Galatians chapter 5, and I want
to begin here again in verse 6. We looked at this just a little
bit, and I want to begin there again this evening. Galatians
chapter 5 and verse 6. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh by love. You did run well. Who hindered
you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh
not of him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth a whole
lump. I have confidence in you through
the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded. But he that
troubles you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And I, brethren,
if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense of the cross
ceased. In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision
availeth anything, nor uncircumcision. It's a non-issue. That's what
Paul said. We don't make an issue out of
it. In Christ, all the law, the ceremonial
law, the moral law, He obeyed the moral law perfectly. He fulfilled
all the ceremonial law. In Christ, the law is satisfied.
In Christ it is fulfilled. Lo, I come to do thy will. And that is what he did. In Christ,
all earthly distinctions, all of them, are done away. The law
is fulfilled and all these earthly distinctions are done away. There
is no such thing anymore. When it comes to salvation, there
may be a politics. And we talk about the different
nations of the world. But in Christ Jesus, all these
earthly distinctions are done away. There's no such thing as
a Jew. There's no such thing as a Gentile.
Bond or free. Male or female. Old or young.
Rich or poor. Christ. Christ means everything. And we are all one in the Lord
Jesus Christ. Why don't you and I get hung
up on these things? Why don't we get hung up on Sabbath
days and holy days and feast days? Why don't we make an issue
out of race or culture? A lot of people are. Why don't
we make an issue out of it? Because they're not an issue.
In Christ, it doesn't matter who you are, what color your
skin is, whether you're male or female. It doesn't matter
who you are. In Christ, we're one. In Christ
is all that matters. In Jesus Christ, there's only
one thing that matters, and Paul mentions it here in verse 6.
In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision availeth of anything, nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love. Faith. Faith in Christ. That's all that matters. Trust
in Christ with all your heart. That's all that matters. What
must I do to be saved? Believe. Believe what? Believe
who? Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ
and thou shalt be saved. Believe Him with all your heart. What hinders me from being baptized?
If you believe with all your heart you can. I believe with
all my heart that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. That's all
that avails anything. Nothing else avails anything
but faith in Christ. What does the Scripture say about
these things? Believe in Jesus Christ and you
are justified. Ain't that what Scripture says?
By Him all that believe are justified. Believe in Christ and you are
forgiven of all your sins. Through this man is preached
unto you the forgiveness of sins. And by Him all that believe are
forgiven. All your sin is gone. Believe
in Christ and you're righteous. Abraham believed God and it was
counted to him for righteousness. Believe in Christ and you have
eternal life. All who believe in Him have eternal
life. Ain't that what the Scripture
says? Nothing else availed but faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Believe in Him and you're born again. We don't have to worry
about which one comes first. What comes first, faith or the
new birth? Well, it really don't matter as long as you believe
in Him. Believe on Him and you're burned of God. And believe on
Him and you have the Holy Spirit. You don't wait for some experience
down the road six months later. When you believe in Christ, you
have the Holy Spirit. Until to Jesus' work you cling,
die a living faith. And that's what Paul's teaching,
I say. Until a man does that, doing is a deadly thing. doing
ends in death. What kind of faith is that? Well,
we looked at each other. Now, look at this. It's a faith
that worketh. In Christ Jesus, neither circumcision
availeth anything nor uncircumcision, but faith which worketh. It worketh. Faith works in a
man's heart. It works upon the heart. It works
with the heart of an individual. Faith believes Christ. Faith looks to Christ. Faith
comes to Christ. Faith follows Christ. Faith lives
upon Christ. Faith understands Christ. And
faith professes Christ before this world. And faith loves Christ. Faith works in a sinner's heart.
And faith is not ashamed of Christ. Faith gives all the glory to
Christ. And faith gives and faith forgives. And I tell you this
much about faith, it will never stop believing and it will never
stop working until it ends in sight. Now that's so. That's
so. You know what's said of all those
Old Testament saints? They all died in faith. Every
last one of them. From Adam, from Abel, on through
the last Old Testament saint that come to believe in the Lord,
every one of them died in the faith. That's the nature of faith.
