Galatians the book of Galatians The name of the message is the
gospel defined Galatians chapter 1 Galatians chapter 1 We'll read verses 1 to 10 1 to
10 Paul an apostle, not of men, neither by men, but
by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.
And all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of
Galatia, grace be to you and peace from God the Father and
from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that
he might deliver us from this present evil world, according
to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory forever and
ever, amen. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him
that called you unto the grace of Christ unto another gospel,
which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and
would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we
have preached unto you, let him be accursed. 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 accursed. For do I now persuade
men or God? Or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
Now Paul brings forth in these verses that there's another gospel.
There's another gospel. Which is not another gospel.
But it's a perversion of the true gospel of Christ. The setting
for these verses is that Paul is writing to the church at Galatia. And remember this is a Gentile
church. This is a Gentile church, and they're being told by the
false teachers, the Judaizers, that they must be circumcised
in order to be truly saved. That they must accept Christ,
or that they must put their trust and their faith in Christ, and
that they must also be circumcised. And if they don't do that, the
Judaizers are telling them, well, you're not saved. you're not
saved. So in other words, these false
teachers are telling them that they must do something to be
saved. That they must do something to be saved. And Paul brings
forth in these verses that that is nothing but a false gospel.
Very clearly, doesn't he? He brings it forth very clearly. that it's another gospel. It's
a false gospel. It's a perversion of the truth. Look in verse six and seven,
and we see that Paul is astonished, which in the Greek means filled
with wonder, marvels. He's filled with wonder that
the Galatians are soon removed from him, Christ, that called
them to another, that called them, that they're removed to
another gospel, which is not a gospel, but it's a perversion
of the one true gospel in which salvation is in and through Christ
alone. Look, it says, I marvel that
ye are so soon removed from him that called you unto the grace
of Christ unto another gospel, which is not another. Very clearly
put, which is not another, but there be some that trouble you
and would pervert the gospel of Christ. So we know from there
that false teachings False gospels are a perversion of the true
gospel. It very clearly is put there.
In note in verse seven, there'd be some who would trouble you.
Well, they'd seek to trouble you. They'd seek to trouble your
heart. They seek to trouble your mind.
They seek to trouble you who are resting and trusting in Christ
alone. Because this is what these, Our hope and our rest is in Christ
alone. The Galatians are being bought,
they have false teachers coming in and saying, yeah, but no,
you must be circumcised to be saved. So they're getting troubled.
Well, they've been called by the grace of God in Christ alone.
That's what they're to rest in. But these Judaizers, these false
teachers are troubling them. In verse seven, we see that these
false teachings do nothing but pervert the gospel. That which
they proclaim is not the gospel. It's not the gospel. It's nothing
more than man-made works-based religion. That's what it is. And think of this, what the Judaizers
is promoting as the gospel is not good news, is it? Because
it has no saving power. It's all based upon man. Well,
they say it's based upon Christ and man. But what we believe
is based strictly on Christ and what he's done. We are saved by the grace of
God plus nothing. Through Christ alone plus nothing.
It's God who's done this work. were born again by the power
of God. Can a dead man make a decision? Can a dead man pray a prayer? Can a dead man walk an aisle? No, they're dead. They have no
ability to do nothing. Well, the scripture boldly declares
that we were dead in trespasses and sins. And then again, as
we've looked at in our study in 1 John on Wednesday nights,
the believer is bought from death, spiritual death, with no ability
to do anything to life, life in Christ. And you know who does
all that? God. It's all the work of God. We're made willing in the day
of his power. We run to Jesus. We flee to him when we're made
alive, when we're born again in the Holy Spirit of God. So
we see that the gospel that these Judaizers promote is nothing
but a false gospel. And you know, there's still lots
of false gospels out there, even today, lots of them. Now, one thing for you and I,
who are the people of God, to remember is it's not always what
the false preachers say. It's what they don't say. It's what they don't say. These
false preachers with another gospel, they use the word gospel.
