I've entitled the message for
this evening, The Recovery of the Gospel. That's the theme of the book
of Galatians, the recovery of the gospel. Paul was writing
to the churches at Galatia, and they're mentioned in Acts chapters
11, 12, 13, and 14, and into 15. There are at least four churches
named, including the church at Antioch, the place where the
disciples were first called Christians. I've always loved that verse
of scripture. The disciples were first called Christians at Antioch. Turn with me to Acts chapter
11 for a moment. God had blessed these churches in an unusual
way. Verse 19, now they which were
scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen traveled
as far as Pharnasi, Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to
none but the Jews only. Now what a blessing this persecution
was. It caused them to go out and
preach the gospel in places where it wouldn't have been preached.
This was, you see, the Lord's wisdom and purpose in this persecution. And some of them were men of
Cyprus and Cyrene, which when they were come to Antioch, spake
unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus. Now they preach
to the Gentiles. And the hand of the Lord was
with them, and a great number believed and turned unto the
Lord. Then tidings of these things came into the ears of the church,
which was in Jerusalem, and they sent forth Barnabas, that he
should go as far as Antioch. And when he came and had seen
the grace of God, he was glad, and he exhorted them all that
with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord. For he
was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost, and of faith, and
much people was added to the Lord. Then departed Barnabas
to Tarsus for to seek Saul, the apostle Paul. And when he found
him, he brought him unto Antioch, and it came to pass that a whole
year there they assembled with the church and taught much people,
and the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch."
Now this is one of the churches of Galatia that Paul was writing
at this time. When Paul and Barnabas left,
false teachers came into the church. You can read about it
in Acts chapter 15. As a matter of fact, we'll read
that in a moment. But they came in to try to undermine
the authority of Paul. Now, what is meant by the authority
of Paul? Paul was an apostle sent by God. His writings were recognized
as scripture. The authority of Paul is not
Paul's authority at all. It's the authority of God. That's
the authority that's speaking of, this is not Paul's doctrine,
this is God's doctrine. And these men were coming in
and saying that Paul was somehow inferior to the other apostles.
And Paul was defending his authority. Turn to Acts chapter 15 for a
moment. Verse one, and certain men which
came down from Judea, taught the brethren, and said, except
you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be
saved." Now he was speaking to Gentiles. These were men who
professed faith in Christ, and they come from the church of
Jerusalem, which I think is amazing that the church of Jerusalem
had these people coming that were teaching this, but they
did, and James was the pastor. Verse two, and therefore Paul
and Barnabas had no small dissension and disputation with him. There
was an argument over this. They determined that Paul and
Barnabas and certain other of them should go up to Jerusalem
unto the apostles and elders about this question. and being
brought to their way by the church, they passed through Phanesi and
Samaria, declaring the conversion of the Gentiles, and that caused
great joy in all the brethren. And when they were come to Jerusalem,
they were received of the church and the apostles and elders,
and they declared all the things that God had done with them.
But, here's their report of what took place. There arose up certain
of the sect of the Pharisees, which believed, saying that it
was needful to circumcise them and to command them to keep the
law of Moses. Now most people believe that
Galatians was written shortly after this, after Paul dealt
with this error, where these preachers were coming in and
saying, true salvation by grace, true salvation by Christ, but
it's also needful for you to keep the law. It's also needful
always adding something to what Christ has done. Now go back
to Galatians chapter 1. I want us to look at how Paul
spoke to the Galatians throughout this book before we get into
the meat of the message. Paul said in verse six, he said,
I marvel. that you're so soon removed from
him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another
gospel. Now Paul knew these people. He
loved these people. He'd spent a year living there.
And he's amazed how quickly they've left the gospel, which is not
another, but there'd be some that trouble you and would pervert,
would change, bring a different gospel, a gospel that will not
save. And he said, I'm amazed that
you've so soon removed. Now, look what Paul says in verse
11 of this same chapter. He says, but I certify you, brethren,
I assure you that the gospel which was preached of me is not
after man. It's not derived from any human
source. For I neither received it of
man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus
Christ. He lets them know where the gospel
he preached to them had come from. And it was not from man.
Look in chapter three. And once again, remember, Paul
knew these people and loved these people, and he was so grieved
over what had taken place. He said, O foolish Galatians,
who hath bewitched you? that you should not obey the
truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set
forth, crucified among you. This only would I learn of you.
