Galatians chapter one and verse
one. Paul, 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 for ever and
ever. Amen. I marvel that ye 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. And we said, as we
said before, so say I now again, 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, or do I seek to please men? For if I yet pleased men, I should
not be the servant of Christ. Amen. May God bless to us this
reading from his word. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the highest, most blessed, most glorious, majestic message
that has ever been revealed to this world. And just as we were
reading in Hebrews, the Lord Jesus Christ is the most excellent
being, the most exalted in himself, the most majestic, carrying a
glorious name, a name that is wonderful and marvellous. just as the angels in glory were
instructed and commanded to bow down and worship the Lord Jesus
Christ. So the message that comes to
the world by Christ, the gospel of Christ, is the most blessed
message that men and women will ever hear. I believe honestly this morning
that I can have no greater task amongst you than to lift up the
Lord Jesus Christ and to declare the gospel of Jesus Christ. I can have no greater calling
in this world than to preach that message to you. And you
can have no greater privilege in this world my own creature
weaknesses notwithstanding than to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ
preached to you. Blessed, blessed people you are. Blessed people that God has granted
mercifully and graciously to reveal the Lord Jesus Christ
in your hearing. And I trust we will have a sense
of the awesome privilege that is ours to be able to come together,
to share fellowship, to hear the reading of the scriptures,
to have our minds and our hearts turned to the Lord Jesus Christ.
and to have the gospel of grace declared in our presence. Paul talks about the glorious
gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. That has been a gospel that has
touched the hearts of men and women down through the centuries. Wherever the Lord Jesus Christ
has been preached, he has been pleased to call his people to
himself, to send a word of help and blessing and goodness to
them. And we remarked on a previous
occasion how that the apostle speaks of grace and peace that
comes in the gospel to sinners like us. We saw how grace and
peace are the essence of the gospel. whatever else it might
be, whatever else it might teach us, whatever else it might do
to direct us how to get through this life, how to observe and
understand and comprehend the nature of God revealed to us. In its essence, it is about grace
to sinners and the peace of God to us. Indeed, for the Apostle
Paul, it seems that the gospel of grace and peace was the gospel
of Christ. It's the same thing. And the
gospel of Christ is the gospel of grace and peace. So frequently
does he mention these two elements, these two aspects, in all his
epistles. The gospel of grace is the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. The gospel of the Lord Jesus
Christ is the gospel of peace. Peace with God, peace beyond
understanding, reconciliation. We mentioned earlier with the
little ones how that there was a time when because of sin, a
gulf was made between men and God. How that there was an enmity
created that we were enemies of God, that we were expelled
from His presence and we were sent away in that great gulf
of difference and that which sin caused was forged between
God and men. And in this message of the gospel,
Peace with God, reconciliation with God is the message which
comes to the fore. And that is why we often call
this gospel message the covenant of peace. Sometimes you'll hear
preachers talking about the covenant of grace, but it's the covenant
of peace. because peace has been made in
the person of Jesus Christ between God in his holiness and men in
their sinful condition. The covenant of peace or the
covenant of life and peace. In Ezekiel chapter 37 and verse
26, we read these words. Moreover, I will make a covenant
of peace with them. It shall be an everlasting covenant
with them. And I will place them and multiply
them and will set my sanctuary in the midst of them forevermore. A sanctuary was a place of peace. It was a place to which you ran
in order to have a defense from your enemies. a harbour from
a storm, a place of ease and rest in the midst of a troubled,
stormy experience, a sanctuary. And God has promised in the covenant
of peace to establish a sanctuary in the midst of his people. What
is that but the Lord Jesus Christ that we go to to find rest and
peace? So Hebrews 13 and verse 20 speaks
of the God of peace that brought again from the dead our Lord
Jesus, that great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of
the everlasting covenant. And in the little book of Malachi
that we were reading just the other evening, we find there
in chapter two, verse five, that the Lord God declares, my covenant
was with him of life and peace. Do you see how central these
elements of grace and peace are to the covenant purposes of God,
to the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ? And just as Paul has
spoken of the gospel as being grace and peace, here in the
book of Galatians, he immediately embarks on a strong criticism
of these Galatian believers who are forgoing the grace and peace
that they have received through the preaching of the gospel amongst
them. And there is some strong criticism
in this passage that we have read together from Galatians
chapter 1, particularly in these verses from 6 through 9. Strong
criticism directed at troublemakers who had come into the church
