I am amazed at how many times
there are people who sit under the preaching of the Gospel and
don't hear. I ought not to be amazed, for
we know that hearing is a blessing of the grace of God. But I am
still amazed of how it is that individuals are able to understand
so much and yet know nothing. They have ears, but they do not
hear. They have hearts, eyes, but they
do not see. In the book of Galatians, exposes,
reveals, I suppose, the gospel as clearly and precisely as any one book. And I want us to survey
at least this first chapter quickly in order to answer this question. What is the gospel? It always boils down to that
question. Always. I had a conversation
with a man this week, and he wanted to know if Billy Graham
was preaching the gospel. And I asked him the question.
I said, what is the gospel? What is the gospel? That's the
question you have to ask. If you know the gospel, then
you'll be able to discern who's preaching it and who's not preaching
it. Now, in short, the gospel is
Christ. He's the good news. He's the
one sent of the Father to accomplish the salvation of His people.
And only in Him is there hope of life eternal and the forgiveness
of sins. Gospel does mean good news. Now, there are those like Billy
Graham who say that God loves everybody. My question to that statement
is that if God loves everybody, then what does the love of God
have to do with anyone's salvation? If God loves everybody, then
what in the world does the love of God have to do with anyone's
salvation unless That love that God has for everybody is going
to save everybody. Those who say that God loves
everybody would not say that everybody is going to be saved.
Paul, in writing to the church at Galatia, exposes this false
gospel that God loves everybody, that God wills for all men to
be saved. And again, we can ask the question,
if God wills all men to be saved, then what in the world does the
will of God have to do with anyone's salvation? What does the will of God have
to do with anyone's salvation if God wills all men to be saved? Christ died for everybody. Well,
you know what the question is, don't you? If Christ died for
everybody, then what in the world does the death of the Lord Jesus
Christ have to do with anyone's salvation? Paul, an apostle, not of men,
neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who
raised him from the dead. The authority from which I speak,
the Apostle Paul is saying, is not of my own. I didn't petition
for this job. I didn't run for it. I didn't
ask for it. I was arrested by God and called
of Him to preach this Gospel. And this message that I'm preaching
to you, I didn't get it from men. That's the point that he
makes in this first chapter, isn't it? It came from God. who raised His Son from the dead. As we're going to see in the
next hour in the book of Jonah, the resurrection of the Lord
Jesus Christ is the proof that God has given to us that He's
satisfied and everything necessary for salvation is accomplished.
That's what the resurrection is all about. This is the sign. that was given to us. God raising
His Son from the dead. Verse 2, 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 the Lord Jesus Christ. To have peace with God, you must
first have the grace of God. Grace always comes before peace. Oh, we pray for grace. Men talk
about grace. You know, preaching, you've heard
me say this before, I think it's been a while since I've said
it, but really, preaching is defining our terms. That's what
it is. I had a man say to me one time,
why don't you just get up and read the Bible? We'd all be a
lot better off. That's what he said. Well, because
these terms in Scripture need to be defined by Scripture. And we compare the spiritual
to the spiritual, and that's what we do. Just because a man
talks about grace doesn't mean that he means grace. Just because
a man talks about Jesus Christ doesn't mean that he's referring
to the Christ of Scripture. This man I had a conversation
with this week, he said, well, Billy Graham tells people that
they're sinners and that Jesus Christ is the Savior. And if
that's all they hear, isn't that enough? Well, does Billy Graham
tell men that they're sinners? He doesn't. Not in the biblical
sense. If you listen to the definition
of sin that most men give, it doesn't have anything to do with
our inability. For they'll tell people that
they're sinners, and then they'll also tell people that they have
the ability within themselves to make a decision for Christ.
That's not a sinner. A sinner is not sick. A sinner
is dead in trespasses and sins, unable to do anything for themselves. That's what a sinner is. So,
listen to the definitions that men attach to the terms. Sometimes you have to listen
to them for a period of time before you really come to understand
what it is they're saying. But that's what preaching is.