Receive ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing
of faith. Are you so foolish, having begun
in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? You start
in grace and end up in works. What's happened to you? Look
in chapter 4, verse 9. He says, but now after that you've
known God, or rather are known of God, how turn ye again to
the weak and beggarly elements whereinto you desire again to
be in bondage? You observe days and months and
times and years. I'm afraid of you, lest I bestowed
upon you labor and vain, when I see you going back to the law
to observe the feast days and the Sabbaths and so on. Why are
you doing this? I'm afraid of you that all my
preaching has been a big waste of time." Look what he says in
verse 13. You know how that through infirmity
of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first, and my
temptation which was in my flesh you despised not, nor rejected,
but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. When you first heard me preach
the gospel, you received me as Christ himself. that the message
came so gloriously to you. You received me as an angel of
God. You received me as you would of Christ. Verse 15, Where is
then the blessedness you spake of? You've done a 360, for I
bear you record that if it had been possible, you would have
plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. Am I therefore
become your enemy because I tell you the truth? They, verse 17,
they zealously affect you, these super apostles, they zealously
affect you, but not well. Yea, they would exclude you and
isolate you that you might affect them. Look at verse 19 of the
same chapter. He says, my little children of whom I travail and
birth again until Christ be formed in you. I desire to be present
with you now and to change my voice for I stand in doubt of
you. Tell me that you the desire to be under the law. Don't you
hear the law? They were showing a desire to
be under the law. Paul said, I doubt you. As a
matter of fact, do you know this is the only epistle where Paul
never commends them for one thing. And every other Epistle, all
these other churches, they had their problems. I mean, read
the book of 1 Corinthians and 2 Corinthians. They had so many
problems going on in that church, but he commended them for many
things. And all he says to the Galatians
is, I stand in doubt of you. I'm not real sure about you.
With the direction you've gone, wanting to go back to the law,
it seems like the way you do. Look in chapter 5, verse 1. He
says, Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ
has made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke
of bondage. They weren't doing that. They were becoming entangled
in the yoke of bondage, which my soul, if salvation has anything
to do with my works, that's a yoke of bondage. That's a bondage
that I can't handle. And he said, Don't be entangled
in that yoke of bondage. Look in chapter, or verse 7 of
chapter 5. He said, You did run well. Who
did hinder you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion,
this belief you have, cometh not of him that calleth you,
it didn't come from God. A little leaven, leavens the whole lump.
You put works and salvation anywhere and it leavens its way all the
way through it. Look in verse 12, this is such
strong language. He said, I would that they were
even cut off which trouble you. They tell you, we want you to
be circumcised. I'd like them to be altogether
cut off. Now that is strong language, isn't it? I mean, that's, we're
not used to hearing people talk like that, but that's the way
Paul talked. Look in verse 15. He said, but
if you bite and devour one another, take heed that you be not consumed
one of another. And that's what happens with
law preaching, people biting and devouring one another. Look
in verses 25 of this fifth chapter. If we live in the spirit, let
us also walk in the spirit. Let us not be desirous of vain
glory, provoking one another and envying one another. And
that's always behind law preaching. Envy and strife and jealousy
and one trying to outdo the other and be holier and more recognized
than the other. That's always going on. Look
in chapter six, verse one. Brethren, if a man be overtaken
in a fault, You which are spirituals, restore such a one in the spirit
of meekness, considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted." The
opposite had been going on there. Look in verse 12 of this sixth
chapter. He says, "...as many as desire
to make a fair show in the flesh." And that's what religion is all
about, isn't it? Man's religion, work's religion,
a fair show in the flesh. Look at me, look at how holy
I am, look how godly I am, look at how I have become. It's a
fair show in the flesh, and that's all it is. They constrain you
to be circumcised only lest they should suffer persecution for
the cross of Christ. You see, if you preach free grace,
there will be persecution. But the only reason they want
you to be circumcised is they want to avoid persecution. And they talk about you keeping
the law, but listen to this. For neither they themselves who
are circumcised keep the law. It's all talk. It's all hot air. It's all hypocrisy. They don't
keep the law. They want to put you under the law, but they don't
keep the law. Here's what they want to do.
They desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh.