They use the Bible. They talk about heaven and hell,
and some even fail to mention hell. Because they deny that
it exists. They talk about salvation, they
mention eternal life, and they mention Jesus. Let me point out
some points of another gospel in contrast to the good news
of the gospel in Christ, which proclaims salvation in Christ
and Christ alone. The false gospel being proclaimed
deals with heaven and hell. Don't you want to go to heaven? You know, I used to go out in
the streets a lot and talk to people in Oregon. And when you
start talking to people, and if they believe in hell, there's
no one that wants to go there. So, this false gospel now is
asking the question, first of all, well, do you want to go
to heaven? So it deals with heaven and hell,
but you know what the one true gospel deals with? Sin and forgiveness. Sin and forgiveness. We get to
go to heaven as a result of Christ dying for our sins. But praise
be to God that all our sins are forgiven in Christ. All of them. Only through Christ. What does
the scriptures declare? Thou shalt call his name Jesus,
for he shall save his people, doesn't say from hell, Although we know we're saved
from that, from the wrath, but he shall save his people from
their sins. Their sins. That which we desperately
need to be saved from. Ourself. Our sins. Our sins. The perverted false
gospel tells men and women that God needs them. Oh, God needs
you. Have you ever heard people proclaim
that God has no hands but your hands? God has no feet but your feet? Well, that's not the God of the
Bible. When people proclaim that, they're
telling you about a God who can't do nothing without you. But the scriptures declare the
gospel of God's free grace in Christ. It proclaims that men
and women who are born sinners desperately need Christ. God doesn't need us, but we need
him. Desperately. Desperately, beloved. For the ways of man are before
the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings. His
own iniquity shall take the wicked, and he shall be holden with the
cords of his sin. Let's turn there, I'll read it
again. That's in Proverbs chapter five, let's turn there. We desperately
need Christ, why? Because we are beholden by our
sins. Held captive in our natural state. in the prison house, a sin. And
we have no way to escape. Look at Proverbs chapter 5 verses
21 and 22. For the ways of men are before
the eyes of the Lord. He sees everything. There is
nothing that escapes his eyes. Absolutely not a thought of ours,
nothing. Not an act, not a thought, nothing
escapes his eyes. Absolutely nothing. And he pondereth
all his goings. Look at verse 22, speaking of
man, natural man. His own iniquity shall take the
wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his
sins. Tied up by our own sins. And this is the state of natural
man. They are holden with the cords of sin, and they have no
way to escape. Just as we had no way to escape
in our natural state, none. But praise be to God, the Lord
Jesus Christ sets his people free. He sets his people free
from the cords of sin and from the prison house of sin. He does
it. He does it. And this is the good
news of the gospel, isn't it? It's wonderful. We have a desperate
need. We can't save ourselves. And
we're honed by the cords of our own sin, and the Lord Jesus Christ
sets us free. And he who the Son sets free
shall be free indeed. Good news. But the perverted
gospel tells you, well, God needs you. God don't need us. We need him. We need him. We need him desperately. Another gospel exhorts men to
believe facts. They ask, do you believe you
are a sinner? Do you believe in the death,
burial, or resurrection of Christ? And the reply of the one being
asked, if they believe these facts is yes, then the false
teacher proclaims, you're saved. You're saved. These are facts about the gospel.
