Good morning. Turn to Galatians chapter one. Galatians chapter one. It is a good morning because
we're able to be here. It's a good morning because it's
the Lord's day, but every day is the Lord's day. So every day
ought to be a good morning, shouldn't it? But I have to confess that
when I wake up on Sunday mornings, and this happens pretty much
every Sunday morning, I'll wake up around five o'clock and I
have this fear. I have this fear that I'm going
to preach today. I do, and I don't feel ready. No matter how much I study, it
doesn't matter how much I study, I'm just not ready to preach
such a gospel. But the Lord seems to enable
me to whenever I finally get here. I usually get over here
around 7, 7.30 in the morning and start going over everything
again and again and again and again. And then I stand here
and I still don't feel ready. But I do know this, our God is
our sufficiency. Our God is our sufficiency. So
if he's called me to preach, he'll enable me to do it. Even
though sometimes I feel like I didn't do it or I felt like
I was pulling a wagon with square wheels on it, somebody still
usually gets something out of it. They still usually get it. I was thinking Thursday night,
I felt like I just couldn't get a hold of it. Yet someone called
me and said, oh, that was such a blessing. Then they started
telling me things that they got out of it. And I thought, well,
maybe it wasn't as bad as I felt. So the Lord is the one who takes
the message from here and applies it there. He's the one that does
it, not me. So let's in Galatians chapter
one, I wanna pick back up on verse six. Now the title of the
message is a severe title. I started to title this and when
I put it one on the internet and I thought, I might be a little
severe, but then I thought more about it and I thought, no, it's
not, not really. And the title of this lesson
is this, let that man who preaches another gospel go to hell. Now that sounds severe, doesn't
it? That's pretty severe. It seemed like a very severe
statement to make. But when we really consider all
that is at stake, it's not an overstatement. My soul's at stake. Your soul's at stake. God's glory,
who He is, is at stake. So when Paul says there in verse
six, seven, eight, and nine, he said, if any man preach another
gospel, let him be a curse. That is, he's talking about letting
him be, let him go to hell, let him perish under the wrath of
God. So let's, I wanted to, I know I touched on this last week,
but I wanted to look at a little bit more before we push on. Now,
Paul says in verse six, I marvel that you are so soon removed
from him that called you into the grace of Christ, called to
the grace of Christ unto another gospel." It's a marvel, and Paul
stood astonished. It's like he's saying, I didn't
anymore get out the door, and you changed. What happened? What happened? Of course, he
deals with this in a little bit. It's a marvel to see someone
leave grace, grace, unmerited favor, grace, and return to work
salvation, return to bondage. You know, one of the things we
see in Genesis, or I mean in Exodus, is Israel continually
wanted to return to Egypt. Every time trouble came along,
wish we'd have stayed in Egypt. How many times do they say that?
Wish we'd have stayed in bondage. To leave free grace and go to
a work salvation? Paul says, I marvel at that.
I marvel at that. Now I want to show you the problem
here that the Galatians had faced and Paul's dealing with. Now
I want you to turn to Acts 15. You'll remember this when I read
it because it's something we looked at several weeks ago,
if not a few months ago. In Acts 15, now here's the problem. Paul says in Acts 15, "...and
certain men which came down from Judea taught the brethren You
see, they came down with some credentials, come down from Judea
and they came down as a party that was sent down, they claimed
to be sent down. And here's what they said, except
you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be
saved. You can't be saved. So when therefore
Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with
them, they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain other
of them should go up to Jerusalem unto the apostles and elders
about this question. Now look in verse 5. But there
rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed.
Okay, they say they believed the gospel. They believed on
the Lord Jesus Christ, that He's the Messiah. You're right, Paul.
But these Pharisees who believed, they said this, that it was needful
to circumcise them and to command them to keep the law of Moses. You can believe the gospel, but
you got to keep the Ten Commandments. It's in our day. People say that
the Ten Commandments is a rule of life. It's not my rule of
life. The Spirit of God, the grace of God, the Lord Jesus
Christ is my rule of life. My rule of life is a person.
It's not letters written on stone. It's a person. It's the Lord
Jesus Christ. And then look over in verse 24 and 25, or 23 I mean. And they wrote letters by them
after this manor, this council sent out these letters. The apostles
and elders and brethren send greetings unto the brethren which
are of the Gentiles in Antioch, Syria, Cilicia. For as much as
we have heard that certain which went out from us, they claim
to be from us, they claim to be apostles. That's what the
Galatians faced. They came claiming to be apostles.