Look how I've affected this person. Look how I've influenced this
person. I've been a good positive influence. They're better off
because of the way I've done. Verse 17 of chapter 6, from henceforth
let no man trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord
Jesus. You know, Paul was whipped and
beaten everywhere he went for preaching the gospel. And he
said, these fellows that are examining me and calling me into question
and I've got the credentials. Look at my body. I have been
beat up for preaching the gospel that God gave me. Now, as I stated
at the beginning, the theme of this book is the recovery of
the gospel. And that's so scary when I see
this church in Antioch and these other churches in Acts chapter
13 and 14. Paul founded them, they were thriving churches,
and look at the direction they went. But thank God, Paul calls
for them to come back. The recovery of the gospel. Now they had removed themselves
through listening to the wrong voice, and Paul is calling them
back. And I love the way Paul begins
Galatians. Charles Spurgeon made this statement.
He said, if you want to show the crookedness of a stick, You
know the best way to do it? Put a straight stick right beside
it, and the crookedness will be obvious. So he begins right
off the bat with a real simple, strong declaration of the gospel. He doesn't deal with the problems
at first. He deals with those beginning in verse 6 when he
says, I marvel you're so soon removed. But he comes out of
the gate with a just simple declaration of the gospel. And may the Lord
cause that to take place tonight, where there's an actual declaration,
blessed by the Holy Spirit, of the gospel of God. Now, Paul
begins in verse 1. Paul, an apostle. Now, there were only 12 apostles.
You remember when Judas fell, they got together
in Acts chapter 1, and Peter picked out two people, and then
he said, Lord, show which one of these two people you've chosen.
And the lot fell on Matthias, but you never heard of Matthias
again. And the scripture points out that there were only 12 apostles.
Paul took the place of Judas. Scent of God. These were men
who Christ taught them the gospel directly. Why, Paul was taken
up into the third heavens. He tells us about it in 2 Corinthians
chapter 12, where the Lord taught him the gospel directly. And
so his gospel came from Christ. It wasn't Paul's doctrine, it
was the doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul, an apostle,
not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father,
who raised him from the dead." Now, there are no apostles today.
If someone claims to be an apostle, they're a phony. There are no
apostles today, but there are men today that are sent by Jesus
Christ himself to preach the gospel. There is such a thing
as a call of God to preach the gospel. And I claim to be one
of those people. I claim to be somebody who Jesus
Christ has sent to preach the gospel. Now, Some may question
it. It's okay. There are others who
know it to be so. Now, Paul, why do you make this
claim? Why? What's the point? And how
can I verify that I'm called of God? Well, here's one verification. I preach what Paul preached.
I sure do. I ask you to listen to what I'm
saying and seeing that it's not the same thing that's in the
scriptures. That's the only verification, is a man preaching the word.
Paul said to Timothy, preach the word. Now, if God has called
me to preach, it would be to your advantage to listen to what
I'm saying, wouldn't it? If God really has called me to
preach, it would be to your advantage. to listen to what I'm saying.
And if you don't, it's no different than you refusing to hear Christ
himself. The Lord said to the 70, not
just the apostles, the 70. He said, he that heareth you,
heareth me. And he that despises you, despises
me. And that word despise means sets
aside, disesteems, or neutralizes. Now, Paul was saying this about
himself, not for self-indication. Doesn't have anything to do with
it, but because he wanted them to hear the gospel he preached,
the gospel that God gave him. If I claim to be a God-called
pastor, it's not because I'm trying to puff myself up or lift
up myself or make myself important. However you are, that's how I
am. How sinful are you? That's how sinful I am. How weak
are you? That's how weak I am. I recognize that. This is not
talking about a clergy and a lady, but I know the gospel. I know
the gospel. God's taught me the gospel, and
I want you to hear what I'm saying. You know, Sid, pretty often I
come in here during the day and sit back on one of those back
rows, and I just sit there and muse. What are these people hearing? What am I saying? What are they
really hearing? Am I preaching the gospel. That's so critical. And when
you talk about a call to preach, it's not to puff up the preacher.
I mean, the preacher's, who is Paul? Who is Paul? It's nothing.
Nothing. I know that. I'm nothing. But
I do know the gospel. And I'm preaching the gospel.