It works. And once it begins in your soul,
it will never quit believing. until it ends in sight. We're
not of those who draw back into perdition, but we're of those
who believe to the saving of our soul. That's the nature of
faith. It works. It works, the apostles
said. Grace begun is heaven won. Favorite old saying of the Puritan.
And here's the motive behind faith in the last part of verse
6. Faith which worketh by love. It's motivated by love. If you
read anything and you know very much about Catholicism, they
motivate their members by fear of hell or fear of excommunication.
If you don't attend Masses on a regular basis, you can be threatened
with a letter of excommunication. And if they excommunicate you
from their church, you'll be damned. Because there is no salvation
outside that church, they say. If you don't give to their causes,
they can threaten you with excommunication. And that's the way they hold
their members in check, you see. If you call it check. Some preachers
motivate their congregation by offering them the sweet carrot.
If you tithe, God will bless you. And if you don't tithe,
God won't bless you. You bring it in the front door
and He'll take it out the back door. You ever heard that? You
do this and God bless you. If you don't do that, God won't
bless you. If you'll do this, you'll have a lot of stars in
your crown. If you do this, He'll make you ruler over many cities.
If you'll do this, you'll have a larger mansion than anybody
else when you get to heaven. If you'll do this. And they motivate
people by reward. And some try to use the whip
of the law. They try to make people feel guilty. If you'll
do this, you'll feel better. If you don't do this, you're
going to feel guilty. So they do better so they won't feel
guilty. It's the whip. It's the whip of the law. They
work to keep the guilt off of their conscience. That's their
motive. But what's faith's motive? What motivates faith? Paul said
it works by love. Love. You can't beat it. You
just can't beat love. I know we fear the Lord. We serve
the Lord with reverence and godly fear. I realize that. Nothing
we do will be accepted if we don't fear the Lord. But I tell
you, it's not a slavish fear. We fear Him because we love Him. I'm somewhat afraid of my dad. Even today, my dad's been dead
for two or three years. And sometime today, if I just
think of telling my dad no, if my dad told me to do something
and I stood in his face and said no, I just think of that today
and it runs chills down inside me. I'd have been afraid to tell
him no. But you know why I did what he
told me to do? Because I loved him. I loved him. That's why
I did what he told me to do. If I just feared him, I'd have
went off. When he was gone, the fear would have been gone. I
wouldn't have done what he told me to do. But I loved Him. What did
the Lord Jesus say about that? If you love Me, you will keep
My words. You will keep My words and My
commandments, if a man loves Me. And why do we love Him? Because
we believe Him. We believe Him. Faith worketh. And this is what motivates it.
It works by love. We don't work to save ourselves.
It's not what we did before the Lord saved us, it's not what
we did after the Lord saved us. We work because He has saved
us. Faith works. By grace are you
saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it's the gift
of God. Not of works, lest any man should
boast. But listen, we are His workmanship. Created in Christ Jesus unto
good works. Faith works. And it's motivated
by love. It's the same love that will
cause a dad to get out of bed every morning and go put in a
long day at the shop just to support his wife and his children.
It's the same love that will cause a mother to bathe her children
and feed them and wash their clothes and teach them and raise
them. Even when she's sick, she'll
do it. Why? Because she loves them. She loves
them. It's love. It's not something
you wrote on a piece of paper. Why can't my wife go south this
week and trust me not to be out here running around? Because
we have a marriage certificate. That's not it at all. I love
her. I love her. That's it, ain't it? That's it.
