Now, returning again to Galatians
chapter 1, and Paul begins in verse 6 to rebuke these who had
heard the gospel from him, who had been called out of darkness
into light and liberty in salvation, but who had got distracted, who
had got led astray by those Judaizers who came among the church preaching
something other than Christ alone, trying to add Christ plus something
you do, something you bring. And in that day, the issue was
circumcision. If you find Acts chapter 15,
don't turn there, but if you read Acts 15 sometime, those
Judaizers said of the of the Gentiles except they're circumcised
after the manner of Moses for religious purposes. They cannot
be saved. They tried to add something to
Christ. Is the Lord Jesus Christ enough
in salvation? Absolutely. If He's all you've
got, you have enough. For He has made to us wisdom,
righteousness, sanctification, and redemption. So He says in
verse 6, that you are so soon distracted from the message of
Christ. Remember what Paul said, I'm
determined not to know anything among you but Jesus Christ and
Him crucified. But these folks got distracted
from that center message of Christ and Christ alone. The Lord Jesus,
it says, there called you into the grace of Christ. He called
you into the grace of Christ. But there has some Come among
you, preaching what Paul says here is another message, another
gospel." Now, having clearly stated the gospel, Paul begins
to reprove and rebuke these churches in Galatia for entertaining,
entertaining any notion of embracing a counterfeit or perverted gospel,
a different message, mixing law and faith, mixing works and grace. You know, a counterfeit is something
that's very close to the real thing, but yet it's phony. Now,
oftentimes, I have several ladies in the congregation there in
Pikeville who are bankers. They work at the bank. They handle
money all the time. And they can spot a counterfeit
in a heartbeat. But it looks, if you're not trained
and schooled in that, you'll take a $50 bill and you think
it's the real thing, and yet it's a Counterfeit. Those who
are not trained, they usually take a special pen and mark it. But it looks like the real thing.
It's close to the real thing, but yet it is a counterfeit.
It's a counterfeit. And that's what he's saying here.
These Judaizers came among the churches in Galatia preaching
a perverted gospel, a different gospel, a different message.
These false teachers began to corrupt the gospel by changing
the message from free and sovereign grace in Christ to free will,
creature merit, mixed along with the sacrifice of Christ. That's
no different today, is it? Really, it's no different today.
Those who preach and promote creature merit, or free willism,
and place that alongside and mingle with Christ's merit, His
merit, His blood, His sacrifice, are not sin of God. It's a perverted
gospel. It's a changed gospel. It's not
the gospel of God concerning the Lord Jesus Christ. Any preaching
that says salvation at any point, at any measure, is conditioned
upon you. They say things like, well, God's
done all He can do, now the rest is up to you. That is a perverted
message. Salvation in no way, shape, or
form is ever conditioned upon me, my performance. Salvation is always taught in
the Scripture that salvation is of the Lord in its beginning,
in its origination, in its execution, in its application, its sustaining
power, and its ultimate perfection from A to Z. He's the Alpha and
the Omega of all of salvation. That's why we insist upon, as
this book does, that salvation is totally of grace, by grace,
And through the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him, that salvation that
is of the Lord. And anything other than that,
is what he says down here in verse 7, is a perverted gospel. Now he says, I'm shocked, in
verse 6, I'm shocked that you are so soon, so soon removed
or turned away from the message of Christ unto another gospel. Turned away from grace, back
to works. Now the apostle is not teaching
that those called and quickened by grace fall away finally and
totally because there is absolute security in Christ Jesus. He
saved those whom he saves with an everlasting salvation. But
he is teaching this. Even true believers can fall
into serious error which needs to be corrected, which need to
be needs to be rebuked. If you'll find chapter 3, he
says this in chapter 3, O foolish Galatians, verse 1, O foolish
Galatians, who hath bewitched you, deceived you, tricked you,
that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus
Christ hath been evidently set forth and crucified among you?
Now, does that mean that these people saw the actual crucifixion
of Christ? No. But in the preaching of the
gospel, Christ crucified was set before them in that way,
in the gospel, in the preaching of it. This only would I learn
of you, did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law? Were
you born again by the works of the law? Or by the hearing of
faith, by the hearing of the gospel? Are you so foolish, having
begun in the Spirit? You think now that you're sanctified
by the flesh? You think you're justified at
Calvary and sanctified by what you do, sanctified by the law?
God forbid! Christ is our justification.
Christ is our sanctification. He's made unto me all things
in Him. So believers can fall into serious
error. That's why we need to subject
ourselves to the constant preaching and the teaching of the Word
of God. And that's what he's saying here. Now believers have
been, effectually and irresistibly, powerfully and personally called
by the grace of Christ unto Him, as it says there in verse 15.