They have troubled you with words. Who, as it said, sticks and stones
may break my bones, but words will never hurt me. Words hurt
more and are more destructive than sticks and stones. They're
far more destructive. Subverting your soul, saying
you must be circumcised and keep the law to whom we gave no such
commandment. Now this is what Paul's dealing
with with the Galatian churches, the churches there in Galatia.
So this is what he's dealing with. But now, I ask this question,
why would anyone leave free grace, free grace, free salvation? Oh, everyone that thirsteth,
he that hath no money come. Why would you leave that? Why
would you leave that for a work salvation? Well, here's a few
things I thought of. First of all, self-glory. The
gospel of God's grace and God's glory gives him all the glory.
It doesn't give us any, it gives him. God forbid that I should
glory saving the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. By nature,
we love self-glory. That's why athletes can't retire
until you gotta be kicked out. They like that self-glory now.
That's why they can't let go. And this is why they turn from
free grace to salvation by works, is it gives us the glory. We can glory in it a little bit.
And then here's another reason. No real saving faith. No real
saving faith at all. Just like these Pharisees, it
says they believed, But they said, but now wait a minute,
we believe the gospel that Paul's preaching, but, well, you just
messed it up. You just messed up. And then here's another reason.
I think there are some who are very immature in the faith. They haven't grown up. They haven't
grown up. You know, a babe can be misled.
A baby or a child, a young child, you know, I can tell a young
child, I can tell my sons, I can tell them, when they were just
young, I could tell them to do something and they would do it.
But you know another adult can come in and tell them to do something
that they probably shouldn't have done and they'd do it? At
a certain age, they would. Young, you know why? Because
they believe that the adults are right. They believe they
know everything. So there are those who are immature in the
faith. I always think of this story
of this little girl who went to bed one night and the
mother, after a few hours, the mother heard a thud. She heard
a thud and she went in and there her little girl laying on the
floor. And she said, what happened? She said, I guess I stayed too
close to where I got in. We are to grow in grace and in
the knowledge of Christ. And there's one thing, this is
one thing that's weighed on my mind now for a good while, for
a good while. Your growth in grace and in knowledge
of Christ has a lot to do with me standing here and preaching.
I have a lot to do with that, I do. You know, I asked the Lord, I
did, I asked the Lord, speak to my heart that I might speak
to their heart. Give me something to say to them
this morning. Enable me to rightly divide the
word of truth. Enable me to set forth your glory
before the people. Because what I do here on Sunday
morning and Thursday evening has a lot to do with your growth
in grace and in knowledge of Christ. It has a lot to do with
it. And I recognize that. But these
are reasons why that some leave free grace, self-glory, no saving
faith, and too immature in faith, not growing up. Now Paul says that he marveled,
and he marveled at this, that you're so soon removed, so soon
removed from him. Here's the seriousness of the
matter. that Paul's dealing with, you're removed from Him. You're
removed from the Gospel, removed from grace. You say, no, well,
we didn't quit believing in the Lord Jesus Christ. We did not
quit believing in Christ and Him crucified. We just added. No, well, that's removed. That's
called removed. It's so serious. It's so serious. I'll show you how serious it
is over in chapter 5. Look over in chapter 5. Paul
says this to them, and this shows how serious this is. In verse
1, "...stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
hath made us free. Don't go back under bondage,
be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Behold, I, Paul,
say unto you, that if ye be circumcised, Christ shall profit you nothing."
If you be circumcised for the purpose of salvation, Christ
shall profit you nothing. For I testify again to every
man that is circumcised for this reason, to keep the law, that
he's a debtor to do the whole law. Christ, now listen, here's
how serious it is, Christ has become of no effect to you. No
effect. Whosoever of you are justified
by the law, you've fallen from grace. You've fallen away from
the grace of God. Justification by grace through
faith in Christ, you've fallen away from it. And that's the
only justification there is. There is no other justification.