The gospel of God's sovereign grace tells men and women to
trust and hope in a person. In a person. Not facts, but a
person. And that person is the Lord Jesus
Christ. The believer in Christ bows to
a person, not the facts. They bow to a person. the Lord
Jesus Christ. The sinless, spotless Lamb of
God is the object of our faith. It is He who saved us. Facts
can't save anyone, but Christ can. Christ can. Turn, if you would, to Isaiah
chapter 2, or Isaiah chapter 12. Isaiah chapter 12, I'm sorry. The believer in Christ bows to
the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, who
died in our room and place on Calvary's cross. That's who we
bow to, a person. God incarnate in the flesh. And
look what Isaiah chapter 12, verse two says. Behold, behold,
God is my salvation. who is Christ, God incarnate
in the flesh. God is my salvation. I will trust and not be afraid
for the Lord Jehovah, the self-existent one, is my
strength and my song. He also has become what? My salvation. We trust a person. We trust the Lord Jesus Christ
who is God incarnate in the flesh. So each believer can say the
Lord is my salvation. He's my salvation. Not some facts
about him. He is. He is. A false gospel tells men and
women to just make a decision for Jesus. It proclaims that
Satan has cast a vote and God has cast a vote for you and now
the rest is up to you. You must cast the deciding vote. They proclaim that you must open
the door of your heart to Jesus. How can a man or a woman with
no spiritual life, who is absolutely dead in trespasses and sins,
how can they open their heart You ever thought of that? A dead man can't make their heartbeat
again. They're gone. It is impossible as a dead man
has no power to make themselves alive. They have no power to
make themselves alive. They have no power to make a
decision. They're dead. Turn, if you would, to Acts chapter
16. The gospel of God's free grace proclaims that it is God,
it is God who must open your heart to attend to the things
proclaimed in the gospel. It's a work of God. He must do
it or we'll never hear the voice of the shepherd. He must give
us life or we'll forever remain dead in trespasses and sins. Look at this in Acts chapter
16. We see here that Lydia, when
she heard Paul preach, The gospel, we see what happens. Let's look
at this. Acts chapter 16 verses 13 to 15. And on the Sabbath
we went out of the city by a riverside where prayer was wont to be made
and we sat down and spake unto the woman which resorted thither.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple, the city
of Thyatira, which worshipped God, heard us. Well, she heard
them proclaiming the gospel, because that's what they'd be
doing. They'd be proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ. Now remember, people say, well, God's knocking on
your heart, and you just have to open the door and let him
in. Again, how does a dead man open the door of their heart?
It's impossible, isn't it? It really is impossible. But
look at the mighty power of God here in this verse. Look at this.
And a certain woman named Lydia, a seller of purple in the city
of Thyatira, which worshiped God, heard us, whose heart the
Lord opened. The Lord opened her heart. And
then what did she do? She attained unto the things
which were spoken to Paul. And when she was baptized in
her household, she besought us, saying, if ye have judged me
to be faithful to the Lord, come into my house and abide there.
And she constrained us. This is true of every single
blood-bought saint of God. The Lord must open our heart
to attain to the things of God. And how does that happen? Well,
we're born again in the Holy Spirit and we're given what?
A new heart. That hungers and thirsts after righteousness.
That hungers and thirsts after the things of Christ. You must be born again. They
must be born again, but we see very clearly there in verse 14,
whose heart the Lord opened. She didn't open her own heart,
but God did. God opened her heart. Always
remember that it is God the Father who has decided to save a people
in Christ, and it is He who gave them to Christ, and it is Christ
who redeemed them at Calvary's cross, and it is the Holy Spirit
who regenerates them, who calls them with an effectual call,
and they are brought from spiritual death to spiritual life in Christ. And it's a work of God the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, beloved. It's a work of God. And we are only accepted by God
in and through Christ and Christ alone. The perverted false gospel also
brings forth what you must do for God. You have to be doing
this or you have to be doing that. And you know what they
do? They keep people real busy. They
got all kinds of things going on. Keep you real busy. Real busy. And this perverted gospel is
one based upon works self-righteousness, it speaks of human merit, earning
salvation by the keeping of the law. And it does nothing but
condemn those who believe it. That's what it does. It does
nothing but condemn those who believe it. Turn, if you would, to Galatians
chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3, the gospel of God's grace
proclaims that God must do something for us or we will never be saved.
He must open our heart. He must regenerate us. It proclaims
what Christ has done for his people. He's already done it. He saved us from our sins. Salvation is all about what Christ
has done and not what man or woman can do or would do for
God. Look at this in Galatians chapter
3 verse 13. Who is it who's done this mighty
work? Actually, let's move up a little
bit to verse 11. But that no man is justified
by the law in the sight of God, it is evident, for the just shall
live by faith. And the law is not of faith,
The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath, and
this is speaking again to God's people, Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law. He did it all, being made a curse
for us, for it is written, Cursed is everyone that hangeth on the
tree, that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles, that's
us, through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith. Christ has redeemed us. He did
it all. We just look to Him. We've been
given eyes to look to Him, haven't we? It's marvelous. In our natural state, again,
when you consider a dead person, they can't look, their eyes are
closed and dead. Even if one dies with their eyes
open, they don't see anything, they're dead, they're gone. But when we're born again with
the Holy Spirit of God, just like the Lord opens our heart,
we're given eyes to see, spiritual eyes to see Christ, spiritual
ears to hear the things of Christ. It's all the work of God, beloved.
