Turn with me if you would now
to Galatians chapter one. Galatians one, let's read the
first 10 verses. of Galatians chapter one. All an apostle, not of men, neither
by man, 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 you are so soon
removed from him that called you into 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 pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ. The saddest thing that exists
in the world today, the most detrimental thing, the most condemning
thing, that exist in the world today is how far religion has
gotten away from the truth of the gospel. Just how far. As time continues
on, religion keeps getting farther and farther away from the truth
of what God's gospel actually is. Farther and farther away. The gospel is whatever God says
it is. That's what the gospel is. Whatever God says it is, that's
what the gospel is. But men, because they are naturally
in darkness, in ignorance, blindness, men keep getting farther and
farther away from what God says it is. That's what happened to the Galatians. That is what happened to the
Galatians. The churches of Galatia heard
the truth of the gospel. Paul and Barnabas came to them
and they heard the truth of the gospel and they seemed to latch
on to it and they seemed to believe it. But Paul and Barnabas left
them, and as some time went on, their
old lies started creeping back in. That false religion baggage. The lies that they'd been told
and taught all their life, all their lives. From their youth
up, it started creeping back in and it started steering them
away from the one and only gospel that there is. And for that reason,
Paul wrote him a letter. That's the reason why Paul wrote
him a letter and. The old commentary writers say
that the theme of Paul's letter, we know that the theme of all
the scriptures Christ, but. They. specifically refer to this
letter to the Galatians as the recovery of the gospel. That's what they call it. The
recovery of the gospel. That's what the Galatians needed
back then. That's what the whole world needs right now. That's what Kingsport, Tennessee
needs right now. I am so sincerely honest with
you when I say my heart is breaking for Kingsport, Tennessee. I really
do believe that the motivation for a man to preach the gospel
is his heart breaks over the thought of souls entering hell
for all eternity. And when I tell you, you can't
imagine how many souls are going to go to hell. You can't imagine. You can't imagine. I'm telling
you volumes and volumes and masses. And I mean whole cities and whole
states. And I mean, people are going
to go to hell. And it breaks my heart. It does. It breaks my heart. I have met
people who I am very fond of. And salvation is not in my hands.
But I'm going to tell you this. God elected a people before the
foundation of the world. But thank God, He has given us
a means. If there is any hope of salvation,
it's going to be through this means of declaring the truth
of the gospel. And Kingsport, Tennessee has
lost it. And Kingsport, Tennessee needs
to get back to the gospel. Kingsport, Tennessee needs to
get out of religion and get back into the gospel. This whole letter from Paul to
the Galatians is a rebuke. The whole letter is a rebuke.
He never commends them one time. Paul commended almost everybody,
even the Corinthians, and they were a mess. He had many commendations
to give them. He never gives the Galatians
one commendation. Look at verse 6, Galatians 1
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's not
another. But there be some that trouble
you and would pervert the gospel of Christ. He said, you've turned
to a false gospel. You've turned to a false gospel.
Look at Galatians chapter 3 verse 1. Oh foolish Galatians. This is strong language. Foolish
Galatians. Who hath bewitched you? It's
like you're under the spell of a witch. Who hath bewitched you
that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus
Christ hath been evidently set forth? crucified among you. Jesus Christ is the truth and
he has been evidently set forth crucified among you. Verse two,
this only what I learned of you received ye the spirit by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith. Did you receive? The Spirit of
God that causes us to know Christ and know salvation and rest in.
Did you receive that through your working and deeds of the
law or just by sitting there hearing a man preach Christ to
you? Receiving faith to look to him.
Verse three, are you so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are
you now made perfect by the flesh? The Spirit is truth. The flesh
is a lie. Are you now going to add the
lie of the flesh back in, which is what this flesh is so prone
to do. Look at Galatians 4 verse 9. But now after that you have known
God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to the weak
and beggarly elements, whereunto you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days Well, now we
can't, we can't do too much on the Sabbath. Can't do too much
on Saturday. That's the Sabbath. No, it's
not. Christ is our Sabbath. We rest on him. Verse 10, you
observe days and months and times and years. I'm afraid for you. That's what the word of means.
