We're delighted to be back with
you. I know I speak for Mindy, my wife. It's a joy. We love this congregation. Thankful
for you. Known many of you a long, long
time, haven't we? Many, many years. Go way back.
And as Brother John said, he and I have been friends a long
time. Dear friend, close friend. We
both, as you know, heard the gospel, learned the gospel from
Henry Mahan. He was our pastor and we sat
under him for many years. That was a good time, wasn't
it, John? Learned from him. And it's amazing, the Lord's
providence called John to be a pastor to me and other men.
I'm thankful for John and Vicki, what a fine pastor's wife she
is. I told Mindy just yesterday,
the day before, I was talking about Brother John. We grew up
and listened to Henry Mahan and learned from him. And I told
her that I don't know of another man who learned more from and developed the same. This is the
highest compliment. develop the same manners and
methods and message and way of preaching from Henry Mahan and
John Chapman. I mean that, and there's some
people here who will attest to that. And that's not flattery,
that's just fact, and that's just a high commendation. high
commendation. I could sit right here and he'd
be my pastor. And we see eye to eye, don't
we? We've just been friends a long time and I don't ever recall
us having any disagreement on anything. That's amazing that
it really is. I'm thankful for you. Go with
me to Galatians chapter one, the book of Galatians. Tonight,
Lord willing, and again in the morning, Lord willing, I want
to bring two very plain, clear messages from God's Word. Familiar
scriptures, just tonight Galatians 1 and in the morning, Lord willing,
Ephesians 1. These are epistles or letters
to the church. I look around this room and I
see mostly the church assembled here. Friday night, probably
again Saturday morning. Some of our folks, Lord willing,
are coming tomorrow morning. But these are epistles to the
church. These are addressed to God's people. And that's who
I want to focus on tonight. I want to bring you a message
tonight entitled, The Certified Gospel Versus the Perverted Gospel. being clever, that's scriptural,
okay? Look at Galatians 1 with me. Where do we begin? He said in
verse 6, I marvel that you're so soon removed from him that
called you into the grace of Christ. He just described the
gospel, didn't he? He just defined the gospel, the
sovereign grace of God in Jesus Christ. Unto another gospel,
which is not another, but there be some that trouble you and
would pervert the gospel of Christ, a perverted gospel. Read on. Whether we or an angel from heaven
preach any other gospel, unto you, then that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before,
so say I now again, if any preach any other gospel unto you than
that you have received." And same here, you hear the gospel,
don't you? We've heard it many, many years.
What a blessing. It's the greatest blessing conferred
on man is to have the gospel, the preacher of the gospel. You've
heard this and you've received it. You've received it. If you've received it, that means
you were born of God, received the love of the truth. But go
on and read with me. It says, if any man preach any
other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be
accursed. For do I now persuade men or
God Am I seeking my own glory or to the accolades of men, or
am I trying to please and glorify my Lord? Do I seek to please
men? If I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ,
but I certify you, brethren. I certify you, brethren. The
gospel which was preached of me is not after man. I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught it by men, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. What he's saying is the gospel
I preach is the certified gospel. And there's another gospel out
there, it's not the gospel. It's not the gospel, it's a perversion
of the gospel. Now when you certify something, You have a certificate of authenticity,
okay? That's certified, that declares
it to be authentic, the real thing. And it's usually signed,
documented, guaranteed. And something certified, that
means it's guaranteed. Well, the gospel, Paul said,
the gospel I preach, and I preach, and you preach, don't you, brother
John? Same gospel. This gospel is certified by the
Word of God. This is guaranteed. This is the
gospel. that it's guaranteed to be the
gospel because we have God's Word on it. All the promises
of God are yea and amen, they're all in Christ. And it's the salvation
of God's people, salvation of the Lord, His blessings upon
His people. And the salvation of God's people
through this preaching of the gospel, through what Christ did
is guaranteed. There's no possibility of failure
because it's God's gospel and it's It's the gospel we pray. We don't preach an offer to men. We don't preach an attempt. We
don't preach a gospel that leaves it in the hands of men at all.