the churches there of Galatia, into that area, that region,
and started preaching a message which Paul believes was a perversion
of the true gospel, and which was robbing them of the experience
of grace and peace that he had established amongst them by the
preaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The apostle finds it
amazing that the Lord's people should be so quickly distracted,
so easily bewitched, that their grasp on gospel truth should
be so easily diverted and then become distracted. So quickly after him having shown
them the gospel of Jesus Christ, and they, so evidently having
received it joyfully, believing it in their hearts, witnessing
to it, these folk had begun listening to and giving place to false
teachers that had come amongst them. Now, false teachers are culpable,
they're responsible for what they say and what they preach. But so too are those who listen
to them. There is a rebuke which is appropriate
to these Galatians from the pen of the apostle because they had
given ear to the false teachings that they should have known better
to reject. And so it is right for us, as
we think about the continuing relevance of these words to us
today, to reflect upon who it is that we are listening to,
who it is that we give ear to, who it is that we allow to influence
us in this world, what we surround ourselves with, What pressures
we permit to encroach upon us that might deny us the experience
of grace and peace that we had once received through the preaching
of the gospel. I think there are a few lessons
here that I want to draw your attention to this morning. A couple of lessons that flow
from Paul's words of admonition to these Galatian brethren. The first one is this. It matters
what you believe. It matters what you believe. The gospel isn't a free for all. It's not a pick and mix. It's
not this setting out of a whole load of different ideas and doctrines
and theologies that we can come along and say, well, I like that
one, and I like that one, and I'm not so keen on that one,
so I'll build myself a religion. based on the things that I like
and the things that are attractive to me, and I'll just forget about
these other things which aren't so conducive to my sense of what's
right and what's wrong. It's not like that. The gospel
is the revelation of God's will and purpose in this world for
the salvation of his people. And we believe the gospel. We believe what the Lord has
declared. And contrary to the opinion of
most religious groups and denominations today, it is extremely important
what we believe. It matters what we believe. The little epistle of Jude at
the end of our New Testament. Written by one of the apostles,
the writer there, Jude, says, Beloved, beloved, when I gave
all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was
needful for me to write unto you and exhort you that you should
earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto
the saints. Earnestly contending. Now, there's so many things that
we are ready to earnestly contend for. If I say something about
your children that doesn't suit you, I'll bet you would be quick
to earnestly contend for the reputation of your children.
If I cast a slight aspersion on your wife, you would be up
in arms. Don't you talk to me like that.
Don't you say that about something that's dear to me. I'll tell
you the best football team in the world and don't you disagree
with me. You see, there are so many things
that we get shirty about. We say, this is important to
me. This is something that I'm prepared to stand up for. This
is something I'm prepared to defend. They used to talk about the guys
back in the Days gone by that would go out on a Saturday night
and they would roll up their sleeves and they would fight
for their doctrines. They would fight for their church
practices. And then they would go to church
in the morning and they would sit quietly there and worship
God. You know, that's not what we're
talking about. I'm not asking you to go and
argue with people about the things that you believe. But I am saying
this, that we are to be ready to defend the truth of the gospel
because it's what has been given to us. It's what has been laid
before us. It is what has been granted as
the common salvation that the Lord's people possess. This salvation
is the message of eternal love. It is the message of elective
grace, the divine purpose of God to save His people. It is the message of redeeming
blood, the fact that the Lord Jesus Christ shed His precious
blood on the cross for the redemption of His people, to atone for the
sins of His people. It is the message of righteousness
which justifies. Righteousness that is imputed
not because of our works and our labours and our efforts,
but because of God's good pleasure to gift to His people such a
righteousness that will make them fit for heaven. and that
nothing else of their own efforts can be made to contribute towards
the perfection of that righteousness that comes as a gift of grace. It is the message of effectual
calling that for all we endeavor to speak, to communicate, to
converse, to witness with men and women around about us with
respect to the gospel of Jesus Christ, that ultimately it takes
a work of divine power to take the truth and apply it. to the
heart of a man or a woman. Such is the nature of our antipathy
and our opposition towards God. We have to be changed, we have
to be converted, we have to be altered from the inside out,
not from the outside in. God has to work in power through
his Spirit. And we believe in preserving
mercy. We believe that God, having begun
a work for the salvation of his people by sending the Lord Jesus