There is no other way to be justified. No other way. That's how serious
this is. This is not just a chink in the
road. This is being removed. And Satan
is behind it. He's behind it. Satan, if it
were possible, would remove this whole congregation away from
grace. He would if he could. And then
we see here also in this, how weak we are. How weak we are. You know, Abraham is spoken of
as the father of the faithful. You know, his faith is spoken
of as Abraham. who believed God. Abraham believed
God, it's what it says. He believed God, but then we
see Abraham give up his wife twice and go into Hagar. You'd
think someone like Abraham wouldn't stumble, but he does. Look over in Galatians chapter
six. In Galatians chapter six, verse
one, brethren, If a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual,
mature, that's why he's talking about you which are mature in
the faith, restore such a one in the spirit of meekness, considering
thyself, lest thou also be tempted. Considering this, all that you
need to get in trouble is temptation. That's it. Lest you also be tempted. I tell you what, if God Almighty
does not remove the temptation or not allow it to come, you
and I would fall when it comes. He says, considering this, you're
just like him who fell. And you restore him in the spirit
of meekness because you could be right there
instead of him. And then I see this in this. It's how easily impressed we
are. Someone walks in, someone walks
in, well-spoken, well-spoken. You know, this is the power of
words. You know, someone who comes in
well-spoken, you can, you'll listen, you'll be drawn in. You'll
be drawn in to their rhetoric. You'll be drawn in to their ability
to speak and their words, and next thing you know, you're deceived. We're so easily impressed. I get impressed when my dog does
things I want him to do. That's how easily impressed I
am. I said, you see what he did? Took me all day to train him,
but he's doing it. And I'm impressed. We're just
so easily impressed. And then we're easily deceived.
The scripture, you know what the scripture says, look over
Matthew 24. Matthew 24, look over here. And I know this, I know that
we, and I hope we are, we're well grounded in the gospel,
we think this wouldn't happen, but I'm telling you, take he,
let him that thinketh he standeth, take he lest he, what? Fall,
lest he fall. What would I say, Matthew 24,
look in verse 24. For there shall arise false Christs
and false prophets and shall show great signs and wonders
insomuch that if it were possible, that if possible, they shall
deceive the very elect of God. And the only reason it's not
possible is God. He's not going to let it happen. He's not gonna let his children
fall away into apostasy or follow another gospel. My sheep hear
my voice, and a stranger they'll not follow. But it's, that's
why the scripture tells us to watch and pray, watch and pray.
You know, mom and dad, you know, they got old, they got into their
90s, and they didn't go nowhere. They stayed home all the time.
And he'd watch me on television, and he'd tell me from time to
time, he said, he really says some good things. And I would
say, well, Dad, that doesn't matter. A lot of people say good
things. But I could tell the judgment
was not there that he used to have. The judgment was not there.
And I know this. I know if I live long enough,
I was thinking of this Saturday morning when I woke
up and I was thinking of this. If I live long enough, if I live
long enough, I'll outlive my education. I'll outlive my health. I'll outlive my mind. I'll outlive
it. And this is why we are told to
watch and pray always. Always. And this is why we attend
the gospel, sit under a gospel ministry week after week after
week, even when we get older, if at all possible, unless you're
incapacitated, be here, be here. That helps ward off a lot of
trouble. But I want you to notice here,
Paul is actually handling them as a church, rather gently. He's laying the blame on those
false apostles. He's laying the blame on them.
He said, there's some who've come who've troubled you, and
they've caused you to stumble. They've caused you to be moved
away from the Lord Jesus Christ. And we'll see this in verses
7 and 9. This other supposed gospel is
not the gospel. You know, it's not good news.
It's not good news. If I have to do anything, if
I have to do anything at all, it's not good news because I
can't do it. I can't do it, and you can't
do it either. It's not good news and it's not of God. Any so-called
gospel that leaves you any part of salvation to finish is not
of God, and it's not good news. It's not good news. Law and grace
do not mix in any way, shape, or form. Never has, never will. And any gospel that reaches to
the law for completion is not the gospel. And listen, any so-called
gospel that has you beginning in the Spirit and perfecting
your salvation in the flesh is not the gospel. We'll see that
in chapter 3 when we get to it. That's why Paul calls him, O
foolish Galatians. Having begun in the Spirit, are
you now made perfect by the flesh? But I do know this, there will
always be someone who will pervert the gospel of Christ. Always.
There's always going to be somebody that's going to do that. And
here's why. Satan always has his ministers.
Look over in 2 Corinthians. 2 Corinthians chapter 11. In 2 Corinthians 11, look in
verse 13. For such are false apostles. They're not just preachers. These
are men who call themselves apostles, but they're not. For such are
false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into
the apostles of Christ. See, the Lord didn't call them.
The Lord didn't transform them. They did it. They did it. And
no marvel. No more, for Satan himself is
transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it's no great
thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness, whose end shall be according to their word."
