In Galatians chapter 1, the Apostle Paul was used mightily
of God in preaching in the country of
Galatia, and several churches were called out, God called out
a people for his name. was now in Rome in prison, and
two serious problems, two very serious problems arose in some
of the churches in Galatia. One of those problems, certain
false teachers and preachers had crept in among the people
and seduced them. deceived them, led them away
from the pure gospel of God's free grace in Christ, and persuaded
them that in order to be saved they had to keep the Levitical
law and the Mosaic requirements. And certain men which came down
from Jerusalem talked to brethren and said to them, except you
be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. They taught that Christ died
on the cross and shed his blood to save, but his blood was not
all that was needed. People who believed on Christ
also had to be circumcised, keep the Sabbath day, pay their abstain
from certain meats and drinks and observe the holy days. Look
at chapter 4 of Galatians, verse 9. This is what Paul said to
them later on in the epistle. But now, after you've known God,
or rather are known of God, we love him because he loved
us, we know him because he foreknew us. How turn ye again to the
weak and beggarly elements, the rudiments, the ceremonies, the
sacrifices, these days? Whereunto ye desire again to
be in bondage? Ye want to be back unto the law?
Don't ye hear the law? Ye observe days, and months,
and times, and years. Have I bestowed upon you labor
and vain? Then over in the book of Colossians,
where I'll be preaching tonight, listen to what Paul said to that
church in Colossians 2, verse 16. Let no man therefore judge
you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of a holy day. of
the new moon or of Sabbath days, these are shadow things to come.
The body is of Christ. Let no man beguile you of your
reward, of your glory, of your place in glory, in a voluntary
humility, worshiping angels, intruding into those things which
he hath not seen, vainly puffed up by his fleshly mind, and not
holding the head." Who is the head? from which all the body, by joints
and bands, having nourishment." Our nourishment life is from
Christ ahead, not these outward deeds and duties. In other words,
Christ plus anything is error. Christ is our Savior. Add anything,
it's perverted gospel. Now second, serious error. that sprang up, and this is the
way Paul begins this chapter. The second serious error that
arose in these churches at Galatia is they said Paul was not really
an apostle. That Paul was not really an apostle.
Peter is an apostle. James and John are apostles.
They were with Christ when he was here on the earth. They were
his twelve apostles. Paul wasn't with him while he
was here on the earth. Paul was a renegade. Paul was
a legalistic Pharisee. Paul persecuted the disciples
and the church. He's not an apostle. Therefore,
Paul's doctrine is not to be accepted. And Paul's teachings
are false. And Paul is not to be taken seriously
because he is not an apostle. Now brethren, this is a serious
error. Because Paul, God used Paul to
write 14 of the 21 epistles in the New Testament. If Paul is not an apostle, we
have problems. And this church had serious problems,
because God used Paul as a voice of authority, as an inspired
apostle of Christ. Now, and these men, this is what
they based this upon. had to have seen Christ. An apostle
had to have been taught the gospel by Christ himself. Paul said,
I saw the Lord as one born out of due time. I saw him on the
road to Damascus, and I was taught this gospel by Christ because
when God, look at verse 15, when he pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal
his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen immediately. I couldn't have heard naught
but flesh and blood. Neither went I up to Jerusalem. I didn't
go to Peter, James, and John and say, hey, what did he teach
you? I went into Arabia. There I was taught of God. And
I didn't see any of the apostles until three years later. He didn't
stay in Arabia three years. It didn't take God that long
to teach him the gospel. But he says, I went into Arabia,
then I came back after that experience in Arabia where God taught me
the gospel, I came back to Damascus. And then after three years, I
went up and conferred with Peter and James and John and some of
the rest of them over this matter of circumcision right here, and
works for salvation. So let's look at verse 1. Paul says this, he says, Paul,
an apostle, not of men, Not of myself or any other man, neither
by man, but an apostle by Jesus Christ and God the Father who
raised him from the dead. I didn't receive this office
from men. I didn't receive this stewardship
from men. I received it from our Lord Jesus
Christ. If you'll turn with me to Acts
22. Acts 22, verse 11 through 15. message to Paul which God sent
by Ananias. Actually, Paul took the place
of Judas. Judas was a son of perdition
from the beginning. Judas was the one who betrayed
the Lord. And the disciples took it on themselves to add a twelfth
apostle. The Lord never commanded them
to do that. After our Lord was crucified, buried, rose again,
ascended back to heaven, they got together and cast lots. That's
not the way God chooses apostles or preachers or pastors, by somebody
casting lots, by putting a hat out in the middle and saying,
everybody write a name on a piece of paper and throw it in the
hat. And that's what they did, and they chose Matthias. And
you never hear of Matthias ever again. You hear of all the apostles,
but never of this man that the leaven chose to take Judas' place. But God chose Paul. And here
is the scripture, Acts 22. And one Ananias, a devout man
according to the law, having a good report of all the Jews
which dwelt there, he came to me, and he said to me, Brother
Saul, receive thy sight. And the same hour I looked up
upon him, and he said, The God of our fathers hath chosen thee.