I love her. And if you love Christ, you'll
serve Christ. If you love Christ, you'll serve
one another. Now that's right. That's right. Nothing avails
anything but faith which worketh by love. And that's the way these
folks started. That's the way they started their
Christian life, was by faith in Christ. But look here now
in verse 7. And Paul commends them. He said,
do you remember when you did run well? You used to run well
when you stood in the grace of Christ. That's what he told him
in chapter 1. Who's removed you from the grace
of Christ and to another gospel? You did run well when you stood
in the grace of Christ. When you walked in Christ as
you received Him, you ran well then. When you came to Christ
as an empty sinner and found in Him everything you needed
and you lived in the light of that, you did well then. When you finally got some assurance
that the Lord had received you, and you was accepted in the Beloved,
didn't your heart praise Him for doing that? And you ran well
then. When you came to Christ empty
to be filled, when you came to Him filthy to be washed, when
you came in to Him hungry to be fed, sick to be healed, and
lost to be saved, you did well then, because everything you
needed, you found in Christ. And I'm telling you, brothers
and sisters, if that's your attitude this evening, everything you
need is in the Lord Jesus Christ. And I'm talking about the heart,
not a pretense, not what we say with the lip. But when you get
home this evening and next week, Everything you need, everything
you desire in your heart for now and for all eternity is found
in the Lord Jesus Christ, then you run well. You're doing well
when you have that attitude. You did run well, the Apostle
Paul said, when you're like old blind Barnabas. The Lord opened your sight. And
all you had on your mind and in your heart was just following
Him. You did well there. You ran well there. When you
was like that old leper, the Lord cleansed it. And all He
knows to do is just go out and spread abroad the fame of the
Lord Jesus Christ. You did well there. You did well.
And when your heart and your thoughts and your faith and your
love is caught up with this one person, And all you long is just
to be found in Him. You run well. You do well. What
happened, Paul said? You started well and you ran
well. Who did hinder you that you should
not obey the truth? Who turned you from the freedom
of Christ to the bondage of the law? Who turns you from the grace
of salvation that's in Christ to Sabbath keeping and circumcision
and rites and ceremonies and holy days? Who turns you from
the gospel of Christ's grace unto a false gospel? We believe
that through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be
saved. Who turns you from that, he said?
Who turns you from that? Well, look in verse 8. This persuasion
cometh not of him that calleth you. It wasn't God. God called
you. Who is it that calls a man to
come to Christ? It's God that calls him to come
to Christ. Those He foreknew, He predestinated
to be conformed to the image of Christ, and those He predestinated,
He called. No man can come to Me except
My Father. Call Him. Draw Him and teach
Him. Does God call a man to Christ and give him life in Christ and
then teach him to go somewhere else to learn how to live? Does
God call a man and set him free in Christ and then burn that
man's heart with a bondage of the law and holy days and rites? God don't teach a man that, does
He? But that's what these fellows
were teaching. That's what these fellows were teaching. God never
begins a spiritual work in the heart and then teach us to trust
in the flesh to carry that work on. He just don't do it. Having
begun in the Spirit, is God teaching you now that you're made perfect
by the flesh? No, this persuasion cometh not
of Him that called you. And I tell you this, it wasn't
the Son of God that was teaching them to do this. What did He
say when He came into this world? Here's what the Son of God said,
in burnt offerings, and sacrifices for sin which are offered by
the law, he said, you've taken no pleasure. You've taken no
pleasure. Then said I, lo, I come to do
thy will. He taketh away the first. He
takes away the ceremonies. He takes away the holy days.