All by the grace and mercy of God, all Him. He does it all.
He does it all. So we're saved based upon the
work of Christ, plus nothing. the perfect substitutionary life
that he lived in our place, and his perfect substitutionary death
in our place, to satisfy the law of God. Remember what it
said there in Galatians 3.33, Christ hath redeemed us from
what? The curse of the law. Being made
a curse for us. For it is written, cursed is
everyone that hangeth on the tree. That which was justly deserving
of us fell upon our Savior. in our place. And we're saved
because of what He's done. Because of the work of God. The
Lord Jesus Christ. The false, perverted gospel of
this day excites the flesh. It caters to the flesh. But the
gospel of the grace of God in Christ excites the Spirit within
us. The Holy Spirit. It makes the
Soul of the believer, Christ conscious, as one commentator
said. I like that. It's not about getting
the soul or the flesh all worked up. It excites our soul when
we hear the gospel of God's free grace in Christ. Fills us with
joy. It gives us the peace that passes,
what? All understanding. Keeps your
hearts and minds on Christ. Turn if you would to Romans chapter
9. The perverted gospel Paul speaks
of, which is not another gospel, it's not good news. It tells
people this, it tells people that God loves everybody and
he wants everybody to be saved. But the gospel of God's free
grace and Christ declares that salvation is only in the Son,
the Lord Jesus Christ, and that it is God who has mercy on whom
we have mercy. And as a result of that, the
believer is in absolute awe that we're included in that number. Didn't it leave you in awe and
wonder that the Lord saved you? It does me all the time. All the time. It just leaves
you in awe and wonder that He saved a sinner like me. Scriptures declare that we know
our God is a God of love, we know that. But we also know that
our God is a God of wrath and justice, and His justice and
law must be upheld, eh? And we know that here of mercy
on whom here of mercy And we know that the salvation of God's
people is all based upon the grace and mercy of God in and
through Christ and Christ alone. And that the Lord Jesus Christ
laid down his life for every sheep of God. Look at this in
Romans chapter nine, verse 13 to 16, look at this. As it is written, Jacob have
I loved, but Esau have I hated. What shall we then say? What
shall we say then? Is there unrighteousness with God? So Paul had the same
issues that we face when we mention that God chooses a people. Oh,
that just can't be. That's just wrong. Well, I ask you men who are married,
did you choose your bride? You did, didn't you? Chose your
bride. Well, God chooses his bride.
God chose Israel, right, as a picture of Christ. What about all those
other nations around them? They were left in darkness. And
the Jews had the oracles of God, the law and the commandments,
the scriptures, and everybody else was left in darkness. The scriptures here declare very,
very clearly and very plainly, as is written, Jacob have I loved,
but Esau have I hated. Now here's something for you
to think about. I've mentioned this before, but it's worth repeating.
There's an old preacher that said one time his grandson came
to him after he had preached on this very verse. And his grandson
said, Grandpa, it says there that God loved Jacob and hated
Esau. How could he hate Esau? And the old preacher, being wise,
said, well, son, if you can ever understand how God can love Jacob,
then you understand the true meaning of this verse. It's all by the grace of God.
It's all by the mercy of God. God loves us. He commanded his
love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died
for us. Just marvel at that. Just marvel
at that. God chose to bestow his grace
and mercy upon his people in eternity. What shall we then
say? Or what shall we say then? Is
there unrighteousness with God? Paul writes, God forbid. We don't get what we deserve. You want to get what you deserve.
I don't want to get what I deserve. No. Because if we got what we
deserve, we'd be in hell. I don't want to get what I deserve. Christ died for me. I praise
God all the time for that. He saved me from all my sins.
He saved me from that which I could never save myself from. Glory be to God. I know it's
so for you who believe too. It's wondrous. It's absolutely
wondrous. God forbid. Look at what he said. For ye have said to Moses, I
will have mercy. What? On whom I'll have mercy.
Who's doing the choosing? It's God. And I'll have compassion on whom
I'll have compassion. So then it is not, look at verse
16, it just destroys. For it is not of him that willeth.
It's not according to your will. Nor of him that runneth, not
according to your works, but of God that showeth mercy.