And I want you to hear and believe the gospel that I preach. Now,
Paul says, 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. There, don't you
love that word brethren? the brethren, they believe what
I do too. They're right with me in this,
the brethren. And all the brethren which are
with me unto the churches of Galatia. And in verses three
through five, Paul gives us one of the most beautiful and simple
definitions of the gospel. Now, in verse three, he begins
with the word grace. Grace be unto you. Here's the cause of the gospel. The gospel means good news. It's
a good news. It's not just somebody grinding
out facts. It's good news. It comes as waters
to a thirsty soul. It's good news to the guilty.
But what's the cause of the gospel? The grace of God. Grace be to you. Salvation is
by grace. Ephesians chapter 2 verse 8 says,
By grace are you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves,
even that faith. It's the gift of God, not of
works, lest any man should boast. Now, what does Paul mean by grace?
And I have to ask that because the Judaizers in Galatia used
the word, but they gave it a different meaning. They talked about grace.
But they denied the completeness of grace. Acts chapter 15 verse
5, we've already read this. There arose a certain sect of
the Pharisees which believed, saying that it was needful to
get them to keep the law of Moses. They denied the completeness
of grace. Now understand this. Salvation,
oh, thank God, salvation is completely by grace. I can't say that strong
enough. Salvation is completely by grace. The only hope that I have is
that salvation is all of God's free, unmerited favor. Every aspect of salvation, I
don't care if you talk about election, God choosing who he
would save before time began, it's the election of grace. If
you talk about justification, God making a believer justified,
without guilt, standing perfect before God, it's justification
by grace. If you talk about redemption,
being redeemed freely by His grace. If you talk about faith,
faith is the gift of His grace. If you have repentance, that's
the gift of His grace. All that God requires, He provides
by His grace. Grace is complete. From election
to glorification and everything in between, salvation is by grace. Well, that makes me so happy.
Salvation is of the Lord. It's all by grace. You see, grace is not something
God offers. Hear me well, and that's the
way most preachers present grace. God's offering you grace. There
it is. You can accept it or reject it.
Grace is not an offer. Grace saves. The only kind of grace there
is, is saving grace. He begins with these, this glorious
word. Our favorite word is the name
of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Christ. But the word we like next is
grace, isn't it? Grace be unto you and Peace. Now grace is the cause
of the gospel and the results of the gospel is peace. Peace. The only thing that gives
genuine peace is genuine grace. If you don't believe all of grace,
you really don't have any peace. You can say you do, but nobody
believes you. You really don't have any peace.
But if you really believe that all God requires of you, every
bit of it, he looks to his son for, that every aspect of salvation
is by grace, you know what you're going to feel? You're going to
feel peace. Now, as soon as you start looking
to yourself, that peace will fly away. I realize that. But
when you hear that salvation really is all together by grace,
what you're going to feel is peace. God's at peace with me. God's not mad at me. I'm accepted
in the beloved. I don't have any sin. I'm justified. Peace. It's called in the scriptures,
the joy and peace of believing. Now, if you really believe that
Jesus Christ is your righteousness before God, you'll feel joy and
you'll feel peace. If you really believe that, do
you really believe that the only righteousness you have is the
righteousness of Jesus Christ? Do you really believe that? I
really believe that. I do. And you know what? That
gives me peace. I love this peace. Speaking of
peace, Paul said in Colossians 1.20, speaking of the work of
Christ on the cross, and he said, and having made peace through
the blood of his cross. I love that. Preachers say, have
you made your peace with God? No, not at all. Christ made my
peace with God. He is my peace. Ephesians 2.14
says he is our peace. And having made peace through
the blood of His cross by Him, to reconcile all things to Himself
by Him, I say, whether they be things in earth, things in heaven,
things under the earth, and you that were sometimes alienated
in enemies in your mind by wicked works, yet now hath He in the
body of His flesh through death presented you holy, unblameable,
and unreprovable in His sight. Peace. He made peace. by the blood of his cross." Now, the next thing that I would
notice in this declaration of the gospel is the heart of the
gospel. We've talked about the cause
of the gospel, grace, the result of the gospel, peace, but here
is the heart of the gospel. Verse Three, grace be to you
and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ. Now there's the heart of the gospel. Start with the word our. I love
the Lord Jesus Christ, but what a blessing it is to be able to
say our Lord Jesus Christ. I am my beloved's. and my beloved
is mine." Our Lord Jesus Christ. He's the Lord. He's the Lord. You know what that means? He
created the universe. He's Lord of creation. He's Lord of providence,
everything that happens in time. Everything. He's in complete
control of. He's even, I've said this a lot
here lately, but I'll say it again. He's even in control of
the What's going on through your mind right now? He's in complete
control of it. He really is God. He controls
everything. He's the Lord of salvation. Salvation
is in His hands. He can save you if He's pleased
to do it. He can will your salvation. He
can say, save them, you'll be saved. He's the Lord. He's Jesus. Our love is named
Jesus. Thou shalt call His name Jesus,
for He shall save His people from their sins. He's the Savior. This is the heart of the gospel.