He takes away the priesthood. He takes away the temple and
all the rites. And he establishes what? That
second covenant. Grace. That's what the Son of
God teaches us. He fulfilled those ceremonies
and those types and those shadows. That law that was against us,
He took it out of the way. All of it, out of the way. It's
not Jesus Christ that teaches us to leave Him and His grace
and go back to these things. Hebrews chapter 8 verse 13 says
this, That which decayeth, and waxeth old, is ready to vanish
away." What was he talking about? All of that law, all of that
ceremonial law, the Levitical priesthood and the Sabbath days
and all those rites that they practiced. He said that's ready
to vanish away. And in A.D. 70, when the Roman
army came in there, they demolished that temple. They took all of
their treasures and all of their vessels and broke them up and
carried them off into Rome. And if that place had a holy
place in it, with the Ark of the Covenant there, they took
that thing with them, and it's never been found since. And it's
gone now. It's gone. If somebody comes
to you, and they tell you there's coming a day when by the will
of God, the temple's going to be rebuilt, and all of those
ceremonies are going to be restored, and men are going to worship
God through those things again, you tell them this, God never
taught you that. God never taught you that. Jesus
Christ never taught you that. Those things are gone. They're
gone. Circumcision's gone. The Levitical preacher's gone.
The temple's gone. It's all gone. It's finished.
They were shadows and types of Christ, and when He came, He
fulfilled everyone. Who wants a shadow when the person's
standing right in front of you? Who wants to look at a picture
when you can have the person? Christ is the person. A woman
called me not long ago on the telephone, and she's trying to
tell me that there's coming a day, there's coming a time. Well,
she even told me they had a yalla heifer over there now. Done had
the yalla heifer. Getting ready to institute all
of those things up again. It'll never happen, folks. She
said, you don't believe they're going to do that? I said, I don't
know what those silly Jews may do. I don't know what they may
do. I just know this. I just know
this, they won't worship God but those men. And the one way
to approach Him to God, and that's through Christ. And that's through
a hard faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Who did hinder you? Well,
it wasn't the Apostle Paul who hindered them. I'll tell you
that. It wasn't God, it wasn't the Son of God, and it wasn't
the Apostle Paul. Here's what the Apostle Paul
said, we conclude that a man is justified by faith without
the deeds of the law. That's his conclusion. He didn't
teach that. Look over here in very familiar
scripture, just over to your right, just a little bit in Colossians.
Here's what Paul saw. Look at Colossians chapter 2. Here's what he told him. Who
hindered you? I didn't hinder you. Look here in verse 3. Colossians
chapter 2 and verse 3. In whom? In Christ. Are hid all
the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. And this I say, lest any man
should deceive you, turn you aside, drive you back, beguile
you with enticing words, with these good deeds and fair speeches. For though I be absent in the
flesh, yet am I with you in the Spirit, joying and beholding
your order and the steadfastness of your faith in Christ. As ye
have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, walk ye in Him."
Walk ye in Him. You never got in Him by the works
of the flesh, and you can't stay in Him by the works of the flesh.
The best thing you can do to the flesh is crucify it, is keep
it beat down and not let it live like it wants to. Walk in Christ. Look in verse 7. and build up
in him and establish in the faith as you have been taught." That's
what Paul taught. He didn't teach coming to Christ
and going back to the law to be saved and to be justified
or sanctified. Look at this, abounding therein
with thanksgiving. Beware lest any man spoil you
through philosophy. and vain deceit after the tradition
of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.
For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you
are complete in Him." Now that's what Paul taught. That's what
Paul taught. It's in Christ. It's in Christ. Who hindered them then? Who hindered
them? Who hindered you that you should
not obey the truth? Well, I'll tell you who it was.
Look over here in 2 Corinthians. Look over here in 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. Here's who hindered them. Satan hindered them. It's
Satan's work to do that. Confusing a person's mind. It's
Satan to do this through his ministers. You know Satan has
ministers. You know they're ministers of
righteousness. That's what they call themselves.
