I turn there in that second chapter
of the book of Galatians. The second chapter. Verse 19, The apostle says, For I through
the law am dead to the law that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ. And I think I said prior to this
that God put us in Christ. in his will and in his purpose
before the world ever was. Everyone that is saved by the
grace of God, or whoever will be saved by the grace of God,
was put in Christ before the world began. As Paul said in
the book of Ephesians, According as he hath chosen us in Him before
the world was put in Christ. And where God put us, He kept
us and called us in time with a holy calling, called us by
and through the blessed gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. So
Paul said, I'm dead to the law. that I might live under God.
I am crucified with Christ. That is, when God put Paul in
Christ, He kept him where He put him and preserved him and
called him in time. And Paul can say that Our Lord
Jesus Christ, who condescended and become a man, took upon himself
the form of human flesh apart from sin. Paul said, I was in
him then. I was in him then. God put me
in him. And so when he was crucified,
I was crucified. because I was in Him. And when
He died, I died in Him. And when He was buried, I was
buried with Him. And when He rose again, I arose
with Him and now am seated in Christ and with Christ before
the throne. That's what Paul's preaching.
That's what he's teaching. I was crucified with him. Well,
we know literally he wasn't crucified with Christ. Two thieves were
crucified with Christ, but Paul wasn't literally crucified with
Christ. He was crucified with Christ
in God's will and purpose. by being put in Christ before
time ever was. So 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. And he says all that in order
to establish his argument that there is nothing that a man can
do or hoped to do concerning himself or by any works of himself
to stand him in good favor with God. Because he said, I do not
frustrate the grace of God. That is, I don't mix it up. I
don't mix grace and works together. I don't frustrate the grace of
God. Now, what God demands out of
us is a righteousness. He demands out of His creatures
a perfect fulfillment of His holy law. If that law of God,
which is a holy law, if it's perfectly fulfilled, constitutes
a righteousness. And that's what God demands out
of man, is a righteousness. A righteousness that even God
himself can't find a flaw in it. And Paul said, I do not frustrate
the grace of God, for if this righteousness that God demands,
if it comes by the law, why then, if it's the result of me keeping
the law, why did Christ come in the first place? And if it
comes by keeping the law, Well, then there was no reason why
the Lord Jesus Christ died, so it was a mistake on God's part,
and Christ died in vain. His death does not avail anything. That's what Paul's saying. I
don't mix this up. It's either got to be all works,
or it's got to be all grace. It cannot be the mixture of the
two. So when it says here in the book
of Ephesians, when it says, For by grace are ye saved through
faith, and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of words,
lest any man should boast. Now, that makes it plain enough.
Now, after saying that, let me continue by saying that the common
core, the common core of the false gospels of our day is a
focus or a bringing of attention upon self. That's the core of
it. That's the body of this so-called
false gospel. So the common core of the gospels,
which are false in this day in which we live, is a focus or
a concentration on a man's self. Instead of proclaiming the gospel,
the good news of what Christ did for his people 2,000 years
ago, these false gospels are proclaiming every day what God
can do for you now. That's the core of false gospels
is what God can do for you now. It's not the proclaiming of what
God has already done for the sinner 2,000 years ago on the
tree. They say what makes a man acceptable
to God is grace in his heart. And this grace, they say, these
that preach a false gospel, they say this grace that makes a man
acceptable to God is grace in his heart, and they say it's
received through the ordinances or the sacraments of the church. They say that this grace is infused
into a man like pie filling is infused into a pie. But grace is not infused like
pie filling into human hearts. Grace is an attribute of God
Almighty, not of man. Grace is that favor of God. And when God mentioned grace
for the first time, He mentions grace in the book of Genesis,
the first book of the Bible, the book of the beginning. He said that Noah found grace
in the eyes of Grace is the favor of God, nor found favor in the
eyes of God. Grace is an attribute of God
Almighty, and grace is not infused in the human heart like pie filling
in a pie. It's an attribute of God and
not of man. What makes a man acceptable to
God is not God's grace in his heart, but it's the perfect life
and obedience and the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ,
who fulfilled the law of God perfectly on behalf of his people. And that's the way it is. And
that's the only way it is. There's not this way or that
way. It's this way and this way alone. The false gospel that we are
saved by something inside of us has replaced the true gospel
that we are saved only by the perfect life and obedience and
the shedding of the blood and the righteousness of the Lord
Jesus Christ. This false gospel has replaced
the true gospel almost 100%. There's very few men, women, boys and girls, and
churches in the whole world that know what the true gospel is. The true gospel has been replaced