Christ to die for them, by sending his spirit in order to illuminate
their minds and open their hearts, he will fulfil that work to the
end. These are the things that we
believe and these are the things for which we are to earnestly
contend. Salvation by Christ alone. That's the true gospel. It was
preached to the Galatians by the apostle Paul. This apostle
had set these truths forth amongst them. He called it the gospel. And well might it be so called
because it was the good news of grace and peace coming to
estranged sinners. It proclaimed pardon, pardon
for sin. It proclaimed mercy from God. It brought those who received
it into that state of reconciliation and peace with God through the
soul labours and suffering and death of the Lord Jesus Christ. So I say this as my first point. It matters what you believe. Here's the second point. There
is a true, pure, simple gospel, and there are perversions of
it. There are perversions of the
gospel, and that's what Paul is talking about in these verses. Indeed, the apostle Paul says
that it is another gospel Although he is quick to withdraw that
phrase because it's not a gospel at all. He says, are you following another
gospel, which isn't a gospel? Why would you go there? Why would
you follow these perversions? Why would you give ear to these
people who have undermined and detracted from the glory and
the beauty and the perfection of this message of grace and
peace? Why would you give ear to them? I encourage you, I encourage
you, you who are here this morning and any who are listening to
these words, be in a church that preaches the pure unadulterated
gospel of the apostles, of the Lord Jesus Christ, of the prophets,
of the testimony of scripture, be under the sound of that gospel
as much as you possibly can be, because that's where your grace
and peace will be experienced, hearing that message declared. And it is to be believed It is
to be heard and it is to be believed. This is not a complicated message
and yet it is profound. This is not academic and yet
it needs to be learned. We need to come ready to hear
what the Word of God says and to learn these things and to
trust in the God of whom these things speak. The gospel is a
message to be heard, heard frequently. It is to be received and it is
to be believed. The Lord Jesus in Matthew chapter
11 verse 29 says, take my yoke upon you. Now you know what a
yoke is, I'm sure. It's what you used to put over
the bull or the ox as it was treading out the corn. It was put on an animal to keep
it going straight or to hook a couple of them together to
pull a plough. It directed, it directed, it
gave direction, it gave meaningfulness to the random wanderings of these
beasts that would be the case if there was no yoke upon them. By this means they could be directed
and they could be useful and they could be fruitful. So the
Lord says to his people, take my yoke upon you. See, people
don't like that idea. They say, no, we're free. We're at liberty. We can do what
we want. We can follow our own passions. We can follow our own
lusts. We can do what we want. We don't want to be under anyone's
yoke. Of course, the falseness of that
situation is that we're all under somebody's yoke, whether we like
it or not. Maybe it's the passions that
you have for your sports team, or maybe it's the mortgage that
you have to pay to the bank manager, or maybe it's 101 other things
that force you to live in a certain way. But the yoke of the Lord
Jesus Christ is an easy yoke. That's what he's saying to his
people. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek
and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest for your souls. Rest, peace, reconciliation. The gospel leads us into the
experience of these things. In 2 Corinthians 11, verse 3,
the apostle writing again says, but I fear, writing to the Corinthians
on this occasion, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled
Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted
from the simplicity that is in Christ. Perversions are subtle. Perversions don't come up and
slap you in the face, right? They don't come up and say, I'm
something completely contrary to the things that you've heard.
They're subtle. They sort of slide in when you're
not watching. They're devious. They're attractive. They please the flesh. They excite
our imagination. They puff up our pride. They
tell us that we're better than we really are, the perversions
of the gospel. They whisper, you better than
others. They tell us that we are being
successful and we are doing well. And they comprise our works. our doing, our law-keeping, the
righteousness that we feel that we can attain personally by the
things that we do, our religious activity of one kind or another
that is designed to please God, to gain holiness, to provide
evidence for our salvation. And if I was coming and saying
to you, I want you to believe the Roman Catholic doctrine of
good works, you would say, no, don't be so silly, I'm a Protestant,
I'm a Christian, I don't believe in that sort of thing. And that's
good, that's good. And yet, our pride causes us
to imagine that we can make contributions to the glory of God day by day
with the things that we do. You see, it's subtle, it's devious,
it creeps in, unawares. And the Apostle Paul said that
there are perversions of the gospel that we have to defend
ourselves from. Psalm 25 verse 5 says, lead me
in thy truth and teach me for thou art the God of my salvation. On thee do I wait all the day. A little bit further on, the
psalmist says in 86 verse 11, "'Teach me thy way, O Lord, and
I will walk in thy truth. Unite my heart to fear thy name.'"