The content of preaching is the defining of biblical terms. Verse 4, "...who gave Himself
for our sins." The Lord Jesus Christ laid His
life down for the sheep. He didn't die for all men. If
He died for all men, then justice is satisfied and all men are
saved. He died for our sins. His death was effectual, wasn't
it? His blood covered all the sins
of all His people. Once and for all, He put them
away. He didn't die for some of the sins of all men. He didn't die for all the sins
of all men. He died for all the sins of some men. Now that's
what the Scripture teaches. That's particular redemption. And that's the gospel. And any
other message that denies that is another gospel. And any other
Jesus is another Jesus. And that gospel and that Jesus
will not save. He will not save. Who gave Himself
for our sins that He might deliver us from this evil world according
to the will of God, our Father. It was the will and purpose of
God for His Son to come into this world as a substitute, to
satisfy the requirements of God's justice, to fulfill all righteousness
for the sins of His people, to deliver us, to break down the gates of hell,
and to bring from the grips of demonic forces those for whom
the Father chose in eternity past, and that's the gospel.
There's no gospel apart from election. No gospel apart from election. This is the only gospel, verse
5, that gives to God all the glory forever and ever. You see
that? The only gospel. Every other message of salvation
gives to man the credit for his salvation. God has done all he
can do. Now it's up to you. You've got to do your part in
order to make what he did work. That gives to man the glory for
saving himself, doesn't it? What is the gospel? The answer
to this question settles all controversies. It settles all
controversies. This particular man I was speaking
with this past week has written a commentary on the book of Galatians. He learned the language of Greek. in order to be able to parse
the verbs and define the terms. And I ask him, what's the gospel?
He couldn't answer. He could not answer. Paul says to these in Galatia
who were being influenced, by false preachers who were being
tempted to look away from Christ and consider some other hope
of salvation. He said, I marvel that you are
so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of
Christ unto another Gospel. Lots of Gospels out there. Lots
of Jesuses out there. Paul says, I marvel. That's why
I say I'm amazed at how it is that people can sit under the
gospel, study the scriptures, have some truths, small t plural,
and miss the truth, capital T singular. But they can, and they do. And
if the Lord doesn't keep us, we will too. Oh, it is so necessary
for us to keep hearing the gospel. The gospel. And the gospel, as
he says here in this verse we just read, is a person. I marvel
that you are so removed from Him. From Him. From Christ. I know whom I have
believed. Isn't that what Paul said? This
isn't a matter of having your doctrines straight. It's not a matter of having straight
doctrine. It's a matter of knowing Him. I marvel that you are so removed,
so soon removed from Him that called you into the grace of
Christ. Men talk about grace. They stand
up and they sing amazing grace. But there's nothing amazing about
most people's idea of grace. Nothing amazing about a gift
given to those who deserve it, those who have earned it. Nothing
amazing about a God who is obligated by His nature to give to all
men There's nothing amazing of that
gift, is there? Now, this grace is an amazing
grace. It's the grace of Christ. It's
the gift of Christ. He's the gift, isn't He? He's
the gift. Which is not another. Look at
verse 7. This gospel that you're being deceived by is not another gospel
at all. For there's only one gospel that
meets the definition of gospel. There's only one gospel that's
really good news. The good news is that God has
chosen a people before the world began. That's good news. He placed His love on a particular
people. You put them in Christ, in the
covenant of grace, in the Lamb's book of life. That's good news. The good news is that the Lord
Jesus Christ, in fulfillment of that covenant, came into this
world in order to lay His life down for those whom the Father
chose before the world began. That's good news. Good news is
what Jonah said, from the belly of the fish. Salvation is of
the Lord. He's done it from beginning to
end. He planned it. He prosecuted
it in the person of His Son. He applies it to the hearts of
His people in the coming of His Spirit. That's good news. He does it. And He keeps those.