That's what the world calls them. Ministers of righteousness. Look
what Paul says. Here he tells us who hindered
these, who turned them from Christ back to Moses, who turned them
from grace to these ceremonies. Look in verse 1, 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. Would to God you would bear with
me a little in my folly, and indeed bear with me. For I am
jealous over you with a godly jealousy. For I have espoused
you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin
to Christ. But I fear, lest by any means,
as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your mind should
be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ." You know
what this word simplicity means. It means the singleness. The
singleness that's in Christ. What's salvation all about? It's
about Christ, ain't it? Who is salvation? Well, it's
this, and it's that, and it's this step, and that step, and
six steps, and you've got salvation. It's about a person. The singleness
of Christ. Lord, let Thy servant die in
peace. I've seen Your salvation. Who's
He looking at? Christ. Christ is salvation. That's what
salvation's about. That's what life's about. That's
what heaven's about. It's about Christ. The singleness
of Christ. What does this word simplicity
mean? It means a state of being not perplexed. A state of being
not complex. It means there is nothing confusing
about it. Brother Larry called me one day not too long ago and
said he was listening to a preacher that had preached a message on
infant baptism. And I asked him to fix me up
one of the messages he sent to me. And this guy spent a considerable
amount of time trying to prove infant baptism from the Scriptures.
And I'm telling you, you'd have had to have been a theologian
to stay with us there. He got back over to the Old Testament
and just went to twisting and resting. And I got almost confused
with him. You know, if somebody is going
to teach you something in Christ, in God's Word, and it's so confusing
that you have to be a theologian to understand it, you better
forget about it. You better forget about it. Who
was it that heard Christ's Word? Who was it that heard His Word,
that understood His Word, and they heard Him gladly? Who was
it? The common people, wasn't it? The common people heard Him
gladly. Listen. Listen to this. You are
accepted in the Beloved. Don't you understand that? Ain't
that so simple to you? Some fellow said, I just don't
understand that. You're accepted in the Beloved.
Accepted in somebody else. I don't understand that. No,
the problem is you just don't believe it. You understand it
because it's simple. You are complete in Him. Ain't that simple? It's simple
words. And it simply describes our standing
and our state in Christ. We're accepted in Him. We're
complete in Him. And it's so simple. And it teaches
a simple truth. And when these men start taking
these truths, and they twist them, and they explain them away,
where the congregation just throws up their hands and says, we can't
tell what that means. You know what that fellow is?
You know what he is? He's a minister of the devil.
Because that's what they did. That's what they did. Doctrine? Doctrine is established, simple
truth is established upon the plain teaching of sacred Scripture. Let me say that again. Simple
truth is established upon the plain teaching of holy Scripture. Simple truth established upon
plain teaching of the Scripture. And when somebody starts teaching
the Scripture, and they just put you through a maze of Scripture
that they twist and misrepresent, and you finally throw up your
hand and say, I have no idea what that means. Just mark her
down. Just mark it down. He's either
a dumb, ignorant fellow, or he's a minister of Satan. He's either
a dumb guy that shouldn't be in the pulpit to begin with,
or he's a minister of Satan. And his end is going to be according
to his work. You say, Bruce, where did you find that? Well,
look over here in verse 13 of this same chapter. Chapter 11,
verse 13. Look at this. For such are false
apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves unto
the apostles of Christ. And no marvel, for Satan himself
is transformed into an angel of life. Therefore it's no great
thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers
of righteousness, whose end will be according to their work."
Did you know Satan had ministers? Yeah, he has ministers. They're
ministers of righteousness. But whose righteousness is it,
I wonder? Whose righteousness are they talking about? I bet
they are not talking about the righteousness of Christ. They
are talking about their own. Their own. Who did hinder you
that you should not obey the truth? Well, it was the devil.
The devil. He got away from the simple gospel
that Paul preached of Christ's grace, and being accepted in
Him, and being complete in Him, and he brought in all this confusion.