But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's
womb, He called me by His grace to reveal His Son It's an inward
revelation. He's hid these things from the
wise and prudent and revealed Himself unto His children, unto
Baal. He says in John 17, the Father
hath given me power over all flesh that I should give eternal
life to as many as thou hast given me. He prayed that way. All power over all flesh that
He should give eternal life to His covenant people. God's people
have been irresistibly called out of darkness, translated out
of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of God's dear Son.
And he says this, he says this, that those that Father had given
him, They'll come to Him and He will never, no, never cast
them out. He says, I give my sheep eternal
life and they shall never perish. Believers in Christ are secure
and sure for salvation as Christ Himself is the Savior. Believers
can never be taken away from Him, but they can fall into serious
error that needs to be You see, the Scriptures teach he is able
to keep us from falling and to present us faultless before the
presence of God's glory with exceeding joy. Now, so he begins
to rebuke them. And then he says this, he says,
there's not another gospel. There's not another, verse 7,
which is not another. Now, there's just one gospel.
There's one Lord, one faith, One baptism, one Lord, and there's
one gospel. There's not another. And that's
what he's clarifying here, which is not another, but there be
some. There would be some that would trouble you and would pervert
or change this message of the gospel of Christ. Now, any message
that introduces, works into the scheme of God's salvation, works
by the sinner, placed alongside with the Savior, To make salvation
complete, he says, is a perverted message. It's a changed message.
Deadly, it's a deadly message. It's a damning message. It's
deserving of God's wrath. Remember what he says in chapter
5, a little leaven, leaven the whole lump. Now, have you ever
had a rodent problem? I mean rats or mice. What do you usually do? Well,
I know what I do. I go down to the hardware store
and buy me some rat poison. If I'm going to kill some rats,
I'm going to get some rat poison and kill them. But you know how
much of that rat poison is good food? 98% of that rat poison is good food.
It's the 2% that kills. You see, a little leaven leavens
a whole lump. You add your 2% and you have
no gospel message at all. You've got a perverted message. Does that make sense what I'm
saying? It's either all grace, all Christ, or it's works. Can't be both. And Romans 11
says that. If it's all of grace, then it's
not of works. If it's all works, then grace
has nothing to do with it. But my friend, this book teaches
that salvation is by the grace of God alone. If you find Galatians
2, 21, he says, I do not frustrate the grace of God. I don't distort
it, confuse it. For if righteousness comes by
the law, Now this is one of the most powerful statements in all
Scripture. If I'm justified by the law,
if I'm justified upon my obedience, either my faith or my repentance,
my faith doesn't justify me. Now listen to me. My faith didn't
die for me. My repentance didn't die for
me. True repentance and true faith looks to the Lord Jesus
Christ who accomplished my salvation. And there's a heap of difference.
I do not frustrate the grace of God, for if righteousness
come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain." The good news
of the gospel is that salvation is totally, totally dependent
upon the Lord Jesus Christ alone. And that's the good news. If
you ever see something of the holiness of God, and what God
Almighty requires in His holiness. What does He require? The best
I can do? No. He requires the best He can
do, which is perfect holiness. If you ever see something of
the holiness of God and the exceeding sinfulness of our own sin, you'll
thank God. for salvation complete and free,
justified freely by His grace through the redemption of the
Lord Jesus Christ." Oh, I tell you, we have a gospel that's
all of grace and in Christ. Salvation is totally dependent
upon Him, not my doing His. Now, we have this all through
the Scripture. Let me show you a couple of places. I hope you'll
find the book of Titus, Titus chapter 3. Titus chapter 3, 1st,
2nd Timothy, then Titus chapter 3. It's not by works. It's not by works. God who saved
us and called us with a holy calling, not according to our
works. Now we need to hear this often
because we're so prone, even this depraved flesh is yet still
prone to trust ourselves rather than trusting Christ. We need
a constant reminder that salvation is all of grace in Christ. Now notice, if you will, Titus
chapter 3 verse 5, "...not by works, not by works of righteousness
which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us." Now
who saved who? Who was lost? We were lost. He saved us. Even when we were
dead and in sin, He quickened us together with Christ. Not
by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to
His mercy, He saved us. Did He do it on purpose? Or was
it an accident? Everybody whom God saves, He
saves on purpose. Purpose. Read Romans 8. He saved
us by the washing of regeneration. That's the new birth. Renewing
of the Holy Spirit. Sanctification of the Spirit,
that's the work of God, the Spirit in us. That's conviction of sin,
which He shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ, our Savior,
that being justified by His grace, we should be made heirs according
to the hope of eternal life. All of grace. And, of course,
you know the Scripture in Ephesians 2, 8 and 9, for by grace are
you saved through faith and that not of yourselves. Faith is not
of ourselves. Faith is a gift of God. And true saving faith, the faith
of God's elect, acknowledges the truth and looks to the Lord
Jesus Christ and rests in Him. Rest in Him. For by grace are
you saved through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's
a gift of God, not of works. Not of works. Not of works. Let any man boast. We pat ourselves on the back. Thank God that salvation is all
of grace. But notice this, if you will.