I'm afraid of you. I'm afraid for you. Lest I've
bestowed upon you labor in vain. Verse 19, Galatians 4 verse 19,
he said, my little children of whom I travail in birth again
until Christ be formed in you. I'm travailing and we're starting
over. Travailing in birth again. Verse
20, I desire to be present with you now and to change my voice. I don't want to be speaking like
this. But he said, I stand in doubt
of you. Tell me, you that desire to be
under the law, do you not hear the law? Galatians 5 verse 1 says, Stand
fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us
free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Verse 7, he said, You did run
well. What happened? Who did hinder
you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh
not of him that calleth you. God didn't tell you to run back
to the law. Remember this, a little leaven
leaveneth the whole lump. You want to add, you know, well,
we'll add just a little bit of flesh back in, you know, with, there's
just a couple of commandments that we'll latch hold of to make
requirements. Oh yeah. Free from the law, except
we're going to, we're going to grab that one in that one, a
little 11, 11, the whole lump. Chapter six, verse 12, he said,
as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh. And that's
all that false religion is. A fair show in the flesh. Verse
17, he said, from henceforth, let no man trouble me. I've spoken
my peace. My conscience is clear. I've
told you the truth. This whole thing is a rebuke.
The whole thing is a rebuke. And that's what the Galatians
needed. And that's what the whole world
needs. That is what my flesh needs. That is what your flesh needs. That's what all of Kingsport,
Tennessee needs. That's what this country needs.
That's what the world needs. An awakening to the gospel. An
awakening to the gospel. What men call the gospel today
is not the gospel. It's not the gospel. We need
an awakening to the gospel. Now, many years ago, a man named
Rolf Barnard brought a message titled The Recovery of the Gospel. And then years after that, a
man named Henry Mahan brought a message titled The Recovery
of the Gospel. Most of the men who came up under
Henry have brought messages titled, The Recovery of the Gospel. And that's the subject matter
we're going to look at today. The recovery of the gospel. And I want to give you some statements.
This is going to be a different, a little bit different kind of
message. I know it's been the same so far, but pretty much I'm going
to spend the rest of our time I just want to give you some
statements that some of these men before us have made because
these statements shed a lot of light on the difference between
what men call the gospel and what God calls the gospel. We're
going to look at this comparison for just a second. Just listen
to this. Okay. What men call the gospel. And I really want to encourage
old people, middle-aged people, young people, really listen to
this, okay? What men call the gospel emphasizes
what we must do for God. What God calls the gospel emphasizes
what God must do for us. Big difference. Big difference. What men call the gospel says
that sinners must accept Jesus Christ. But what God calls the gospel
says that Jesus Christ must accept sinners. He's the one that must do the
accepting. You know the publican in the
temple, you know the story of the publican in the temple. That
man did not cry. You had a Pharisee. You remember
you had a Pharisee and the publican standing afar off, right? That
publican did not cry, God, I accept you. He didn't cry that. He smote upon his breast crying,
God, be merciful to me. Would you please be merciful
to me? Would you be willing to be merciful
to me? That thief on the cross, that
thief hanging right next to the Lord on the cross, he did not
say, Lord, I accept you. Can you imagine? He said, Lord, would you remember
me? Would you? Remember me? That leper who came to the Lord
and fell down before him, he didn't say, Lord, I accept you. He said, Lord, if you will, you
can make me clean. If you will. What men call the
gospel says you must make a decision. But what God calls the gospel
says the decision was completely in God's hands before the foundation
of the world. It says, whom he foreknew, he
predestinated, and whom he predestinated, he called, and whom he called,
he justified, and whom he justified, he glorified. What men call the
gospel says you, you, you. What God calls the gospel says
he, he, he. What men call the gospel says
salvation is dependent on you loving God. Do you love Jesus? Do you love God? I told you a
long time ago, this has been years ago, I had a conversation
in town with a man who knew I was the pastor here, and he wanted
to talk religion with me, and it didn't go well. And he wanted
out of the conversation, and so did I. And he finally, you
know, I guess in his mind was going to we were just going to
end this thing on some common ground. Can we at least find
this common ground? He said, just tell me this. Do
you love Jesus? And I said, yes, I do. But my greater concern is, does
he love me? That's my greater concern. As
he looked at me like, what in the world is wrong with you?
