Would you turn to Galatians chapter
one? Susan, I'm going to start calling
these out of Galatians by name, so it's got a title. What Paul
marveled at. Verse six, I marvel that you
are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace
of Christ unto another gospel. Which is not another. But there
be some that trouble you and would pervert or change or corrupt
the gospel of Christ. But though we or an angel from
heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you. Let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now
again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that
you have received, let him be accursed. Or 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. Let's pray. Lord, we are so thankful for
your word. And we ask that you would be
pleased to speak to our hearts from your word. Lord, when we read of these people
who Paul marveled at. We pray that we might be delivered
from being as them. And removing ourselves. Keep us by your grace, hold us
by your grace. May we be found in Christ, accept
our thanksgiving for him. We pray that your gospel would
be preached in the power of your spirit. We pray that you give
us hearing ears and receptive hearts. We. Ask for your. Mercy and grace upon this assembly,
Lord, we have people going through so many things we. We are glad
that you're in control of everything and nothing happens without your
will, but we pray for the health and mind and body of those that
are in affliction. We pray that you would give us
grace to wash one another's feet. Be with all your people wherever
they meet together. Lord, we pray for our nation.
We pray for the world leaders. We pray that we might be allowed
to live a quiet and peaceable life and all honesty and godliness
according to your will. Give us grace to love you more
and give us grace to love one another more. In Christ's name
we pray. Amen. what Paul marveled at. Now this is strong language. He says to the Galatians, and
remember, he was the one the Lord used to establish these
churches. They heard the gospel through
this man, the Apostle Paul. These are the churches in Galatia. And Paul looked at these people
and he said, I'm amazed. I marvel, I'm dumbfounded, I
can't get my mind wrapped around this, that you are so soon removed. That you so quickly left, departed,
deserted, defected. That's what he's saying to these
people. You're so soon removed from him. Now, that's enough
to get our attention, isn't it? So soon removed from him, you've
turned your back on him, the God of glory, the only, true
and living God. You've turned your back upon
Him. Him that called you unto the
grace of Christ unto another gospel. Now these people had,
I suppose, the best preacher anybody's ever had other than
the Lord Jesus Christ being the true greatest preacher. They
had the apostle Paul as their preacher and their teacher preaching
to them the gospel. These churches of Galatia, you
can read about the establishment of them. First, the church at
Antioch in Acts chapter 11 and on through chapter 15, we read
of the history of these churches that Paul had established in
his first missionary journey. And he looks at these people,
he's broken hearted. He says, I marvel that you're
so soon removed from him that called you to the grace of Christ
unto another gospel. Now, I hope that that scares
us. And I hope it also gives us assurance
that Christ will keep us. Both of those things, because
this is a warning in the scripture. I marvel that you've deserted
Christ so quickly. Now these people appear to have
apostatized. Now he called you unto the grace
of Christ and you've left it for another. Have you found something
better? Have you found something that
satisfies you more? Have you found something you have more
confidence in? Is there something else that keeps your interest
up a little bit better? I marvel that you're so soon
removed from him that called you to the grace of Christ. Now,
you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Corinthians 8,
9, you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ that though
he was rich yet for your sakes he became poor that you through
his poverty might be rich. You've left that for something
better. You've departed, you've moved
away, you've defected. Now, let me remind you of what
was going on in Acts chapter 15. This is what had taken place
in this church or these churches. It was several churches, Derby,
Lystra, Antioch. Verse one, and certain men, which
came down from Judea, taught the brethren. Now, they came
from the church of Jerusalem, of which James was the pastor,
the brother of the Lord. And they came down from this
church, so they came out of a gospel church. This is something to
be wary of with regard to myself. These people came out of a gospel
church, the church of Jerusalem. I mean, this was what they would
have considered the main church, the first church, the first New
Testament church. These people came out of this
church and taught the brethren and said, except you be circumcised
after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. Now, what they
were saying, something's got to be added to what Christ has
done. That's the bottom line of circumcision. Something needs
to be Now, they went to Jerusalem to speak of this, and here was
Peter's summary, verse 11. Well, let's
start in verse 7. When there had been much disputing,
Peter rose up and said unto them, Men and brethren, You know how
that a good while ago, God made choice among us that the Gentiles,
by my mouth, should hear the word of the gospel and believe?