He said in verse 7, back in our text, but there be some that
trouble you, that would trouble you introducing works into the
scheme of salvation who would pervert the gospel of Christ,
that he would that they would pervert this message and change
this message. Those who trouble us, Paul prayed,
now turn to Galatians chapter 5. He prayed that they would
be those who trouble you. Look what he says about these. Those who would trouble you,
who would pervert or change the gospel. Look what he says of
them. Now, in Galatians chapter 5. Look at verse 6, for in Jesus
Christ neither circumcision availeth anything nor uncircumcision,
but faith which worketh by love, you did run well. Who did hinder
you that you should not obey the truth? You started right.
You did run well. This persuasion cometh not of
him that calleth you. Now here's this verse, a little
leaven, leaveneth the whole lump. I have confidence in you through
the Lord, that you will be none otherwise minded, but he that
troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be. And
I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, then why do I yet
suffer persecution? Well, then is the offense of
the cross ceased, if I preach works." Now look at verse 12,
"...I would they were even cut off." Cut off. Those who would trouble you,
he said, and he prays that God would cut them off. You say,
well, that's unkind. Well, that's what he says. I'd cut every preacher off if
I could, and I do because I turn them off. I refuse to listen
to them. I won't watch them on TV. I can't
take it. It makes me sick. It just absolutely
makes me sick. I can't watch. I can't listen
to them on the radio. I just turn them off. I cut them
off. One day God will cut them all off, and he'll silence all
those. Now, notice what he says in verse
8 and 9, back at our text. Now, he comes with a strong,
strong warning. Though we are an angel from heaven,
Though any apostle or any angel from heaven would preach any
other message, gospel unto you, than that which we have preached."
And it's defined in verses 4 and 5, as we talked about last week.
Let that man be cut off. Let him be damned. Let him be
accursed. As we said before, let me say
it again. If any preach any other gospel
unto you than that which you have received, let him be cut
off. Now that's strong. That's just
about as strong as language can possibly be aimed at those who
refuse to tell the truth, who refuse to honor Christ in the
gospel, to strongly deter any person from preaching or receiving
something other than the gospel of Christ. God, through Paul,
gives this most awful righteous judgment. And it's the same thing
he says over here if you'll find 1 Corinthians 1 Corinthians chapter
16. He uses the same word over here.
That word accursed is the word anathema, and it's given here
in the Greek. In 1 Corinthians 16, 22. If any man love not our Lord
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Anathema maranatha. That means
cut off when the Lord comes. Maranatha means the Lord doth
come. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you. You see,
it's a strong warning. You know, our Lord taught the
same thing, taught the same message, the same gospel. Find Matthew
7. Matthew chapter 7. Woe is unto me if I preach not
the gospel, Paul said. In Matthew chapter 7, our Lord
said this in verse 13. Enter ye in at the straight gate,
Matthew 7, 13, for wide is the gate, broad is the way that leadeth
to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat. There is a way that seems right
unto men. The end of that way, the way
of works, the way of do the best you can, it'll be okay. The end
of that way is death, death, judgment, because straight is
the gate, Narrow is the way. It's a restricted way. It's a
restricted way. It's a narrow way. So narrow
that our Lord said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No
man come to the Father but by and through me. He says again
in the book of Acts, chapter 4, verse 12, neither is there
salvation in any other. For there's no other name, no
other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be
saved." Salvation in Christ, it's a narrow way. Straight as
a gate, He is the door. He said, I am the door. If any
man enter in, he shall be saved. I am the door. I am the way.