What are you even talking about? What men call the gospel says
salvation is dependent on you loving him. What God calls the
gospel says salvation is dependent on God loving us. We only love
him because he first loved us. God commended his love toward
us while we were yet sinners, ungodly sinners. What men call the gospel is all
about heaven. If you really think about it,
it's all about heaven. It's all about a place. It's
all about houses, all about streets, all about mama. What God calls the gospel is
all about Christ. He is the place. He is the house. He is the street. He's everything. Paul said, oh, that I might win
Christ and be found in him, not heaven, him, him. What men call the gospel is all
about what we believe. What God calls the gospel is
all about who we believe. What men call the gospel is a
message to the mind. It is a message to the mind.
What God calls the gospel is a message to the heart. You hear people say, well, they
just have to be taught. You hear people say that. Well,
they just have to be taught. You know, men and women, they
just have to be taught. No, no, that's not it at all.
Men and women have to be broken. Honestly, they have to be broken. The greatest grace and mercy
that God could extend to us is if He would break us. Break our
hard, cold, stony, dead hearts. We need to be broken. What men call the gospel aims
to please the ear. Now look, don't get me wrong.
I would rather step down in just a minute and y'all think I did
a good job rather than a bad job. And I would rather you like
me and like listening to me rather than you not like me and not
like listening to me. But honestly, that's irrelevant,
isn't it? It's all about are we telling the truth on God Almighty
or not telling the truth on God Almighty? What men call the gospel
aims to please the ear. What God calls the gospel aims
to pierce the heart. It aims to prick the heart. It
aims to break the heart. What men call the gospel turns
sinners to the flesh, their own flesh. What God calls the gospel
turns men to Christ's flesh completely. The preacher that preaches what
men call the gospel, that preacher fears offending someone. Let me repeat that one. The preacher
that preaches what men call the gospel fears offending someone. But the preacher that preaches
what God calls the gospel, that preacher fears not offending
someone. not for personal reasons, but
for the clarity of what God has written in His Word. Paul called
this message, he called it here in this letter to the Galatians,
the offense of the cross, the offense of the cross. And he said, I cannot, in my
preaching, by way of the lies of false religion, I cannot remove
that. He said, if I preached circumcision,
everybody, y'all just be baptized and you'll be saved, okay? You
just do this and you'll be saved. He said, if I would preach that,
there'd be no offense. Everybody'd be fine. But he said,
I can't do that, I can't remove that offense. What is the offense?
What is the offense of the cross? What is the offense of the true
gospel? Here it is, number one, it's
the complete exposing of man's sin. Total depravity. Total depravity. No possibility
of improvement. How come I'm not getting any
better? Because you're totally depraved. There is no possibility
of getting any better. Not in the flesh. No improvement
in the flesh because it's total depravity, not part depravity,
total depravity, total ruin in sin. No possibility of progressing
in sanctification. That's holiness, inner holiness. You can't progress in sanctification
in this flesh. Why? Total, complete ruin in
sin. That's why. That's the offense. That's the offense of the flesh
to man. What is the offense? It's the
declaration of Christ being and having the only righteousness
that there is. One righteousness. There's none
righteous but him. What does that mean really? That
means there's none good but him. That's an offense to the flesh.