And God which knoweth the hearts, bear them witness, giving them
the Holy Ghost, even as he did unto us. And he put no difference
between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith. Now therefore,
why tempt ye God to put a yoke upon the neck of the disciples,
which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear? But we
believe. that through the grace of the
Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. And that's the grace of
Christ. We believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ,
we shall be saved. And in the grammatical construction,
In the original, this is spoken in a way that says, we believe
that by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we've been saved.
We believe that by the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, we're
being saved. And we believe that by the grace
of the Lord Jesus Christ, we shall be saved. We've been saved. Saved before time began. He saved us and called us with
a holy calling. Now, what came first, the saving
or the calling? He saved us and he called us with a holy calling,
not according to our works, but according to his own purpose
and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus when? Before
the world began. I was saved when Christ said,
it is finished. My salvation was completely accomplished. And I'm saved in time right now,
looking to Christ. And this is my experience in
time. I'm not looking back to yesterday, what I experienced
yesterday. That's yesterday's man. It breathes
words and stinks. It won't do you any good. I'm
not looking to yesterday's experience. I'm looking to Christ right now,
the same way I looked to him the first time. He only is my
salvation. Nothing else. That's the way
it is right now. And I will be saved. when I'm
saved to sin no more. I love thee, song, when I stand
before thy throne, dressed in beauty not my own. When I see
thee as thou art, love thee with unsinning heart. Then, Lord,
shall I fully know, not till then, how much I owe. The saving grace of Christ. I marvel, why would you leave the grace
of Christ? Grace is such a powerful, it's
who God is. Every attribute of God describes
its grace. It's eternal grace. It's sovereign
grace. It's all powerful grace. It's
independent grace. That means it doesn't need you
to do something before it can do something for you. It's immutable
grace. Every attribute of God describes
his grace. Now he says, I marvel. I am dumbfounded. I'm amazed that you're so soon
departed, moved away from him that called you to the grace
of Christ unto another gospel. Now, what could induce you to
do this? How have you been seduced? to
do this, to be removed from this. Are you no longer a sinner? Is
that what it is? Do you no longer have a need? Have you found something better?
Is this not enough to keep your interest up? I am amazed, Paul
said. I marvel that you're so soon
removed from him that called you to the grace of Christ. Now, what he says in verse seven, I marvel that you're so soon
removed from him that called you to the grace of Christ and
to another gospel. Are there two gospels? No, which
is not another. There's only one gospel. Just as there's only one God
here, O Israel, the Lord thy God is one God, there is only
one gospel. The gospel of Jesus Christ, the
Son of God, the gospel of peace, the gospel of grace, the gospel
of the glory of the blessed God. the everlasting, eternal gospel. Ephesians 2, eight and nine says,
for 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, for we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus. and two good works which God
hath before ordained that we should walk in them." The gospel
of God, the one gospel. Now God is one God and three
distinct persons. We only know that because the
Bible teaches that, but there's no knowledge, there's no knowing
God apart from knowing God is the one God and three distinct
persons. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. God the Father who elected us. Is there any good news if God
didn't elect a people? No, no one will be saved. God,
the son who redeemed us. Put away my sin, made me stand
before God, justified God, the Holy Spirit, who regenerates,
who gives life from the dead. Now that's the gospel of God,
the gospel of the three persons of the Blessed Trinity. There
is no other gospel but that. Now notice what he says in verse
7, which is not another, but there'll be some that trouble
you. And here's what was going on
in the church of Galatia. We just read about it in Acts
chapter 15. Some people were coming in and saying, yes, salvation
by grace. Yes, salvation is through faith,
but you need, and adding something to it. Something else is needed. Yes, Christ finished the work,
but something else is needed. What was going on, and I think
this summarizes it so simply, Christ plus. Christ plus. Now, if Christ is
all, the Bible says that doesn't it? Colossians 3.11, Christ is
all in all and in all. Chris, I hope this doesn't embarrass
you, but a couple of weeks ago, if it does, live with it. We
were looking at 1 Corinthians 14 where Paul said, I'd rather
speak five words with my understanding than 10,000 words. by an unknown
tongue. And I'd never really thought
about it. Kristen said, what do you think the five words were?