I am the truth. Straight as a gate, narrow as
a way, which leadeth unto life, and few be there. Few. Few. God's few of the many. thousand
times ten thousands and thousands of thousands, but it is a narrow
way. It is a restricted way. Now look
back at the text again. Now it would not be possible
for an angel to preach another gospel. It would not be. But he's saying if they did,
let that angel be cut off. Let that angel be cut off. It would not be possible for
an angel to do such. The angel from heaven declared
at his birth, glory to God in the highest, peace on earth,
good will toward... Notice the next word, it doesn't
say man, it says men. One God and one mediator between
God and men, that's the God-man, the Lord Jesus Christ. You remember
what the messenger from heaven declared in Matthew 1.21, call
his name Jesus for he shall save his people from their sin. No
angel would dare preach another message. No apostle or God's
servant would dare dishonor Christ by preaching creature merit in
the scheme of salvation. But I tell you this, such a thing
is done by deceived, corrupt men every day. This day, in this
city, I dare say and boldly say that Christ has not been honored
in most pulpits today. I tell you who has been honored
this day. What day is this day? I tell you what went on in most
churches today. They were talking about old dad.
And they probably had a long testimony meeting and everybody
stood up and bragged on dad. If you want to brag on dad, you
go home and do it. We're not going to do that when
we gather together to worship God in spirit and in truth. We're
interested in God the Father, whose name is holy and reverent.
But I know what went on today in most churches. They honored
the creature, not the Creator. I just, I'm just confident of
it. Just confident of it. Now, let's move on to verse 10. Look what he says here. For do
I now, do I now persuade, and that word there is teach. Am
I now teaching the traditions of men, or am I telling the truth
from God? Do I seek to please men? For
if I yet please men, I'm not the servant of Christ." Not his
servant. Now, here's what he's saying.
Do I teach you or persuade you that men or God should be listened
to? Turn back to Matthew 15 this
time. Our Lord said this in Matthew
15. Matthew 15. Verse 7, you hypocrites, well
did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people draw thine eye to
me with their mouth, they honor me with their lips, but their
heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me,
teaching for doctrines and commandments of men, not the truth of God. And Paul said, I'm not teaching
you the traditions of men, I'm teaching you the truth of God.
And our Lord said, It's the truth They'll set you free. Do I now
persuade you to trust in men or to trust God? Who are you
to trust? Well, turn to Philippians chapter
3. You remember this verse from our study through Philippians?
Philippians chapter 3. Paul said, I'm telling you to
trust the Lord Jesus alone. Philippians 3, 3, For we are
the circumcision which worship God in the Spirit, and rejoice
in Christ Jesus, we are the true Israel, the Israel of God. That
circumcision is of the heart, operation, God's operated on
our heart. And because of that, we worship
God in spirit, we rejoice in Christ Jesus, and we have no
confidence in the flesh, none at all. So I'm teaching you to
listen to the truth of God. I'm teaching you to trust the
Lord Jesus Christ alone. You remember what Jeremiah said,
Cursed is a man that trusteth men, and the flip side of that
is blessed is a man that trusts him. I wouldn't want to rest
in something that God says is cursed, would you? But I do,
I'm interested, totally interested in trusting the Lord Jesus Christ
alone. Now, do I now, thirdly, do I
now teach you for the sake of men? or God Almighty, or Christ's
sake. Find, if you will, 1 Corinthians
chapter 2. 1 Corinthians chapter 2. Remember what he said, I'm determined,
I'm determined not to know anything among you. 1 Corinthians 2, 1. And I, brethren, when I came
to you, came not with excellency of speech or of wisdom, but declaring
unto you the testimony of God. The testimony of God. That's
what I'm teaching, the testimony of God. And because of that,
I'm determined not to know anything among you for all of salvation
except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. That's what he's saying. I'm
teaching you the gospel. The gospel. Now, notice the second
part of verse 10. Do I now persuade you, teach
you, the traditions of men, or the truth of God? Or do I seek
to please men? For if I yet please men, if that's
my aim, my goal, I should not be the servant of Christ." God's
servants, now listen to me, God's servants are not interested in
courting the favor of men. They're not interested in dropping,
concealing, or corrupting the doctrine of the gospel. They're
not interested in holding back or trying to remove the offense.
When you remove the offense of the gospel, you have no message. You've removed the power of the
gospel. When you try to tone it down,
tone it down instead of telling the truth. When you try to compromise,
you have no message at all. God's servants are vitally interested
in God's glory and God's gospel in preaching the truth. No wonder
he says in chapter 6 of this book of Galatians, God forbid
I should glory say in the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ. No
man pleaser can be a true faithful servant of Christ. Not at all.
If you find 2 Corinthians 4, turn back to 2 Corinthians 4,
no true faithful servant of Christ can be a man pleaser. His one
aim and goal is to please his master, to please his Lord. Look what he says here, 2 Corinthians
chapter 4 verse 5, For we preach not ourselves, we preach not
ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord, and ourselves your servant
for his sake. For God who commanded the light
to shine out of darkness, has shined in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the person
of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're interested in serving Him.