Praise God, I stand before you a sinner saved by grace. And
if you're saved, you're a sinner saved by grace too. All according
to the mercy of God. Makes you rejoice, doesn't it?
Fills your heart with joy. Absolute joy. And it's not because
of our will, because our will is bound to our nature. We were
dead in trespasses and sins, couldn't do nothing. But it's
all according to the mercy of God. If you are saved, man and
woman, you are saved by the mercy of God, according to His good
pleasure. Praise His mighty name. Give
Him all the glory. This is mercy. This is undeserved
mercy and grace. Undeserved mercy and grace. The perverted gospel also tells
men and women that one day, one day your works will be weighed. They'll be weighed. But the gospel of God's grace
proclaims that all men and women's works have been weighed and found
wanton. And found wanton. Because all
men and women are guilty before a thrice holy God. Turn, if you
would, to Romans chapter three. And we see that very clearly
declared. Look at this in Romans chapter
three. Romans chapter three. Verses 10, it's 12 first. As it is written, there is none
righteous, no, not one. That means there's no one righteous
before God. That means our works, our sins
have been weighed and found wanton. There's none that understandeth
This is talking about our natural state. There's none that seeketh
after God. Again, a dead man can't do anything. Since man is dead in trespasses
and sins, the scripture declares that in our natural state. There's
none that seeketh after God. There's none that understandeth.
Look at verse 12. They are all gone out of the
way. They are all together become unprofitable. There is none that
doeth good. No, not one. Wade and found wanting. Wade
and found wanting. Their throne is an open sepulcher.
With their tongues they have used deceit. The poison of asps
is under the lips, whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness.
Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery
are in their ways, and the way of peace have they not known.
There is no fear of God before their eyes. That's the state
of natural man. Wade and found wanting. Look at verse 19, 20. Now we know that what things
soever the law saith, that saith to them who are under the law,
that every mouth may be stopped, and all the world may become
guilty before God. Therefore by the deeds of the
flesh there shall no flesh be justified in his sight, in God's
sight, for by the law is the knowledge of sin. But the gospel of God's free
grace proclaims that there's no condemnation to those in Christ
Jesus. They will never be judged. Never. They are fully, freely
forgiven. And their sins are forgiven as
far as the east is from the west, and God remembers our sins no
more. How can we be judged for something that he don't remember
anymore? We can't. as all our sins were
bought and paid for by the sinless, spotless Lamb of God, the Lord
Jesus Christ at Calvary's cross. Look at verse 24 in the same
chapter. Being justified freely by His
grace, God's grace, through the redemption that is in Christ
Jesus. This is good news. Justified
freely, stand before God fully justified, accepted in the beloved. without spotted blemish, clothed
in the perfect spotless righteousness of Christ. Through the redemption
that is in Christ Jesus, whom God has set forth to be a propitiation
through faith in his blood to declare his righteousness, there's
a key there, his righteousness, God's righteousness, for the
remission of sins that are passed through the forbearance of God,
to declare, I say at this time, his righteousness, that he might
be just and justifier of him which believeth in Jesus. He's both just and justifier.
He's just in the fact that His law is satisfied by the sacrifice
of Christ and His justice is satisfied and He's justifier
because it's God who justifies us. Only God who's done this. Only God who's done this. Where is boasting then? Can we
boast? No, not in ourselves, hey, not
at all, because we saw our natural state. But who do we boast in? We boast in Christ. We boast
in what he's done for us. By the law of works? Nay, but
by the law of faith, we boast in Christ. Therefore, we conclude
that a man is justified by faith without the deeds of the law.
Hallelujah, what a Savior. What a Savior. What a Savior
is Jesus Christ our Lord. Turn, if you would, over a couple
more chapters over to Romans chapter 5 here. Now this is another
thing that is very prevalent. The false perverted gospel of
our day never mentions the righteousness of Christ because all who follow
the false gospel are trying to establish their own righteousness.
That's why you never hear about the righteousness of Christ.