He keeps them, doesn't He? This is the gospel. This man, I hate to keep bringing
this up, but this conversation I had this past week, when he
wasn't able to define the gospel, I took about two or three minutes,
which is not near the amount of time we've already taken,
and I just outlined the gospel. He said, would you put that on
tape for me? Would you just put that on tape?
Just those few words that you just spoke, I just need to listen
to them. until I'm convinced that they're true. I said, well, every time we preach,
the content of that message is the message we preach. We preach
Christ. But the problem with this poor soul is that he was
looking for some sort of easy formula. He was looking for a
sinner's prayer that he could pray and be able to ring the
bell of heaven and cause God to do something for him. There are some that trouble you
and would pervert the gospel of Christ. They would pervert
it. They would rob from Christ His glory and give it to the
will of man. They would say that man has the
ability to choose God. Though the Scripture says, you
did not choose me, I chose you. God does the choosing. He does
the electing. He's the one that makes His people
willing. But men will use the terminology
of Scripture and attach to these precious terms, definitions,
so that when they talk about sin, they're not really talking
about sin. When they talk about Christ, they're not really talking
about Christ. You can speak of my earthly father
by his name, but if you describe to me a man that's 5'10 and weighed
150 pounds, I know that you didn't know my father. You didn't know my father. My
father was 6'4 and 250 pounds. My father was never 5'4, maybe
when he was a kid before he became my father. You see, just because
you speak His name doesn't mean that you know Him. Listen to the definition that
men give to this one that they speak of. Is it consistent with
the revelation of Scripture, with the truth that God has given
us about Himself? Paul said, turn with me to 1
Corinthians chapter 15. Verse 1. Moreover, brethren, I declare
unto you the gospel which I preached unto you which also you have
received, and wherein ye stand." This is the only gospel on which
one can stand in the presence of God. "...by which also you
are saved." This is the only gospel that saves. If you keep
in memory what I preached unto you, unless you have believed
in vain, now if you've believed in vain, then you'll fall away. You'll forsake the gospel if
you've believed in vain. But if you believe the truth
from the heart by the power of God's Spirit, for I delivered unto you, verse
3, first of all, that which I also received, how? How? That Christ died according to
the Scriptures. Not that Christ died. Just because
a person talks about the death, burial, and resurrection of the
Lord Jesus Christ as a historical fact, that is that Christ died. But that's not what he said,
is it? He said how that Christ died. According to the Scriptures. You see, it's not that he died,
it's what he did in dying. It's what he accomplished in
his death. The content of the gospel is not in the historical
event that God came from heaven and
became flesh, lived a perfect life, died on a cross and rose
from the dead and ascended into heaven. No. Well, what did the Lord say? He said He showed to Israel His
axe. All the children of Israel saw
the Red Sea miraculously divide. All the children of Israel saw
the water flow from the rock. All the children of Israel saw
Mount Sinai aflame and shaking, and they were afraid of God.