We preach the gospel of God. Now, all right, the gospel means
good news. That's what it means. And the
gospel is of who God is. It begins with God. The good
news begins with God. The gospel is God's design, God's
purpose in it. It's what God thought it. This
is what our pastor used to say, the three things. God thought
it, Christ bought it, Holy Spirit brought it. All right? It's the gospel of God. It's
the gospel of God's son. It's the gospel of the Holy Spirit
that brings it and the preaching of the gospel, okay? So it's
God's gospel, that's where Romans 1 begin, doesn't it? Paul said,
I'm sold out, I'm into the gospel of God concerning his son, declared
to be the son of God with power. It's God's gospel, all right?
Very simply, I'm gonna compare this perverted gospel with the
gospel. Okay? I'm going to begin with
the perversion of the gospel, what men say about the gospel,
what men have made up, because they don't get it from God's
Word. They make it up out of their imagination. You hear these
things all the time. This is all you hear in religion
today. I'm going to begin with the perversion, Bill. Okay? And
then I'm going to tell you the certified gospel, the true gospel,
because you're going to see how much better the gospel is, how
much better. All right? It begins with God. The world and religion is the
Word. The world believes in a God who's
not God. He wants to be God. He'll be
God if you let Him be God. Well, that's impossible. He can't
be God if you let Him be God. Right? The name God means all-powerful,
sovereign, ruler, creator of all things. Most of the world
says there is no God. That's foolishness, isn't it?
The fool has said that. But religion says that God is
just a bystander in the affairs of men. He's a bystander. If He did create the world, He
created it and then He stepped back to see how it's going to
turn out. Isn't that what men say? that he's standing on the
outside and now he's created all this, he's hoping everything
turns out all right. That's not the God of the Bible. Turn with me to Deuteronomy chapter
32. I'm gonna show you from God's
Word what He said through His prophet and of Himself. Deuteronomy
32. Our God is God. He's not trying
to be God. He is God. Our God is absolutely
sovereign. The God of the Bible, God over
all the earth is God. He reigns and rules. He's a creator. He's a God over providence. Every
single thing that happens in this universe from a particle
of dust in the sunshine coming through the window where it will
land is ordained by God. You believe
that? You know, atom bomb is an unseen
thing that if it's split, it blows us all up. Every germ is
controlled by God. You believe that? That's what
this book says. If there's anything outside of
God's control, He's not God. It's bad news. Why would anybody
want a God who's bystander? What good news is there if God's
not reigning and ruling? What good news is there? That's
bad news. I mean, we're all fending for
ourselves, aren't we? No, no, that's not the God of
the Bible. Deuteronomy 32, look at verse
39. See now, my dad from Alabama, and whatever he said now, see
here, Greg, I'd sit up, I better be listening. Now see here. Are you men that were in the
army, huh? Now see here. I, even I, am He. There is no God. See that small
g? There's no small God. There's
nobody in control of anything. Anything. With me. I kill. Boy, this is comforting. Everybody's afraid of dying right
now. They're afraid of this and afraid
of that, it's gonna kill them. Things don't kill us. Is that what he said? He said,
I kill. He might use the means, he might
not, but he's the one. Is that what he said? That's
so comforting. That's so comforting. I kill,
I make a life. I wound, get sick, Anybody get
sick, God said it. People worry about giving this
person, giving that person advice. You give yourself too much power.
God says, I won't. I heal. Doctors, he might use
doctors, he might not. But I tell you, who does the
healing? It's not the doctor, it's not the medicine, it's God. He's
going to get the glory. This is comforting. It's just
comfort. Whether you use the means or
don't use the means, it's the Lord. It's the Lord. Neither
is there any that can deliver out of my hand. Oh my, that's
the hand of judgment or the hand of salvation. That's good news.
My times, David said, are in thy hands. Oh my God, that's
where I want them to be. Listen to Daniel, go over to
the book of Daniel. I want you to turn to some scriptures with
me, okay? Let's see what the Lord says
about himself, what the prophets say about our God, who is God.
Daniel chapter four, Daniel chapter four. And we just read in Isaiah
43, John said, when he passed through the fire, waters I'll
be with you, or the lion's den." Daniel knows. God put him there,
and God was with him. Daniel chapter 4, look at this.