What is the offense? It's in the fact that man doesn't
have a free will. Man does not have a free will.
If you see a church building that the name of it is free will,
don't go there. They don't preach the gospel. Man doesn't have a free will. Christ has the only will in the
matter. He has the only will that there
is. He has the only say in the matter
of salvation that there is. It's his choice alone. It's his
way alone. It's his work alone. But what
if I don't like his will and his way and his work? That's
a problem. That's a real problem. Because
it's going to be his will, his work and his way, no matter what. Man has no part, man has no effort
in the work of his own salvation. Christ's effort and Christ's
work is the only effort and work that there is. Christ saved his
people, not just without their help. He saved them in spite of their
sinful, all of their help is sinful, wicked, evil. works. That's an offense to the flesh.
You tell people that, that's an offense to the flesh. Men
say that the gospel demands sinners to stand up and take action.
What are you going to do? You ready? You ready to get fired
up? You ready to stand up and take action and do something?
God says the gospel demands sinners to bow down, sit down, humble
down, wait on Christ. Be still. Look to Christ. Lush. That every mouth may be stopped.
Look to Christ. Men say you are somebody. Behold your worth and your ability. God says all flesh is grass. Behold your God. Man's gospel promotes the glory
of man. God's gospel establishes the
glory of Jesus Christ. Man's gospel says God loves everybody. God's gospel says God loves everybody
that is in Christ. Only in Christ. Outside of Christ,
there is no love from God. All of God's love is in Jesus
Christ. And therefore, the only souls
that he loves are the souls in Christ. Man's gospel says Christ
died for all. God's gospel says Christ died
for all that his father gave to him before the foundation
of the world. Man's gospel says salvation is
possible. God's gospel says salvation is
permanent, finished, accomplished, secured, forever settled in heaven. This is true. Man's gospel finds its glory
in the size of its building, and the number of its members,
and its programs, and its music, and its activities. God's gospel
finds all of its glory in Christ. Doesn't matter how big the building
is. Doesn't matter how many people. All we need is two. Maybe three. Brother Henry had a man years
and years ago, came from way out west and Henry was sea to
shining sea on the radio, family radio and on TV and all that
kind of stuff. And this man came out and knocked
on his door, never didn't call or traveled from Oregon or some
someplace like that, knocked on his door and said, you know,
I want to bring this message out to Oregon. And would you
be willing to come out? And I'm thinking, you know, five
night meeting, I'm going to rent a place. And he said, now, how
many people would I be required to commit to attend before you
would be willing to come? And Henry said, we're going to
have to have at least two. One to preach, one to listen. All the glory is in Christ. It
really is all the glory is in Christ. If any man glory, let
him glory in the Lord Jesus Christ. Let him glory in the cross of
the Lord Jesus Christ. This right here is the gospel
of God Almighty, all right? This is the only gospel that
there is. In closing, go back to Galatians 1. Galatians 1 verse 3, it says,
Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord
Jesus Christ. Doesn't that sound so good? Watch
this. 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. That right there just declared
who the gospel of God's salvation is from, who it's from. It declared who did the work.
It declared what he did in the work. It declared who he did
the work for. It declared what he accomplished
in his work. It declared by whose will the
work was in the first place. And it declared who gets the
glory for all of it. That's the gospel. God Almighty gets the glory for
all of it. Father, Son, and Spirit. The Gospel of God declares that
salvation is of the Lord. It's of the Lord. And the Gospel
of God is the only Gospel that there is. The only one. Romans 1 says, The Gospel of
God is concerning His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, which was made
of the seed of David according to the flesh. and declared to
be the son of God with power according to the spirit of holiness
by the resurrection of the dead. God's gospel is concerning Jesus
Christ. And it declares that all the
glory for everything is owed to him. That's what we need to
get back to. That's what we need to get back
to. May God bring us back to Christ. May God bring us back
to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Amen.