Because they're trying to establish their own righteousness by their
own works. Yet the gospel of God's free
grace in Christ proclaims that our righteousness is like filthy
rags in the eyes of the Lord, totally unacceptable to God. Look at this, Romans chapter
five, verse 17 to 19. For if by one man's offense death
reigned by one, we fell in Adam, much more they which receive
abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign
in life by one, Jesus Christ, so only through Christ. Therefore,
as by the offense of one judgment came, we fell in Adam, upon all
men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one,
the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Look at that, made righteous
in and through Christ, in Christ alone. So the gospel of God's
grace proclaims that we must have this pure, spotless righteousness
of Christ. We must be robed in his righteousness
to be accepted by God. And again, as we saw on Sunday
school, it's God who puts that righteousness upon us. It's the
Father who does that. The Father who does that. And
again, our sins are imputed to Christ and his perfect, sinless,
spotless righteousness is imputed to us. The great transfer. The great transfer. Praise his
name. So is the gospel really important?
Must it always be preached? Can a man or woman be saved without
it? Let's let the scriptures answer these questions. The gospel
of God is the gospel concerning his son. It's the power of God
unto salvation. Turn, if you would, to Romans
chapter 1. Romans chapter 1. Look at this. 1 to 4 first. Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ,
called to be an apostle, separated unto the gospel of God, which
he had promised afore by his prophets in the holy scriptures
concerning his son, the gospels concerning Christ. Christ Jesus
our Lord, which was made of the seed of David according to the
flesh, and declared to be the Son of God. He is the Son of
God. With power. He has all power. He gives eternal
life to as many as the Father hath given him. He's got all
the power. According to the spirit of holiness
by the resurrection from the dead. And then listen to what Romans
chapter 1 verses 16 and 17 proclaims about the gospel. For I am not
ashamed of the gospel of Christ. And every believer can say what's
next. For it is the power of God. unto salvation. Oh, it's the power of God unto
salvation. God saved me. I can't tell you how much I despise
when people say, people say, well, I got saved.
No, you didn't. You get a cold or you get the
flu or you get something, right? The Lord saved me. That's what
the true believer says. The Lord saved I was lost and
he found me. He saved me. He saved my soul. Is it so with you? Did he do
it? Yeah. Give him all the glory.
He saved me. God saved me. For I am not ashamed
of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation
to everyone that believeth. Right? The believer has faith
in Christ. He's the object of our faith.
To the Jew first and also to the Greek. One in Christ. For
therein, in the gospel, is the righteousness of God revealed. From faith to faith, it is written,
the just shall live by faith. The perfect righteousness of
God is revealed in the gospel. We cannot justify ourselves.
Our righteousness is like filthy rags in the eyes of the Lord.
So again, the Lord lives a perfect life for his people. in our place,
and it dies in our room and place on Calvary's cross. And that
perfect righteousness is given to the believer by God the Father. This is what the scriptures declare.
And the glorious gospel of God is all about, turn if you would
to 1 Timothy chapter 1. Look at what the gospel's called.
Look at what it's called here. 1 Timothy chapter 1, verse 11. According to the glorious gospel
of the blessed God, I ask you who are saved, you who are redeemed
by Christ, is not this gospel glorious? It's glorious, isn't
it? It's glorious. It's all about
my Savior. It's all about He who saved me
from my sins. It's all about He who's clothed
me in His perfect righteousness. According to the glorious gospel
of the blessed God which was committed to my trust, Now Paul
is a preacher of the gospel. He must proclaim this glorious
gospel of God. And the glorious gospel of God
is all about Christ. It reveals salvation in and through
him alone. It reveals the glory of God.
It reveals his wisdom, his love, his righteousness, his holiness,
his grace. And it's all those things have
been revealed to the believer through the gospel. All those
things are revealed to the believer through the gospel. And God's
preachers are commanded to preach it to every creature. Go ye into
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. I don't know
who God's elect are. I have no clue. Therefore, I
preach the gospel to all. And the Lord does the saving,
right? The Lord saved me. He does the
saving. He does, praise his name, he
does. Oh, my. So God's preachers seek to proclaim
this glorious gospel of salvation in Christ alone whenever we get
the opportunity. And Paul wrote of this glorious
gospel. Turn, if you went to Ephesians chapter 1, Paul wrote
of this glorious gospel in writing to the born-again, blood-washed
saints of God in Ephesus. He wrote of this glorious gospel.
The gospel, he called it, of your salvation. And again, see,
the gospel is glorious to God's people because it's the gospel
of our salvation. Every believer can say that.