Listen to this. This is so relevant. Verse 17,
Daniel 4, 17. Now this matter, talking about
everything that is to be is by the decree of the watchers, that
is God's word, God's prophets. They've already declared God's
decree and the demand by the word of the Holy one to the intent
that the living, that's us, everybody, may know that the most high ruleth
in the kingdom of man and giveth it to whomsoever he will. That's
God. He worketh all things, Ephesians
1, 11 says, by the counsel of His will. Man doesn't have free
will. No, no. God's will alone is free. And He's doing according to His
will and the armies of heaven among the inhabitants of the
earth. Everything, everyone is working according to His will.
The lot is cast into the lap. This is what I'm going to do.
But the whole disposal is of the Lord. That's Proverbs 16.
That's the God of the Bible. This is God who is God. And look
at this, the last part of that line, verse 17. And he said,
it's up over the kingdom of man. He said, it's up over the basis
to me. God has always put a judgment
to a decadent sinful society like Israel. No, he put bad man
over them as judgment upon them. we don't elect officials." No,
no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. God does. He puts them there.
That's so comforting. That's so comforting. I've lived
through, I don't know how many Presidents, Johns, how many Presidents
have we lived through, 10, 11 or more, 12, whatever? We're
okay, aren't we, buddy? God set it up. God cast it down. That's what Hannah's prayer was.
Same thing. She prayed the same thing. Look
at this same chapter, verse 34. Nebuchadnezzar found out. Oh,
he thought he was in control. Nebuchadnezzar, he found out.
And Nebuchadnezzar, verse 34 of Daniel 4 said, I lifted up
my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned unto me. Man's understanding
is darkened. When He gives you an understanding,
you'll know who God is. And I bless the Most High, and
I praise and honor Him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an
everlasting dominion, His kingdom from generation to generation.
All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. He doeth
according to His will in the army of heaven among the inhabitants
of the earth, and none can stay His hand or say unto Him, what
doest thou? None can do it. I started to
have you turn to Isaiah 45. He said, I make peace, I create
evil. I, the Lord, do all these things.
Isaiah 43, I will work and who will stop me? God is the potter
and we're the clay. Clay has no say. Clay is inanimate
mud. What can clay do? Romans 9, I
started to have you turn there. I've got a thousand verses of
scriptures to give you. The perverted gospel's got none. It's imagination, man's imagination.
It's the way I think God is. Who needs a God like that? Who
needs a God that's not in control? You better run to the hills. All right, what does the Word
of God say about man? First of all, let me say that.
Turn with me to Malachi chapter 1. Malachi chapter 1. Before
we talk about man, this is what they say about God. They say
God loves everybody. Oh, how he loves everybody. And
nowhere in the Bible does it say that. They say Jesus loves
you. You see these signs everywhere.
Jesus loves you. Jesus loves you. Nowhere in this
book does it say that. Nowhere. Nowhere. You know how often our Lord was
surrounded by thousands and thousands and multitudes of people everywhere?
You ever thought about this? If He loved everybody, He was
always surrounded by everybody. He never one time, ever said
to a crowd of people, I love you. Never. Why didn't He? Because He doesn't. He loves
his people. He loves God's people. That's
who he loves. He doesn't love everybody. Look
at Malachi 1. The burden of the word of the
Lord to Israel by Malachi. I have loved you, saith the Lord.
Who's he talking to? We need to know who the Lord's
talking to. Israel, his chosen people. that
represent his true people. I have loved you, saith the Lord.
Yet you say, wherein hast thou loved us? How have you loved
us? How is your love different? Was not Esau Jacob's brother,
saith the Lord? Yet I loved Jacob and I hated
Esau. That's what it says, doesn't
it? That's what God says. I love Jacob and I hate Esau. Is that what it says? Do I need
to say any more about that? Do I need to clarify that? That's
what God says. Psalm 5.5. He hateth all workers of iniquity. Proverbs 6. Six things that the
Lord hate, yet seven are abomination. He's talking about people. Psalm
11.7. God is angry with the wicked
every day. That's what the scripture says. I saw a sign coming back.
Madisonville, Kentucky, and the sign said, and this was religion,
Southern Baptist or something, says, God's not mad at you. That's
the direct opposite of what God says in Psalms. God is angry
with the wicked every day. Now that's the God of the Bible.