All the children of Israel saw the manna fall from heaven. Every
day for 40 years they gathered up and ate it. All the children
of Israel saw the earth open up and swallow up Korah and his
band of rebels. They all saw the snake on a pole,
the serpent, the brazen serpent that was put upon a pole. They
all saw the tabernacle. They saw the pillar of fire by
night and smoke by day. They saw the sacrifices made. They saw the Shekinah glory of
God come down. They saw the acts of God, and
they died in the wilderness in unbelief. It wasn't history to them. It
was current events. They saw it. And God showed to the children
of Israel His acts. A-C-T-S. But he showed unto Moses
his ways." Moses and those few believers,
few believers in Israel, they knew what that manna was about. They knew what the water from
the rock was. They knew that that lamb was
an innocent lamb that shed his blood as a foreshadowing of the
one that was to come. They knew God's ways. They knew
what God was saying. And that's what the Lord is saying
here in this passage in 1 Corinthians chapter 15, when He said, I delivered
unto you first of all that which I also received. How? that Christ died for our sins
according to the Scriptures. According to the Scriptures. There's a lot of Jesus's out
there. There's a lot of Gospels out there. There's only one that
saves. If there's any epistle in the
New Testament or any passage of Scripture in the Bible that
speaks of the exclusivity of the Gospel, it is the book of
Galatians. And the testimony of this one
who is able to write a commentary on this book and not believe
that the Gospel is exclusive scares me for myself and for
you. perverting the gospel of Christ,
making it mean something other than what God said. Look in our
text in Galatians 1, verse 8. But though we, though we, or
an angel from heaven, I don't care how many good works religious leaders do in this
world. I don't care how noble they seem,
or how popular they are. If we, or an angel from heaven,
preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached
unto you, anathema. Let him be accursed. What is he saying? He will stand
before God on the day of judgment and be condemned to eternal fire
for having preached another gospel. Another gospel. As we said before, so say I now
again. In case I wasn't clear enough
in verse 8, in case there was some ambiguity in your mind about
what I just said, it's amazing that something so clear in verse
8 would have to be repeated. It's kind of like Romans, there
is none that doeth good. Well, that's clear. No, not one. But that's just a testimony of
how that man will pervert the Scriptures. How we'll take something
that's absolutely crystal clear and make it to mean something
that it doesn't mean. And the Lord, out of His mercy
and grace, repeats Himself time and time again in His Word because
He knows He's dealing with stubborn, hard-hearted, foolish men that
would look for some loophole. And so he says, in case I wasn't
clear in verse 8, as we said before, so say I now again, if
any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which you
have received, let him be accursed. Verse 9 is just a repeat of verse
8. Anybody. Here, how highly esteemed
he is in the world. Billy Graham is the sacred cow
of religion today. He is a false prophet. And he's
certainly not the only one. He has perverted the Word of
God. And he'll be accursed for it.
The Lord is not pleased to save him. Verse 10, For do I now persuade
men? Am I speaking so clearly and
so boldly because I'm trying to gain friends and influence
enemies? Is that my purpose? Am I trying
to persuade men to be my friend? This kind of message won't earn
you any popularity in the world. Hadn't earned me any. Won't earn
you any. Men will hate you for these kind
of words. Do I now persuade men? Or am
I seeking to honor and please God? See, that's really what
it boils down to, doesn't it? When men compromise the gospel,
when they pervert the scriptures, It is because they value the
praise of men more than the praise of God. It is because they fear
men more than they fear God. It is because they're trying
to persuade men. It is because they value their
relationships with friends and families more than they value
the truth that is in the person of Christ. That's it. That's what it boils down to. When they have ears and they
hear but they do not perceive, they see that they do not see,
it's because they will not believe. They understand the consequences
of this gospel and the persecution that they'll
suffer in this world because of it. And they make their choice. Do I persuade men or God? Do
I seek to please men? For if I yet please men, I should
not be the servant of Christ." That's the way it is, Edward, isn't
it? If I seek to please men, then I cannot be the servant
of Christ. It's one way or the other. You
can't serve two masters. You just can't do it. But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after men. This gospel didn't come from
the opinions of men. It came directly from God. For I neither received it of
men, neither was I taught it. by men, but by the revelation
of Jesus Christ. Now, we're going to stop there
because here's the final point. If you believe the gospel, if
you believe the gospel, it's because God taught it to you. For truth comes by revelation. Flesh and blood is not revealed
unto you. My Father which is in heaven,
He's the one that has to open the eyes. He's the one that has
to teach, convince, persuade. We can't persuade men. I can't
persuade you. I'll tell you what God says. I pray God will make it true
to your heart. Let's pray. Our Heavenly Father,
we thank You for the Gospel, for the good news. that You revealed
in Your Word. We thank You for Your Spirit.
It causes Your Word to be living and effectual to our hearts.
And we ask, Lord, that You would keep us. Keep us in Christ. Do not let us be persuaded of
any other than the person of Your dear Son. For it's in His
name we pray, Amen.