All this philosophy and this vain deceit, and twisted everything
up and explained everything away, and finally everybody threw up
their hands and said, we just cannot stand it. Look back over in our text, Galatians
chapter 5. Look at this. Somebody said, how much can you
add to the gospel? How much can you take away from
the gospel before it's not the gospel anymore? Look what Paul
says in verse 9, a little leaven, leaveneth the whole lump. A little leaven. A little leaven. I think it was 1906, if I'm not
mistaken, in Los Angeles, California, there was a black preacher, got
in his pulpit, and began to speak in what he called an unknown
tongue. 1906. And look at the charismatic
movement today. It's grown like wildfire, hasn't
it? A little leaven leavens the whole lot. Larry could probably
tell us when a few years ago two or three fellows got their
heads together and decided that we will regenerate it by being
baptized in water. Two or three guys got together
and developed that. Look how hell has enlarged itself
for those who believe those fellows. Well, long before that, one preacher
somewhere in this world decided he'd baptize an infant. And he
baptized an infant. A few days later, another pastor
said, I think I'll baptize an infant. And a little while later,
another pastor said, I think I'll baptize an infant. And now
there's a worldwide denomination baptizing infants. A little leaven
leaveneth the whole lot. It doesn't take much. When somebody
says, we believe in Christ, And now, we believe you have to be
circumcised. Hold it right there. We believe
in Christ, and now if you'll be baptized, you'll be justified. Better hold it right there. You
went too far, haven't you? Nothing matters with that, Bruce.
Baptism? What matters with baptism? If
you add it to Christ, it's eleven that will corrupt the gospel.
And you won't have the gospel anymore. You won't have the gospel
anymore. It may not seem like much, but it makes void the gospel. When somebody says, we're saved
by Christ, but you went too far. You just put leaven in the dough.
We're justified by faith in Christ, but a little leavening, a little
leavening. We're saved by Christ alone. Israel shall be saved in the
Lord with an everlasting salvation. You and I, when we come to Christ,
when the Lord has saved us, we grow in grace. You will grow
in grace. You'll grow in knowledge as you
read, as you experience Him, As you pray and as you follow
Him, you'll grow in grace and knowledge. But I tell you what,
it won't be a growth that you'll be bragging about. It won't be
something you'll be running around, boy, look at me, look what great
high fives I've obtained, look how strong I am, look how far
I've advanced. It'll be a grace and a knowledge
where you'll say with the Apostle Paul, I'm less than the least
of God's people. Yeah, you'll grow. You'll grow.
But you'll grow in grace and you'll grow in knowledge of the
Lord and Savior, Christ Jesus. And I'm telling you, when you
grow, what you'll do, instead of leaving Christ and going to
something else, you'll be more dependent upon Him than you've
ever been in all your life. Don't you feel your need of Christ
more today than you ever have? You know there's nothing else
out there, Clarence. There's nothing beyond Christ and there's
nothing beside Christ. Why do we believe that? Because
we've grown in grace and knowledge. And we abhor ourselves for our
sin and our self-righteousness, and we abhor every false way. Why do we do that? Because we're
growing in grace and knowledge. Well, you need this or you need
that. We need Christ is what we need. More about Jesus would
I know. More of His grace to others show. More of His saving fullness see.
Ain't that what you want to see? More of His saving fullness see. Lord, just let me see myself
in you. That'll satisfy my soul. And verse 10, look at this. Chapter
5 and verse 10. I have confidence in you through
the Lord that you will be none other wise minded You know, Paul's
confidence wasn't in their flesh. It wasn't in their abilities
or their understanding. He said, I have confidence in
you through the Lord. My confidence is in you through
the Lord. Not in you, but in you through
the Lord. And what he's saying here, if
you're the Lord's, I have confidence. That He that's begun a good work
in you is going to continue that work. And if He has, you're going
to correct this error. That's what He said. That's what
He said. You're going to correct this
error. Because if God has begun a good work in you, He's not
going to stop it. And you're going to correct this
error. You've left Christ and gone to these silly ceremonies
and holy days that He fulfilled, and you're going to leave that
stuff, and you're going to repent, and you're going to come back
to Christ. If God's begun to work in you, you'll do it. That's
what He said. Now, I've got company. That may
seem like a cop-out. But I tell you what, brothers
and sisters, sometimes there's no other place for us to find
any comfort. All of us have had this. We've had it in our families.