by a false gospel. A hundred years or hundreds of
years ago, hundreds of years, maybe almost 2,000 years ago,
maybe 2,500 years ago, This false gospel had its beginning
in the Roman church and is now widely accepted in most churches. The Roman church state is ruled
by the most absolute monarch upon the face of God's earth. He is a monarch who claims to
speak for God himself. He claims, when I speak, I speak
for God. He is one who maintains a diplomatic
relationship with just about every nation upon the face of
the earth. Now, the chief deception, that is, the great work of the
devil is through the art of deception. And that's his chief work, is
to deceive people. Peter said he's like a roaring
lion. He goes up and down this earth
seeking who he might devour, seeking who he might deceive. And the chief core of deception
that the devil uses is causing men and women to look to self. and not outward and upward to
the Lord Jesus Christ. We're told that the chief work
of the devil is deception. And our Lord Jesus Christ said
that he is a liar. He said, Ye are of your father
the devil. that he's a liar and he's the
father of lies. And his main business is to deceive
you and me. And for the most part, he has
been successful. And he would, by the way, deceive
the very elect of God if it was possible. Isn't that right? father of lies. The Lord said
that the devil appears as an angel of light. So everybody
loves that fellow who appears as a... He wouldn't spit on the
ground. He wouldn't step on a grasshopper. Why, he's a fine fellow. His
morals are high. He's an angel of life. He comes
as a good shepherd and a protector of the sheep, but he's a false
shepherd and he doesn't protect the sheep. The devil, as he is portrayed by the television
and the movies, leads a multitude of people to suppose that he's
easily recognized. But these people have been easily
fooled. He's not easily recognized. He appears as an angel of light. He appears to be very religious
at times. have been deceived by his false
gospel, which replaces the true gospel. The true gospel is the
life and the death and the everlasting righteousness of the Lord Jesus
Christ. These false gospels that are
being preached Right now while I speak, right now while you're
sitting here, false gospels are being preached which would have
men and women to focus upon themselves, not to look outward and upward
to what Christ has already accomplished on Calvary Street, but look inwardly. as if you could find something
inside of you that would be highly favorable to God. These false gospels are usually
not irreligious. They take the form such as the
gospel of the new birth. I listened to a man not too long
ago, a few months back. He found out that I was a preacher. I never told him I was a preacher.
I don't know how he found out that I was a preacher. But he
wanted to tell me that he was a religious man too. And so he
immediately told me, he said, well, I never was too much interested
in this and that. But he said, I'm a born-again
Christian now. There is such a thing as a false
gospel of the new birth. The new birth doesn't save anybody. Being born again doesn't save
you. We'll talk about that again.
These false gospels are usually not irreligious. They take sometimes
the form of the new birth as though being born again makes
one acceptable unto God. The only way that a man is acceptable
unto God is in the Lord Jesus Christ. Being born again doesn't
put you in Christ. Well, there's the gospel of the
new birth, which they believe makes one acceptable to God. And then there is another false
gospel, which is the baptism of the Spirit. They talk about
that. You need to be baptized of the
Spirit. And I hear these television evangelists
talking about, instead of the Holy Spirit, they refer to Him
as the Holy Ghost. They said, we've got the Spirit
of the Holy Ghost, and they make a big to-do over that. And then
there is one gospel of good works. Sometimes, the false gospel takes
the form of preaching that says that the belief of the gospel
is not enough. Sometimes men use that approach,
that, yes, I think I understand what you're saying, that seems
to be halfway clear, but just believing the gospel is not enough. Some say that we must surrender. That's a form of the gospel. You must surrender your whole
self unto God. You must make Him your Lord,
the Lord of your life. Now, some of these things are
true, put in the proper perspective, but the gospel that Paul preached
and the gospel of the Bible declares that we are not justified by
any psychological exercise or by any infused goodness or by
any feelings or by any good intentions or any good work. But we are
saved by the grace of God on the account of the life and death
and the burial and the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. We
are saved by ascending to the truth of the everlasting righteousness
of Jesus Christ and the acknowledgement of our hopeless sinfulness before
God. False gospels cause men to look
inward. Inward. How do you feel? You feel saved and you're all
right. Maybe you don't feel saved. One day you feel good and the
next day you feel bad. One day you're high, one day
you're low. looking inward rather than outward
and upward. Salvation is in this person,
in this person whom God hath sent who would do a work in behalf
of the people of God. It's in him and him alone, outward
and upward to Christ. And as I have said now twice,
I believe, that these false gospels take many forms. I've mentioned
the gospel of the new birth, and then there is the gospel
of the changed life, which men say, well, say what you want