Walking in the truth is what we must do, earnestly contending
for the faith that has been given to us. God's truth, God's way,
God's life is Christ. Teach me Christ. Teach me the gospel of Christ. Teach me of God's grace. Teach me where peace is to be
found. Keep me in the truth. There's a terrible judgment upon
those who teach falsely. I wish every preacher that got
into a pulpit would weigh up these verses of Galatians chapter
one and realize their implications. It could not be more serious. Now let me be clear. I endeavor
as the Lord enables me as much as possible to preach the total
depravity of a sinner, that there is nothing good in us, that there
is nothing attractive to God in us, that there is nothing
that recommends us to God, that there is no inherent ability
in us to please God, even in our will. Our will is not free
to choose God, but rather there is an aggression, a rebellion,
an antipathy against the things of God that must be overcome.
I preach the total depravity of a sinner in all of his aspects
of life and emotion and intellect and passion. There is nothing
we can do to please God. Preach unconditional election. I preach that God chooses whom
he will save in this world. entirely according to his own
good pleasure, not up to the individual. It's not the free
will of the individual that chooses God, but rather God's sovereign
grace that is extended to those whom he has loved from eternity
and those he has saved in the Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore,
I preach a limited atonement. I preach that it is God's choice
to take the sins of whomsoever he will, place them upon the
Lord Jesus Christ, and judge Christ for those sins. But if
he has not judged Christ for the sins of another, that is
his call. And that individual will have
to bear the consequences of their own sin in an eternal separation
forever. I preach irresistible grace because
I believe that God the Holy Spirit must turn a man's heart. I believe
in conversion. I believe that there has to be
a change effected in the life of an individual and it takes
God, God the Holy Spirit, to quicken in accordance with the
election of the Father and the redemption of the Son. And I preach Perseverance of
those who are set apart by God to salvation, sanctified, placed
in that sanctuary, given that peace, given that grace from
God. I believe that not one more than
that number for whom Christ died will be saved. And I believe
that not one for whom Christ died will be lost. I believe God is sovereign in
salvation. Now I preach this as I am enabled
to do so as the very gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. And I
believe that anything other than that is a perversion of the gospel. Now if I am wrong, then I'm the perverter and it's me that will be cut
off. But if another differs from me
in these truths, then it is they who are the perverter and they
will be cut off. So we need to stand for these
things that we believe. And we need to be clear that
there are consequences and that there is judgment that will come
upon one and another. If I am wrong, let me be anathema,
cut off, accursed from God. And if I am right, let all who
preach contrary to this doctrine be accursed. That's solemn, but
it's real, and it's the consequences of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I cannot fellowship with any preacher who denies the gospel
that I have received. I cannot support any ecumenical
initiative. I cannot attend any ministerial
fraternal. I cannot participate in any church's
shared worship services. where we all get together and
we say, don't worry too much about the differences, don't
worry too much about the doctrine, don't worry too much about the
gospel, let's all just love one another and come together. I
can't do that. This is much too serious for
that. Paul says, if I or an angel from
heaven preach anything else, not that Paul would, nor an angel
could, but let him be accursed. Finally, what does it mean to
be a servant of Christ? It means to be called to the
preaching of the gospel. It means to be convinced about
the gospel that we preach. It means to be committed to the
declaration of that doctrine of Christ. It means that we are
ambassadors of Christ. It means that when we go, we
speak what Christ has spoken. We say the things that he has
said. We deliver the message that he
has committed to us. Nothing more and nothing less. A faithful declaration of the
gospel of God's free and sovereign grace. A man who preaches that
cannot be fickle, cannot be wavering, cannot be fashionable. He cannot
change with the winds of fashion according to what the newest
idea might be. He needs to be a trumpet who
gives a clear, distinct and certain sound. He has to be a servant
of the Lord's people. even if that service makes him
unpopular. Paul here is rebuking the Galatians. He's rebuking them. He's telling
them that he's disappointed in the things that they are doing.
He's rebuking them because he loves them. He's anxious for
their soul's well-being. Could I take such a rebuke humbly? Could you? Some may think that that's a
little bit over the top, a little bit extreme, a little bit fanatical. But I don't believe that it's
possible to read these words of the apostle and not detect
genuine anxiety on the part of the apostle in the tone that
he uses, in the words that he uses. for the souls of these
people. He's saying to them, I have preached
to you Christ. I have set before you the gospel,
the gospel of grace and the gospel of peace. You received my words
joyfully. Are you going to go back on these
things now? There were troublers who came
into the churches of Galatia, troublers who came with false
doctrine, with works religion, with man's own self-righteousness,
with an attempt to bring them back to the law and to circumcision
and to all that that meant. If the Lord enables, we'll think
a little bit more about that in a day to come. But may God
preserve us. from those of our own age and
our own day who trouble the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ with
their lies and their perversions. Amen.