My salvation is in Christ and Christ alone. Nowhere else. Nowhere
else. Look at this in Ephesians chapter
1 verses 12 to 14. That we should be to the praise
of his glory who first trusted in Christ, in whom he also trusted,
after that he heard the word of truth, the gospel of your
salvation. Oh my. in whom also after that
ye believed ye were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, which
is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased
possession unto the praise of his glory. Paul writes the gospel
of your salvation because Christ did it all, and it's the glorious
gospel of God. This is who we boast in, Christ,
in Christ alone. Do you know the gospel? Have
you heard it yet? Oh, my prayer is that God would
give you ears to hear, and eyes to look upon the Lord Jesus Christ,
ears to hear the wondrous gospel, the glorious gospel of God, which
speaks of salvation in Christ alone, which speaks of God's
free grace to sinners, in and through Christ. And if He gives
you ears to hear, it'll be the most wondrous news you've ever
heard. The most wondrous news you've
ever heard. The greatest news you've ever heard in your life.
And then you just seek to keep hearing this wonderful news. It's good news to sinners. It's
truly good news to sinners. May God show you that you're
a sinner. Let's go back to Galatians chapter
one. Galatians chapter one and let's
take note of how Paul brings forth in verse one and two that
he's not sent of man but he's sent of God. That it's not a
man who made him an apostle but God who made him an apostle.
The Judaizers are declaring that he's not sent by God and he brings
forth that he's sent by God. And note he ties in the resurrection
in verse 1, and he will put forth the true gospel before rebuking
the Galatians for being carried away by a perversion of the gospel.
Look at Galatians chapter 1 verse 1, Paul, an apostle not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus Christ in God the Father who
raised him from the dead. And all the brethren which are
with me unto the churches of Galatia." So Paul brings forth
right away the sovereignty of our great God. Sets it right
before them. Sets it right before them. The
sovereignty of our great God. The gospel is the everlasting
gospel, beloved. Revelation 14.6, the scripture
declares that I saw another angel flying in the midst of heaven,
having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth,
and every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people. It's
the everlasting gospel, the gospel of God's free grace in Christ. And it is he who is from everlasting, who
reveals this gospel to his people. It is he who is the only potentate,
the King of kings, and the Lord of lords, who only hath immortality
dwelling in the light, which no man can approach unto, whom
no man hath seen, nor can see, to whom be the glory, power,
and honor. It all goes to him. This is who
made Paul an apostle. This is who made Paul an apostle.
This is who sends his preachers where he pleases. The great,
sovereign, majestic God. God Almighty. Ruler over all.
Over all things. The one who's seated upon the
throne of majesty right now. It's he who's done this. Take
note in verse 3. Paul brings forth the gospel
in the next few verses. Grace be to you and peace from
God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Grace we know comes
from the Father to God's people in and through
the Lord Jesus Christ. Peace, peace with God always
follows the grace of God. As the believer in Christ has
peace with God through the Lord Jesus Christ. And then faith
and repentance in Christ is also a gift from God, not of works
lest any man should boast. And take note that the gospel
Paul preaches comes from the Lord Jesus Christ, and is about
the Lord Jesus Christ, who is God incarnate in the flesh. And
next we see the good news of the gospel proclaimed, and the
fact of the substitution of Christ dying for his people. Just as
the scriptures proclaim that he died for his people. He gave
himself for our sins, for the sins of his people. Why? That
he might deliver us from this present evil world. And we know
We know that He's delivered us from all our sins. We know He
paid it all. He's delivered us also from the
law of God, hasn't He? And He's delivered us from the
wrath of God. And it's all according to the
will of the Father. Marvel in that, that all this has been
done for you and for me who believe according to the will of the
Father. Just let it sink in. It's incredible. It's absolutely
incredible. Look at Galatians 1.4, it brings
it very clear. And remember, he's writing to
believers, he's writing to Gentile believers, who gave himself for
our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world
according to the will of God and our Father. So we can see that the basis
of our salvation is summed up in a three-word question. Who
did it? Who did it? Well, it was the Lord Jesus Christ,
God incarnated in the flesh who saved us, right? Who gave himself
for our sins. He did it. He did it. This is wonderful
news. He did it. He saved His people
from their sins. Therefore, the outcome of this
mighty work can never be in question. Let that sink deep in your soul.
