandment is rest. That's the final one. Receive it, bow to it, cry out
for mercy. You believe on Christ and then
you rest. Take a break and rest. You trust
that everything he started, he'll finish. You just look to him
and rest. All right, let's stand together.