And I'm gonna show you in a minute how God, why God is not angry
with us. This is the good news. This is
the gospel. All right, what about man? What about man? Here's what the perverted gospel
said, that man has a free will. Note, man has a free will. Man must decide. Man must choose
God. Man must accept this offer that
God makes, they said. Man must let go and let God.
Man must cooperate. Essentially what they're saying
is, man, you must save yourself. That's what he said, that Jesus
made salvation possible. He laid down a payment, a down
payment, and your faith, your acceptance makes it acceptable. That's not even close to the
gospel. In fact, that's blasphemy, isn't it? Blasphemy. That's a
perversion of the gospel. Man doesn't have a free will.
Man is dead in trespass and sin, dead. Barnard used to say, graveyard
dead. Can't get any more dead than
that, can you? All right, in the garden. This is when this
happened. What happened in the garden?
Three, I bet your pastors preached this, three questions, three
vital questions. What happened in the garden? What happened
on the cross? And what happened when God saves the sinner? Now
I know you preached that. What happened in the garden?
What happened to man? What did God say? He said, The tree of
the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it. In
the day you eat thereof, thou shalt surely die. Did he say
that Calvin? Die. Satan came along to a woman. Religion is dominated by women.
Satan came along to the woman and said, first he asked to question
God's word. Hath God said, Did he really
mean that? Is he keeping something back
from you? That's what he said. And then he flat out denied the
word of God. He said, you shall not surely die. Didn't he? Flat out. Then he
twisted and perverted it completely. You'll be as God's. You have
free will. Make your choice. Who is God
to violate your free will? Make your choice. What did he
choose? What did he choose? Well, Adam chose evil, didn't
he? And that day he died. We died in Adam. And Adam all
died. Adam didn't die physically that
day, but he died spiritually, didn't he? His will died. His
will became corrupt through and through. From then on, he's not
going to choose good over evil. He's always going to choose evil.
His will can't choose good. His mind was corrupted. His heart was dark. His understanding
was dark. Before, he enjoyed God. Now he's
running from it. Believe lies? He died. Man died that day, didn't he?
Dead. And now the scripture said, listen
to this, Psalm 14, God looked down from heaven upon the children
of men, listen to this. And this is Paul wrote this in
Romans 3. He said, the Lord looked down from heaven upon the children
of men to see if there were any that did understand, any that
did seek God. He said, they're all gone astray.
Everyone, they're all together become filthy. What's the word
filthy mean? corrupt, stinking, that's what
it says, a stench, rotten flesh, dead, what is, there's, dead
flesh is obnoxious in it. That's what man has become by
nature. None that doeth good, no, not
one. That's what God's word said,
dead, dead. Everyone's heard, most of you
have heard the story of Ezekiel in chapter 37, where the Lord
put Ezekiel in the valley of dry bones and said, well, there
are many, many dry bones, and they were very dry, meaning they
would have been dead a long time, a long time. And the Lord asked
the prophet then, can these dry bones live? You tell me. Looking at a valley of dry bones,
and that's what God sees when he sees this world, dead center,
okay? Can these bones live? Not with
man, it's impossible. It's impossible. They can't decide
they're dead. They can't hear they're dead.
They can't call. They're dead. They can't come. They're dead. Isn't that what
Scripture said? No man can come except the Father
has sent me draw. And you will not come unto man.
Having ears, they hear not. Having eyes, they see not. Heart
is hardened. What's it going to take? With
man, it's impossible. There's no gospel. There's no
good news in if you will, if you will, if you will. Because
we will not. We cannot. There's no good in
losing that. Did you notice with me, as John
was reading in Isaiah 43, where he said, I have, I have, I have
redeemed, I have called, I will be with thee, it shall not overflow
thee, the flame shall not kindle upon thee, for I am. He said,
I have declared, I have saved, I have showed. I have, I have,
I will, I am. That's the certainty. That's a certified gospel. Certainty. As God is God. Man's dead. He's
dead. When the Lord talked to a Pharisee
named Nicodemus one time, now he knew the Bible, he thought.