But they come as ministers of righteousness, but it's not the
Lord's righteousness, it's self-righteousness. It's self-righteousness. That's
very deceitful. Very deceitful. You know, when
the Lord said to Peter, Peter, Satan hath desired thee to sift
thee as wheat. Peter didn't know that. When
the Lord looked at Peter and said, get thee behind me Satan.
Peter didn't see him come in the door. He didn't see him come
in the door. Oh, he's very subtle. He's very
subtle. He comes as an angel of light,
a messenger. An angel of light means messenger.
He comes as a messenger of light. He takes the Bible. He takes
words of the Bible. He even takes gospel words. He
takes gospel words and uses them. And you say, well, you know,
he says some good things. Satan will say some good things.
I tell you what, you want to read somebody saying some good
things, go read what Balaam had to say. Go read some of the things
he had to say. I mean, they were some good things.
He's the one that said, let me die the death of the righteous.
Do you want to die the death of the righteous? He said that. He said, let me die the death,
but this man was in it for the money. And he used it, he used
it for his own promotion and benefits. An angel of light, not that easy
to detect. Now here's another reason why
there'll always be someone to pervert the gospel. Tradition
keepers. Boy, I tell you, that's strong.
That's strong. This is the way we've always,
this is the way my parents did it, this is the way my grandparents.
I tell you, it's hard to break tradition. I mean, you got things
in your family you do by tradition. You just don't want to change
it. You know, we always done it this way. Well, sometimes
it's good to do it another way. Tradition keepers, you can see
it over in Mark. Look over in Mark chapter 7. Mark chapter
7. I wanted us to see this in the
scriptures this morning. I wanted to turn to these scriptures
this morning. In Mark 7, through there before I am. Mark 7, looking versus, let me see if I got it down right. Mark
7, 6 and 9. Yeah, in verse 6, He answered
and said unto them, Where hath Isaiah prophesied of you hypocrites,
as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips,
but their heart is far from me? Howbeit in vain do they worship
me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. For laying
aside the commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men. You hold the tradition of the
elders. Listen, a prominent elder has made a statement and said
something and said, this is the way it ought to be, and you have
literally set aside the Word of God for what he had to say.
And you hold what he said. You hold the tradition of men.
As the washing of pots and cups and many other such like things
you do. And he said unto them, for well,
you rejected the commandment of God that you may keep your
own tradition. Don't think that tradition is
not strong. For a lot of people, a lot of
people, tradition is far stronger than the word of God, far stronger. I'd much rather have the word
of God and throw tradition out the door. And then others do
it for fame and for following, just like the Pharisees. That's
what these televangelists know. It's all about fame and fortune.
That's all it's about. And then listen here. Paul says
here in verses, in verse eight and nine here, and I'll close.
Though, but though we, I didn't catch that until I read this
again this week and looking at it, Paul saying, if I, If I or
Timothy or any other apostle, if we come to you and we change
the message, let us go to hell. He included himself. If we, if
I come in, he said, if I come in and I say, you know what? I think we need to, I do think
we need to be circumcised. He said, don't you listen to
me. Don't you listen to me. That's how serious this is. Though
we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than that we
have preached unto you, let him be accursed or perish or go to
hell. And here's why, here's why Paul's
saying this. The gospel of God's glory is
at stake. God's glory is at stake. It's
called the glory of the gospel of God in 1 Timothy 1.11. It's
called the gospel of his glory. It's his chief glory. The creation
of heaven and earth is not God's chief glory. His chief glory
is His redemptive glory. That's His chief glory, His redemptive
glory. And then it's a severe statement
because it concerns His Son whom He loves. Don't you add anything
to what my son has accomplished. When he said it's finished, it's
finished. Don't you add anything to it. This is the gospel of
my son, concerning my son. And then it's the only gospel
that enables God to be just and justify us. Any other way, He
can't do it. God can't be God. God can't be
justifier if we add anything to the gospel. And then it's
this, it's the truth. It's the truth. If you change
it, it's a lie. God does not honor a lie. In
fact, it says he hates lying lips. He hates liars. And our soul is at stake. Our
soul is at stake. Paul says there's only one gospel. There's no other gospel. There's
only one. That's how dogmatic we have to
be about it. We can't even open a crack in the door for anything
else. Straight is the gate, narrow is the way that leads unto life,
and few there be that find it. And that way is Jesus Christ
alone. Grace alone, Christ alone, faith
alone. And to add anything to it, you
un-gospel it. You un-gospel it. All right.