Our Lord said, no man can serve two masters. You can't. Paul
said, I believe, therefore have I spoken. Now look at verse 11. I guarantee you, he says in verse
11 in our text, I guarantee you, certify you, brethren, that the
gospel which was preached of me It's not a man-centered message. It's not after man. I guarantee you, my dear friend,
that the gospel is of God and not of man. Not of man. You remember what he says in
verse 1? Paul, an apostle, not of man, neither by man, but by
the Lord Jesus and God the Father. I guarantee you that this is
God's gospel. gospel concerning the Lord Jesus.
The gospel is not after man's wisdom. It's not of human origin,
human invention, human device. It's not a man-centered gospel.
The gospel is designed to honor and glorify Christ, the Lord
Jesus Christ alone. He alone is worthy of all honor
and glory. You see, the gospel, when you
really get right down to the nuts and bolts and the essence
of the gospel, has nothing to do with us, has everything to
do with Him. Him. It's all about Him. Him. Him. Now, in closing, verse 12,
For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it,
but by the revelation, by the revelation of God. Salvation
doesn't come by education, it comes by revelation, and that's
the work of God. God who commanded the light to
shine. We just read it a moment ago.
God who commanded that light to shine has shined in our heart
to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Christ. Now, notice verse 12 carefully. I neither received it of man,
neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Christ.
Now, you think with me. Prior to his conversion, O Saul
of Tarsus, Everything he learned in Judaism, he learned from a
man. Sitting at the feet of Gamaliel,
you remember his teacher. Sitting at the one who was the
most notable instructor. Everything he learned in Phariseeism,
in Judaism, he was taught of man. And it was all contrary
to the Gospel. There's so much he had to unlearn. O Saul of Tarsus, my case was
a whole lot like his. Everything I learned prior to
my conversion and prior to hearing the truth of God, I had to unlearn
it. Because everything I taught,
I was taught by a man and it was all wrong. Now some of you
know my story. I grew up in the Rocky Mountains.
I grew up in northern Utah. My mama was a Mormon. My daddy
was a Mormon. I was raised in Mormonism. I
cut my teeth on works religion and tell God by His grace, remove
me from that place and put me under the gospel. I met my wife
in 1971 in Columbus, Ohio. And you know where she was born?
She was born in Ashland, Kentucky. Well, why is that significant?
Well, there was a preacher in Ashland, Kentucky named one Henry
Mahan who preached the gospel there faithfully for over 50
years. Well, I met that woman, fell in love, my dear wife, and
eventually we moved back. She moved back and I moved with
her to Ashland, Kentucky. And as God would have it in His
good providence, He crossed my path with the gospel. I had so
much to unlearn. Because everything I learned
from my earthly father and all those teachers that I'd been
sitting under all those years, everything I learned was completely
wrong. And I had to unlearn all that.
God had revealed the gospel in me in here. And that's what He
does to us. That's what He does. He declares
that He received it and was taught it by the sovereign revelation
of Christ. 15 and 16, but when it pleased
God, who separated me from my mother's womb, call me by His
grace to reveal His Son in me. God who hath begun a good work
in you. You see, salvation is a heart
work. Salvation is what God does not
only for us, He did a work of justification for us at Calvary
Street, justifying us by His blood as God made Him to be sin
for us as our substitute. But there is that work of grace
that has to go on in us. And that's all of grace as well. Grace and grace alone to reveal
His Son in me that I might preach Him among the heathen And immediately,
he said, I didn't have to ask somebody what was going on. I didn't confer with flesh and
blood. Closing statement, the gospel of God's free grace in
Christ is the only hope that sinful, corrupt men have. For
if righteousness comes by my obedience to the law, or any
deed, at any point, at all, in any measure, not only did Christ
die in vain, But no son of Adam, no son of Adam has any hope of
salvation. If it's all left up to me, then
there's no hope for this sinner. Because I know, I don't know
a whole lot, but I know this. God is holy and I'm a sinner. And the only way of reconciliation
is through the Lord Jesus Christ and in Him. and in Him. And that's what he's saying there.
I wasn't taught it. I didn't receive it from a man.
I wasn't taught it from a man, but by the revelation of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Thank God that His salvation
is all of free grace. All of free grace in Christ Jesus. And that's what this ministry
is about here. We're not interested in the glory of men. We're interested
in the glory of God. Preaching the truth of God and
salvation in Christ. He has redeemed us from the curse
of the law, being made a curse for us.