He's God's Christ. He's God's prophet. He is the
Word of God. He's God's priest. If He prays
for you, if He represents you, you must be saved. When He said,
Father, forgive them, everyone He prayed for the Father forgave.
He's God's King, and I need Him as my King to cause me to do
His will. He's the Lord, our Lord Jesus
Christ. That's the heart of the gospel,
and we exalt Him. Now, what do I mean by that?
I don't wanna be, I don't wanna just praise Jesus and exalt Him
and not tell what, here's what it means to exalt Him. Somebody
says, what must I do to be saved? Well, read the Bible and pray
and ask the Lord to do this and give Jesus your heart and all
the things. What must I do to be saved? Believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. And that's what it means
to exalt Christ. Somebody says I'm having trouble
with assurance. Well, you need to fix up your life then. If
you're having struggle with insurance, you need to start reading the
Bible more, putting the flesh down more, and start living a
holier life, and then you'll have insurance. That's evil. The only place assurance is found
is in Christ himself. He is all in salvation. Now that's what it means to exalt
Christ. It's to give him the preeminence
in everything we say. He himself is the heart of the
gospel, our Lord Jesus Christ. And fourth, the means of the
gospel. Look in verse four. It's so simple. Who gave himself for our sins. Our sins. The reality of that
word. Our sins. I was reading Psalm 40. Would you turn with me there?
And this spoke so powerfully to me. I needed this. You know, these are the words
of the Lord from the cross, I realize that, but these are also David's
words. David, the man after God's own
heart. He said in verse 12, for innumerable
evils have compassed me about, mine iniquities have taken hold
upon me. so that I'm not able to look
up. They're more than the hairs of
mine head. Therefore, my heart faileth me. Be pleased, O Lord, to deliver
me. O Lord, make haste to help me."
Our sins. What's going to be done about
our sins? Well, he gave himself for our sins. Now understand
this regarding the substitutionary death of the Lord Jesus Christ
on the cross. There's two words that you and I really need to
understand. The first one is substitution. He gave himself
for our sins. He took my place. My sins became his sins. He took my place. Barnabas is sitting there in
a jail cell. He knows this is the day he's
scheduled to be crucified. He's scared to death. He hears
the soldiers coming in toward him. And can you imagine the
dread that came over him when he thought, I'm going to be nailed
to a cross. The fear and trepidation and just scared to death. And
he hears them open up the door and they say, you've been set
free. Can you imagine what he must
have felt? Somebody took your place. You've been set free. He gave himself for our sins. The second word I want us to
understand in considering he gave himself for our sins is
the word satisfaction. This is such an important word,
satisfaction. Now, if I die and go to hell,
I'll be in hell forever because I can never render satisfaction. My sin is evil. I've been guilty, you've been
guilty of murdering God's son. When I would have done it, just
like they would have. You would have too, whether you
know it or not. That's the truth about you. And that's the truth about
me. And I said this last Sunday, if somebody murdered your child,
could they give you anything that would satisfy you? Well,
here's a million dollars or here's $10 million. No, you'd never
be satisfied. My death could never satisfy
for the infinite sin and putting it to death, the son of God.