And I thought, that's a good question. And I, five is the
number of grace. In New Mark, five is the number
of grace. And Kristen said, Christ is all
in all. That's five words. And I thought,
that's a pretty good guess, isn't it? Something about Christ is
all, you can't add anything to all, can you? You cannot add
anything to all. Christ is all. That's the message that we're
leaving. Christ is all. Scripture has one message. Christ
alone. Amen. Do you really believe that?
There's one reason for salvation. Christ alone. There's one reason
for election. Christ alone. There's one reason
for justification. Christ alone. There's one reason
why I've been regenerated. Christ alone. There's one singular
reason that I've been preserved up to this point. Christ alone. There's one reason I'll be in
heaven. Christ alone. Now that is what they were defecting
from through these men who were troubling them. There be some
that trouble you and would pervert, would change, would modify the
gospel of Christ. Look what Paul says in verse
8. Now here's what he says about
these who would trouble them and pervert the gospel of Christ,
change the gospel of Christ. But the we, if I bring another
message, then the message I first brought to you, the gospel of
Christ, I'm putting myself in this group. If I bring another
message, if an angel comes down from heaven. Gabriel, one of
the archangels, these creatures that the scripture says are greater
in power and might than we are. If an angel from heaven comes
down and preaches any other gospel unto you than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be what? Accursed. Damned, let him spin
forever in hell under the curse of God. Now, there wasn't anybody
that loved men any more than the Apostle Paul. He wasn't saying
this harshly. He said, I could wish that myself
were cursed from Christ for my brethren, my kinsmen, according
to the flesh. He wasn't saying this in some
kind of harsh way. You know, I can't stand it when,
quote, hellfire and brimstone preachers try to scare people
into submission with the fear of hell. That's not the way that's
to be used. It's just I can't stand that kind of preaching.
It's almost like they're glad that people are damned. No. But Paul still says this man
who loved men a whole lot more than I know anything about. He
said, if any man, if any angel, if I myself preach any other
gospel than that which I preach to you, let him be anathematized. Let him be cursed and spend eternity
in hell upon the return of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now that's
strong language, isn't it? That shows the wickedness of
trying to change the gospel of Jesus Christ, trying to add something
to him. This was Paul's curse upon these
people. And he says in verse 9, just
in case you didn't hear me, let me repeat myself. Sometimes Repetition
can be irritating. I'm sure I preached in such a
way and I'll repeat myself and people say, he already said that,
you know, I get it. I thought that too, but sometimes
repetition can be very, very powerful. And here is repetition. Verse nine, as we said before,
so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto
you than that which you've received, Now, hold on for a second. When
you first heard the gospel, what was it that you received? When you first heard the gospel,
you received this, that all God requires of you, he looks to
his son for. And that's what you received
as good news, that everything God requires of you Christ accomplished
as your substitute. Here's what you received. You
heard in the power of the Holy Spirit, it is finished. And you received that as good
news to your soul. Before, as we said before, so
say I now again, I repeat myself to make sure you hear, if any
man preach any other gospel unto you than that which you received
as gospel, let him be accursed, damned, sent to hell upon the
return of the Lord Jesus Christ. You know, I've pointed this out
before, you know, Paul is not, this is not hyperbole. I think
it's so interesting to note that not one time in all of his writings
did he ever mention the word hell. He talked about condemnation,
but he thought it almost a word too terrible to speak of. Something
that he just cringed at, the thought of men spending eternity
in hell. The Lord talked about it a whole
lot more than anybody else did during his days here upon the
earth. He talked about it more than
Paul did, more than Peter did, more than anybody did. Paul would