The outcome of this work can never be in question. We are
saved in Christ by the grace of God and the mercy of God from
all our sins. according to the will of God
our Father. And there's no question about
it. My. And who gets all the glory? He gets all the glory, doesn't
he? Salvations of the Lord. He did it all. So we see here
in verse four that Paul, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, has
very clearly identified who it is that has saved the people
of God. And he's speaking of the Lord
Jesus Christ and writing to the saints of God. And this scripture
declares that Christ gave himself for his people, that he might
deliver us from this present evil world, all according to
the will of the Father. Praise his mighty name. Praise
his mighty name. Again, Paul's writing to the
church at Galatia, the born again blood-bought saints of God. The
elect of God who are recipients, just recipients, just like us,
just recipients of this grace, is amazing. Amazing. We are recipients of
the grace and mercy of God and through Christ. And the glorious
gospel proclaims that salvation is in Christ and Christ alone,
who is the object of our faith. Turn one more time to Luke chapter
two, look at this, Luke chapter two. Oh, this is wonderful. Oh, I pray God gives you eyes
to see Christ. If you don't know him, if you
don't have eyes to see him, I pray God gives you eyes. Look at this.
Look at this, Luke chapter two, verses 25 to 30. And behold, verse 25, and behold, there was a man in Jerusalem
whose name was Simeon. And the same man was just and
devout. Well, we know whenever it says a man's just, they're
only justified in Christ. We know that. Just and devout,
waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Ghost was
upon him. And it was revealed to him, unto him by the Holy
Ghost, that he should not see death before he had seen the
Lord's Christ, before he sees the Messiah, before he sees the
one who is the salvation of his people. Remember the object,
Christ. And he came by the Spirit into
the temple. And when the parents brought in the child Jesus, which
again means Savior, to do for him after the custom of the law,
then took he up in his arms and blessed God and said, look at
this, Lord, now let us thy servant depart in peace according to
thy word. For mine eyes, mine eyes have seen thy salvage. God's people are given eyes to
look to Christ, and a heart that hungers and thirsts after righteousness,
and granted faith to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ. And
we never stop looking, do we? And one day we will behold Him,
who is our salvation, face to face one day, all according to
the will of the Father. So salvation, the salvation that's
mentioned there, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation, that
salvation is in a person. It's in a person. It's in a person. The God-man mediator, the Lord
Jesus Christ, whom Simeon had in his arms, and he declared
this wonderful proclamation, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Oh my. And we see in verse four
of our text that this wonder of salvation is accomplished
by the Lord Jesus Christ. What an act of love, what an
act of grace, what an act of mercy he gave himself. He gave himself for our sins
that he might deliver us from this present evil world according
to the will of God and our Father. What a manifestation of the great
love that Christ has for his bride. What a sacrifice, what
a sacrifice. And then look at verse five,
to whom be glory forever and ever, amen. What more can you
say? To him be glory forever and ever,
amen. We see Paul ascribing all the
glory of our salvation to our great God, which is what every believer
does. We give him all the glory. Our salvation is a work of our
great almighty God. It's he who has saved us from
our sins. It's he who has redeemed us from
all our sins. And it is he who will one day
take us home to glory. To be with him forever. And you
know what we'll be doing? Worshipping and praising his
mighty name. And we'll be absolutely sinless. Wonder of wonders. All because
of what our Lord did for us. Heavenly Father, again, we thank
you for allowing us to look in your Word. Oh, what a gospel. What a gospel is this glorious
gospel of God, which proclaims the Lord Jesus Christ. Proclaims
that salvation is in you alone, Lord, and that men have no hope
outside of you. And this gospel doesn't just
proclaim facts, but we look to a Savior. We look to you, Lord
Jesus, a person. you who are the object of our
faith, you who have redeemed us from all our sins, and we
seek to give you all the glory and all the honor and all the
praise. Lord, may we think upon these wonderful truths that we've
looked at today, this week. Oh Lord, and may we be in awe
and wonder, we who are your people, that we are saved from all our
sins by the shedding of the blood of Christ according to thy will,
Father. Oh, we love you because you first
loved us, in Jesus' name, amen.