He knew the letter. He had no spirit, he had no life,
he was dead. and he wanted to ask all sorts of questions. He
didn't understand anything, did he, Doug? Nicodemus didn't understand
anything. He could probably quote the whole
Old Testament, but he didn't understand any of it. Standing right in
front of him was the Christ description. Standing in front of him was
the word personified, the word made flesh, and he didn't know
it. God standing in front of him, he didn't know him. Why? He's dead. And you know what
the Lord said to him? You must be born again. End of the argument. Born from
above. You're dead. You must be given
life. And God alone. He says, I kill,
I make alive. Man's dead. All right? What about
Jesus Christ? Who is Jesus Christ? Why did
he come? Why did he come? What did he
do? What did he do? Who did he do it for? Did he
do it? Where is he now? This is the gospel. the good
news of who Christ is and why He came and who He did it for,
what He did, where He is now. This is the gospel. He is the
gospel. Christ is the gospel. It's the gospel of God's dear
Son. All right? The world says He's
just a man. That's what they said when He came, didn't they?
You're just a man. You make yourself to be God.
Got it all wrong, don't you? Got it backwards like they have
everything. They've got man as a God and God like a man, all
right? The fact of the matter is He
was God before He came to this earth and He made Himself a man.
God was manifest in the flesh. Great is the mystery, but it's
without controversy. It's a fact. God was manifest
in the flesh. Isaiah 7 says, A virgin shall
conceive and bring forth a son, call his name Immanuel, God with
us. God with us. Isaiah 9, called
His name Wonderful Counselor, say it, the Mighty God, the Everlasting
Father. That babe in Mary's arms was
really her Father, her Heavenly Father. Say, I don't understand
that. I don't either, but I believe
it. Like Spurgeon said, if He's really
God, you can understand. You don't want a God you can
understand. That means He's just like you. And He's infinitely,
His way is past finding out. That one who came is the God-man,
the creator of all things. That's what Colossians 2 says.
By Him are all things created. That's what John 1 says. The
Word was with God, the Word was God, and the Word was made flesh
and dwelt among us. Jesus Christ is God. Not just
the Son of God, He's God, equal with the Father, the Creator,
the Sovereign, the Ruler. But this perverted gospel says
that He's just a man, He's a gifted man, He's a talented man, He's
a miracle worker. No, God's people know. How do they know? How do they
know? The revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul said that in Galatians
1. I didn't get this from man. Paul thought he was gonna put
an end to this Jesus of Nazareth, didn't he? He was going after
him. I'm gonna put an end to this
Jesus of Nazareth stuff, this cult, these followers of Jesus
of Nazareth. Saul of Tarsus said, yeah, that's
what I'm gonna do. I'm gonna go down there, I'm
gonna do this, I'm gonna do that. And he got on his high horse,
Tommy, and he went, I'm gonna put an end to this business.
Boy. He met the Lord Jesus Christ, didn't he? The Lord Jesus Christ
put him all in the dust at his feet. Said, now who you gonna
put an end to? You're in my hand, I could crush
you right now. He revealed himself to him as
the God in whose hands his breath is and all his way. Paul thought
he had a free will, didn't he? You know what the first thing
he said was, honey? Lord, what wilt thou have me do? What are
you gonna do with me? See, this is eternal life, John
17, three. Our Lord said this, this is life
eternal, that they might know thee the only true God. True
worshipers worship God as God. They believe God is God. They
worship Him. They're glad He is. It's not
just believing doctrine, it's knowing God, coming into a relationship
with Him. He makes Himself known to you.
Knowing Christ. And you're not only just believing,
you love Him as God. You're so thankful. It's good
news that our God reigns. Good news. And dead people don't
believe that. Those born again do. And to believe
Christ, to know Christ, love his salvation, to love the truth,
oh, be born again. Here's what the Preferred Gospel
said, that Christ died for everybody. He died as a martyr at the hands
of men. He died for all. He made salvation
possible. He made an offer to you. Jesus
died to make an offer. He's offering you peace if you'll
accept it. It's hard not to holler at John
sometimes. It's hard. That's not just error. That's heresy. That's blasphemy. Jesus Christ didn't come down
here to make an offer to man. Are you kidding me? We've offended
a holy God. We've offended a holy God. Can
you imagine going before the judge and you're guilty of murder
and theft and all that and standing before him and you say,