We've had it with friends and church members that make a profession
of Christ and they go back to the world. Or they make a profession
of Christ and they give little evidence that they know Him.
And we pray with them. We pray for them. We instruct
them from the Word. And sometimes it seems like nothing
helps. And what do we do? We come right
here to where Paul come to. And it's not a cop-out. It's
the only cop-out we can find. And we tell them this, or we
say this within our heart, if God's begun a work in you, He's
going to straighten you out. He's going to straighten you
out. I'm confident of that, he said. I'm confident in you through
the Lord that if God has begun this work in you, as I believe
He has, then you're going to correct this error. You'll have the same mind that
I do. in this. You'll come back to
Christ. You'll come back to Christ. And you know, you read this epistle,
and that's where He left them. Look in chapter 6, verse 17.
From henceforth, let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the
marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. I mean, He wrote to them. He
instructed them. He instructed them out of love. Dealt with
them to bring them back from this error. And here's what He
concluded. If God's begun a work in you,
you'll correct this error. And if he don't, if you don't
correct this error, it's just evident he never did begin to
work it. I'm willing to leave it there, ain't you? I'm willing
to leave it there. Now look in verse 11. And I,
brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution?
Then is the offense of the cross ceased. Now these fellows have
lied, old Paul. They came down here and taught
these Galatians. You know, they said, Paul is
preaching circumcision. And this is the only place I
know of, as far as I know, that Paul tells us that he was a preacher
before the Lord saved him. He is a lost preacher. I preach
circumcision. I preach morality for salvation.
But these fellows came down here and they said, Paul, you know,
Paul has been circumcising people. Look over here in Acts 16. Look
in Acts 16. You remember this. You remember
where the Apostle Paul circumcised Timothy. Well, these false teachers
got a hold of this, and they come down there and they said,
we're telling you you have to be circumcised to be justified,
to be saved. And Paul's teaching the same
thing we are, because he's circumcising people too. And look here, Paul
did circumcise Timothy. But look here why he didn't.
Look in Acts 16 in verse 1. Then he came to Derbe, Paul and
those who were traveling with him, and Lystra. And behold,
a certain disciple was there named Timothy, the son of a certain
woman, which was a Jew, and he believed, but his father was
a Greek, a Gentile, which was well reported of by the brethren
that were at Lystra and Iconium. Him would Paul have to go forth
with him. Paul knew the Lord had gave him
a gift. You go preach with him. You go
minister. You go teach the gospel with
me. You go travel on your missionary work. And he took him, look at
this, and circumcised Timothy. Was it because God required it?
Was it because he knew he was going to have to circumcise him
before he could be justified? Before he could be saved? No!
Well, why did Paul do that then? Look at this, "...because of
the Jews which were in those quarters, for they knew that
his father was a Greek." What would have happened if Paul would
have took Timothy and started him to the synagogue? They would
have stopped him at the door and said, you can come in here,
he's uncircumcised. Some of the believing Jews wouldn't
even let him preach to them. They were still stuck up in this
circumstance. So Paul saw a door would be open, he tucked Timothy,
and he circumcised him. Well, these fellows went down
to Galatia and said, he's circumcising people still, and he's preaching
the same gospel we are. Paul said, if that's so, if I'm
preaching the same thing they're preaching, why are they so mad
at me? Why are they stoning me to leave
me for dead? Why they hate me? Why they're lying on me? He wasn't
preaching the same gospel. That's why. You ever had somebody
come up to you and you're standing there talking with them. They're
just as free will as they can be. I mean free will to the core.