to, but I used to be this way and now I'm that way. That's
still not the gospel. Just because your life has changed
has no foundation for you to stand upon believing that that's
the gospel because your life, well, I used to go this way and
now I go this way. That's a false gospel because
you're concentrating, your focus is on yourself, which way you
go, which direction you lean in. Then there's not only the
gospel of a changed life, but there's a false gospel of self-esteem. That's one of these gospels that
causes you to look inward. And then there is the false gospel
of full surrender. I am fully surrendered unto God. Then there's the false gospel
of spirit baptism, the false gospel of grace in the heart,
and the false gospel of good works. Now, the false gospel
of good intentions can find its lodging place there, or the false
gospel of positive thinking can find its place there. Speaking
in tongues, that's a false gospel. I speak in tongues. I speak in
other languages. I have various gifts of the Holy
Ghost. They're false gospels. That's
not what salvation is all about. I speak in tongues. Then there's
the false gospel of letting Jesus into your heart, as if Jesus needs anything. Jesus doesn't need anything. Jesus is on the throne. And Jesus
does as he pleases, when he pleases, and always as he pleases, and
never takes leave to ask you to do anything for him. That's
a false gospel. Then there's a gospel of a personal
relationship. Oh, yes, I have a personal relationship. Then there's this false gospel
of experience. I've seen this and I've seen
that. I experienced this in a dream and so forth. Then there is this
false gospel of following Jesus as a moral example. That's a
false gospel. There's this false gospel of
prosperity, that God doesn't want you to be poor, God wants
you to be rich. God's it there for you, all you've
got to do is come and take it. Gospel of prosperity. Then there
is the gospel of fulfillment. Oh, my life is fulfilled. I feel
so good. False gospels. All of them, all
of them are focused to look on the inside rather than on the
outside. Well, there's a variety of these
subjective gospels, and they're endless. They're endless. There's
25 times more than I've mentioned here this morning. But there
is only one true gospel, and I read that here at the outset,
just one true gospel. And it's this, Paul said, he
said that I marvel that ye are so removed
from him that called you into the grace of God unto another
gospel, which is not another." You call it a gospel, but it's
not another gospel. Paul said, if we, or an angel
from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than that which
we have preached unto you, let him be damned. And I say again,
Paul said, if you didn't hear me the first time, He said, now
listen real closely because I'm going to repeat myself. I'm going
to put a double emphasis on what I said. And he said, as we said
before, in case you wasn't listening, so say I now again. You remember, this man got his
gospel from God himself. The Pope says he has God's ear,
but we just have His word for us. Here in the Bible, which
is written by God Himself, ever a word inspired by God, Paul
says, This gospel I received from God Himself. And he said,
If any man preach any other gospel unto you, then that which he
received, that gospel that I preached, he said, let that man be damned
forever. Let him go to hell and spend
an everlasting eternity separated from the goodness and the mercy
of God. Let him be damned. Let him burn
in hell, Paul said. Oh, it's only, brethren, listen,
only, By righteousness can the conscience be pacified. This gospel that is a false gospel
can never pacify a man's conscience. And that's the reason why you
find these people and you ask them about the certainty of their
salvation. If you say, well, now, are you
saved? Does your gospel save you? throughout
time and throughout eternity. Oh, no, they wouldn't go that
far. You're very presumptuous, they'll
say. You're very presumptuous. Oh,
no, I wouldn't take leave to make such a big statement like
that. Well, Paul talks about the gospel
received as a gospel of certainty. It's an eternal gospel, and the
gift of this gospel to a man is eternal life. And they shall
never perish, and neither shall any man pluck them out of my
Father's hand which gave them me, for my Father and I are one. Only by the righteousness of
the Lord Jesus Christ can this conscience be can pacify the conscience. Oh, at the tree, at the cross,
at the cross, when I first saw the light, the writer said, this
righteousness was found human. The righteousness that God demands,
the righteousness that God requires, and the righteousness that God
will accept was a human righteousness. and a divine righteousness provided
for man and presented to him by God himself in Christ. And this is what brings relief
to the conscience and justification for life, is the righteousness
of the Lord Jesus Christ. One, three words says it all. It says, it's finished. It's
finished. The work that the Father has
given me to do, it's finished. It's over with. That's what the
cross says. That's what our Lord cried out. It's finished. All that God requires
out of the poor, hopeless, helpless, doomed, damned sinner I've shed my blood, I've suffered
as penalty, all sure and certain, no question
mark behind this, no condition, no if you'll do this and if you'll
do that. It's already done. You say, well,
don't you ever? You will do something. The love
of God that's shed abroad in a man's heart will convince,
convict, and bring him to obedience. Why are you here this morning?