But there's somebody's death who did satisfy God. Jesus Christ. He didn't go through the process
of decay when He died, because the second He died, full payment,
full satisfaction was made. God is now pleased. He was delivered for our offenses,
raised again for our justification, and we stand before God without
guilt. He satisfied all the claims of
God's law and God's justice. I love that scripture in Hebrews
1-3 where it says, purged our sins. Hebrews chapter 9 verse
12 says, By his own blood he entered in once into the holy
place, having obtained eternal redemption for us. My redemption
was obtained eternally when he ascended back into glory. Hebrews 10 14 says by one offering
he hath perfected forever them that are sanctified. Now here's
three words to give us some idea of what satisfaction means. He
purged our sins. He obtained eternal redemption
and he perfected us. Right now, near, so near to God,
nearer I cannot be. For in the person of His dear
Son, I'm as near to God as He. Dear, so dear to God, dearer
I cannot be. For in the person of His dear
Son, I'm as dear to God as He. Now, that is the Gospel. He gave Himself. He gave Himself. What greater gift could there
be? He gave Himself. for our sins. Now, here's the effect of the
gospel. Verse four, who gave himself
for our sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world. You know this world we're living
in now? I love this planet. This is God's
creation. I love the beautiful scenery. This is my father's world. In that sense, I love the world.
This is my father's world. I rest me in the thought. This
is my father's world. Aren't you thankful for that?
This is my father's world. The battle is not won. Jesus who
died shall be satisfied and heaven and earth be one. That's going
to happen. This is my father's world. We also talk about this
world, when we're talking about this present evil world, we're
talking about that world that hates God. That world of which
Satan is called the prince of this world and the god of this
world. That evil world, and this is
an evil world, the world's religion, the world's philosophy, the world's
priorities, it's an evil world. There's no doubt about that.
But He has plucked us out. He has delivered us from this
present evil world. You know, we've been delivered.
You know, I don't love the world. I see it for what it is. I'm
so thankful for deliverance in that sense. I thought He delivered
us from this present evil world. Now, in the last phrase of verse
4, we see the source of all this, the will of God. He delivered
us from this present evil world according to the will of God. Now, we express this by speaking
of the absolute sovereignty of God in salvation. Salvation is
of the Lord. Now, turn to Ephesians chapter
1, just the next book over, Ephesians chapter 1. Verse 4, according as He hath
chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should
be holy and without blame before Him, having predestinated us
unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to Himself, according
to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of
His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted in the Beloved. Look in verse 11. in whom also
we have obtained an inheritance being predestinated according
to the purpose of him who worketh all things after the counsel
of his own will." I want to ask you a question. Is your salvation dependent upon
your will or God's will? What do you think? If you think
your salvation is dependent upon your will, you're blind as a bat, plumb
blind. If God has given you light, you
know that your salvation is dependent upon his will. You're no different
than that leper who came up to him and said, Lord, if you will,
you can make me clean. Lord, I can't make myself clean.
I know you're the Lord. I know you can. But if you will,
You understand the supremacy of His will. Your salvation is
completely dependent upon His will. I know that if salvation
is left to my will, no way I'm going to be saved. I know that.
Thank God for His will. He does all this according to
His will. Back to Galatians 1. Verse 5,
this is the purpose of the gospel. To whom be glory forever and
ever. Amen. God's glory is the purpose
of the gospel. You see, the distinguishing mark
of the true gospel is that God gets all the glory and none goes
to man. And we love it that way. Not
unto us, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy
mercy and for thy truth's sake. We love it that way, but understand
this. The gospel's for the glory of
God. It's really not about me and you. It's about his glory.
Now, thank his holy name. We benefit from that. But God's
purpose in all that he does is his own glory. And in the gospel,
he does this for his glory. Now, the need for this generation. And the need that you and I have
most greatly is a continual recovery of the gospel. Now, I see these
churches like the church in Antioch. My, this was Paul, the apostle,
went there and taught there for a year. And look what happened
to them. He said, I'm marveled that you're
so soon removed. Oh, may the Lord deliver us from
that. And may the Lord continually keep us coming to Christ. I really
liked that scripture that Evan read at the beginning of the
service. Looking unto Jesus. Now that's what will keep somebody
from leaving. Looking unto Jesus. the author
and the finisher of our faith, not to whom you looked, not to
whom you intend to look, looking right now. May the Lord give
us the grace to look to him. Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for your
word. How we thank you for your gospel. How we thank you for your grace.
How we thank you for the peace that our Lord brought out for
us. Lord, how we thank you for the
Lord Jesus Christ. How we thank you that he gave
himself for our sins. Lord, How we thank you that we've been
delivered from this present evil world. And Lord, how we thank
you that it's according to your will and not our will, that your
will is in control. And Lord, how we love you getting the glory
in all things. Lord, as we study this book,
we ask that you bless it for your glory and for our good.
In Christ's blessed name we pray, amen.