And you, you are standing there talking with them. There's a
bunch of people gathered around and they look at you and they
say, Clarence, me and you believe about the same thing. You ever
had that happen to you? The next time that happens to
you, if you've got a Bible handy, just say, well, let's open up
this book and let's see if we believe the same gospel. Let's
see. Might as well put an end to it,
hadn't you? Yeah, we're preaching the same God. We believe in the
same gospel. Well, let's open up the book. Tell me what you
think of the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. Tell me that. That'll answer that. That'll
let you see if we're preaching the same thing or not. The religion
of this world, listen now, does not object to Jesus being a Savior. The religions of this world call
upon people to accept Him as the Savior. Don't they do that?
Make a decision for Jesus as your Savior. The world would
not object to Jesus being a martyr. They would glory over that. They
would not object to Him being preached as an example. Or they
would not object to the cross of Christ being put this way. Jesus died on the cross, and
that's all He can do. And now He's waiting for you
to do the rest. The world don't object to that. They would not
object to this. God has given you the gift of
free will, and the death of Christ makes it possible for you to
exercise that gift. They wouldn't object to that.
But listen now, a cross where redemption was accomplished,
they'll object to that. A cross where full and eternal
and free salvation was earned by the obedience of someone else
outside them, they hate that. They hate that. It's the offense
of the cross. The cross as a sincere effort,
the world will allow it, and they'll love it. But the cross
in its total sufficiency to save completely, the world hates. Jesus Christ came into this world,
and He brought in a perfect righteousness by His life lived. And upon that
cross, He atoned for sin by laying that life down upon that cross. And everyone who puts their trust
in Him is saved. Everyone who puts their trust
in this Christ is saved. Not by what they did before they
were saved, not what they did after they were saved, but by
Him who lived and died and atoned for them in their stead. And
the world don't like that. The world don't like that. This
may sound a little bit extreme, but listen to this, and I think
it makes the point. That thief on the cross, that
thief on the cross, he turned to the Lord Jesus and
said, Lord, remember me when you come into your kingdom. That
man was not baptized. As far as we know, he was not
circumcised. As far as we know, he never attended
a worship service. Boys, we know he never had a
chance to read his Bible. Boys, we know he never followed.
He never followed Christ. A few hours later, he's gone.
How did that man go to Paradise? This day shall you be with me
in Paradise. How did he get to Paradise? What
took him to Paradise? Christ and Him crucified. The
grace of Christ is what took him there. And that's all. Now,
if that man had come down from that cross, if they'd got him
down from that cross, he'd have followed Christ. If he'd have
come down from that cross, he'd have gave a portion of what he
earned and what he had. He'd have attended the worship
service. He'd have been baptized and professed Christ to this
world. But he never came down and did any of those things.
And you know something? You and I are going to have to
be saved and we'll go to paradise the very same way he got to paradise.
Through Christ and Him crucified. Not what we do after He saves
us, but because He saved us. by Himself. The cross offends this world, but I'll tell you what it is.
It's the confidence and joy and the hope of every last believer. It's offense to this world. And
brothers and sisters, if you and I ever get to the point where
we preach a cross that's not offensive to this world, then
we've lost the gospel. We've lost the gospel. We worry
about, well, if I start saying anything, somebody's going to
get mad at me. You better quit worrying about that. Here's what
you better worry about. When you start saying something,
they don't get mad at you. When you start talking about
the cross of Christ, don't offend them. I'm not talking about our
attitude. I'm talking about the message
itself. The cross is not offensive to Christ. That's what it's supposed
to be. And we need to get over this.
We need to get over this, our little petty feelings. Might
as well get over that. If you're going to witness the
gospel of Christ, you better get over this little petty feelings
thing. I don't want to get my feelings hurt. I'm afraid somebody
will get mad at me. Well, you better keep your mouth shut then.
Because I'm telling you, when you start talking about this
cross, it's supposed to be an offense. God intended it to be
an offense. Especially to this religious
world. If I yet preach circumcision, if I add anything to the cross
of Christ, then that offense is ceased. It's ceased. All right, turn to page 489.