What did you come for? Out of obedience to God. God
commanded you to come. He said, for sake not the assembling
of yourself together as some men do, but you go and be there
in part of that local visible body of the Lord Jesus Christ
and worship and praise Doesn't make any difference if no one
ever pats you on the back and says, well, sister or brother,
you sure are a faithful servant unto God. You go to church every
Sunday. If they never say that, it doesn't make any difference.
You go because you love God, because God saved you, because
God has sent His only begotten Son to come down here on your
behalf and provide you with the righteousness that will cause
you to find favor with God. Out of love, out of love. Oh, listen. This one word, finished. That's the heavenly resting place
for weary souls to sit down and rest. I rest in Him. I can't find no rest in my quivering,
wavering, inconsistent intelligence and heart. I can't find nothing
there. I can't find nothing there but
weariness, contradictions. That's all's in my weary black
heart. I can find no rest or peace there. My rest and peace has got to
be outside of myself, in the person of another who finished
the work that the Father Now listen to this. The voice,
the voice on the tree, on that, let's say, a cross,
on the cross, actually it was a pole. I don't think it had
no thing. I think his arms were just laid
out like that, right down over here in this nails right through
there. I don't think he hung out there
like that. That was invented in Italy. That's
where that comes from, Italy. That comes from him who is the
monarch, who says he speaks from God,
speaks from God. That's where that comes from.
The voice that comes from the pole, the voice that comes from
the tree, the voice that comes from the cross, does not summon
men to do, but it summons men to be satisfied with what has
already been done by the Lord Jesus Christ on their behalf. All these false Gospels talk
about what you've got to do. What is it that you have to do?
What can you do? No, it's not do. It's believe
in what already has been done, that Christ has satisfied all
the claims. He's bore all the penalties.
Your sins have been forgiven for His sake. He's clothed you
with His perfect righteousness and made you accepted in Himself. Oh, no. The justifying work of
Calvary's tree was God's way. Not only bringing pardon and
forgiveness and righteousness, but securing certainty of what
He's brought. Certainty. Now, listen to now. this doing and dying of the substitutes,
of the blessed saints. It was the only perfect thing
which had ever been presented to God by man. That's the only thing. Of all
the men and women that have been born of Adam in this world, upon
this earth, upon this planet. He, the Lord Jesus, the man,
God and man in one person, human and divine in one person. This man, Christ Jesus, is the
only man that ever presented unto God anything perfect. and he presented his perfect
self, his perfect righteousness. The only perfect thing which
had ever been presented to God in man's behalf or on man's behalf. So wonderful, so glorious is
this perfection, this righteousness that he wrought in himself and
clothed us with his righteousness. It is so wonderful that it might
be used by man in his transaction with God as if it were his own
righteousness. And that's a blessed holy truth. It's looking outward, and it's
all in the Lord Jesus. What God demands God provides,
and He provides it in the person of Christ. I read here recently,
someone sent me a bulletin, and he was talking about the righteousness
of a man. And he said, Oh, I ought not
to say that, the righteousness of a man. He said, Man has no
righteousness of his own. Well, that's true, but there
was a man. And there is a man who is all
man. He wrought a righteousness, the
Lord Jesus, a man. It's a double righteousness.
It's the righteousness of God, and it's the righteousness of
a man, the man Christ Jesus. And that's what stands us in
good stead with God, is his righteousness. receive Christ, when we acknowledge
our helplessness and hopelessness to do anything about our condition
and our state, when we confess unto God that we are sinners
of the deepest die, and recognize that we can't do anything in
order to help our situation, anything of ourselves, when we
admit and plead guilty before God Then we're fit, qualified
candidates for the grace of God. But as the hymn writer said,
nothing in my hand I bring, simply to thy cross I cling. Simply to what you've wrought,
simply to your righteousness. I hold on to your righteousness.
My eye is always fixed on your righteousness. I must live in
your righteousness. I must die in your righteousness. And I must live forever before
a righteous God in the righteousness given to me by another.