use these words very carefully, very fearfully. What does he
say concerning that one who brings a modification of the gospel,
another gospel, someone who, as the Judaizers did, added something
to the work of Christ, except you, Phil and the Blake, other
than the work of Christ, you can't be saved. He said, let
them be accursed. Verse 10. Four. Do I now persuade men? Or God? Or do I seek to please men? For
if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ. Now, Paul is saying, am I seeking
to win the approval of men? And I'm not talking about works
earning something. But who am I seeking to please
in what I'm saying? Am I seeking to please men? Is
that what this is about? Am I trying to preach the gospel
in such a way as to make you pleased with it? Or to make it
appealing to you? Or make it more attractive to
you? That's what Paul spoke of in 1 Corinthians 1, 17. He said,
Christ sent me not to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not
with wisdom of words. not trying to package it in a
way to make it more appealing and attractive to the flesh.
He said, in my preaching, am I seeking to please men? If that's
what I'm about, I'm not the servant of Christ. Now, do you want to
hear somebody that's more concerned about pleasing you than pleasing
God in what they're saying? Of course you don't. I don't
want to hear that person. I'm not interested in hearing that
person. I want to hear the person who wants to make sure God is
pleased with what he says. It's the truth of God. It's the
truth of the gospel. Look in Galatians chapter five
for just a moment. Verse 11. And I, brethren, if I yet preach
circumcision. Now, when you're when he's talking
about preaching circumcision, he's not talking so much about
the physical act of circumcision, that's included in it, but he's
saying if I say there's anything that needs to be added to Christ,
whatever it is, that's the preaching of circumcision. If I yet preach
circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? Then is the offense
of the cross ceased. Now if I preach circumcision,
everybody's going to be okay with my message. Obviously, everybody's not OK
with my message because I'm in the midst of being persecuted.
And when the persecution leaves, when the circumcision is added,
the offense, the offensive nature of the gospel to the natural
man is ceased. Back to our text, Galatians 1
verse 10. For do I now persuade men or
God, or do I seek to please men? For if I yet please men, I should
not be the servant of Christ." Now, let's close by going to
1 Corinthians 1. Verse 26. For you see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after
the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. I think it is amusing the way
people think, boy, if we could get a senator coming to church,
or if we could get a rock star coming to church, or if we could
get a famous athlete coming to church, that'd really help. People
would be influenced by that. That's plumb-dumb. No, not many. I'm thankful, doesn't say not
any. The Lord has saved movie stars, I'm sure. He has saved
politicians. I'm thankful, it doesn't say
not any. There was a lady by the name
of Lady Huntington and she was, behind supporting George Whitfield
back when he was preaching in the 17th century. And she was
a vastly wealthy person, lands and everything. And she's the
one who was behind Whitfield. And she said, I'm so thankful
for the word M. It doesn't say not any, it says
not many. I'm thankful for the consonant,
yeah, consonant M. Well, I'm thankful for everything
the Lord does, but notice what it says. You see your calling,
brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many
mighty, not many noble are called, but God hath chosen the foolish
things of the world to confound the wise. And God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which
are mighty. and the base things of the world,
and the things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things
which are not." Nothing. What's in an empty box? Nothing. What is there to Draw out God's
favor, nothing. That's who God has chosen. Things
which are not to bring to naught, things that are that no flesh
should glory in his presence. But of him are you in Christ
Jesus, who of God is made unto us wisdom and righteousness and
sanctification and redemption that according as it is written."
I'm so thankful for that. He that glorieth, let him glory
in the Lord. Nowhere else. Amen.