Men didn't choose you. The eleven apostles didn't cast
lots and pick you out. The God of your fathers chose
you. That you should know his will,
the will of redemption. And you should see the just one,
Christ. Who is the just one? You see
that capital J, capital O? He died the just one for the
unjust. He said, I'm a just God and a
Savior. That you should see Christ. see Christ, the just one, and
listen and hear the voice of his mouth. You are going to see him, God
chose you, and you are going to see him, the just one, and
you are going to hear him from his own mouth, the gospel. For thou shalt be his witness
unto all men of what you have seen, you have seen the Lord. And what you've heard, you've
heard his voice. When Paul tells us that there,
I read to you a moment ago, he said in verse 17, when God called
me by his grace, I didn't confer with flesh and blood, verse 16.
I didn't go to Jerusalem to them who were apostles before me.
I went into Arabia. I don't know what significance
it has, but Sinai is in Arabia. Paul was brought up under the
law and devoted to the law. There God took him into Arabia
and taught him the gospel. The gospel revealed in all of
the types of the law, and the pictures of the law, and the
patterns of the law, and taught him the gospel of Christ. Taught him the gospel. Let's
go back to verse 1 and 2. An apostle. And he puts this
in there in parenthesis. An apostle, not a man. Not by
man. But by Jesus Christ, in God the
Father, raised him from the dead. And all the brethren which are
with me unto the churches of Galatia." The greeting here shows
the unity. Paul was an apostle, but he wasn't
an arrogant man. He wasn't a proud man. He says,
I'm writing to you, but the greeting is coming not just from me, but
all the brethren who are with me. Titus, Timothy, Luke. all the men who are with me."
This greeting and salutation of grace and peace from the Lord
is not just from Paul, but from all the brethren. This is the
brotherhood of Christ, the family of Christ. A man may speak, but
he speaks for all of us. A man may greet a believer, but
he greets in the name of Christ for all the believers. That's
what John said. They said, who are you? He said,
I'm nobody, I'm just a voice. This is the voice of all God's
people. And notice this, he writes to the churches. The church is not national. It's
been made that way in many countries, but the church is not national.
The Roman church, the Jewish church, the Protestant church,
that's not scriptural. The church is not national, the
church is not organizational. The churches are autonomous. The churches of the Lord Jesus
Christ are like families. Families have friends and families
do things together, but the family is autonomous. There's the husband
and the wife and the children. That's a family. That's a family. It functions independently from
the control of other families. The husbands, the head of the
home, the wife and the children function independently, not under
control of any other organization or any other family. And the churches are autonomous. God's churches, he writes to
the churches of Galatia, they are autonomous. They function
independently, without control from any other church or denomination
or organization. This pulpit is an independent
pulpit. I had a friend visit here one
time, and he came to the Wednesday night service. He'd never been
in a Sovereign Grace Church before. And he came here and heard me
preach, and we went home. He was spending the night with
me, and we went home. He said, how do you get away with saying
what you say? I said, what do you mean? He said, well, the
Baptist lets you say those things, you know, without reservation.
I said, listen, when you find one of God's churches, Christ
is the head of that church. That church is a family, that
church is autonomous, that church is independent from the control
or the influence or the power of any other organization on
this earth, government or anything else. This is God's pulpit. These
are God's people. This is God's preacher. It's
a family. And so Paul, you see, the greeting
is there. He said, Paul, an apostle, authority,
voice of authority. And all the brethren who are
with me. And we send grace and peace and salutation and greetings
to the churches. To the churches. And here is
the greeting. Grace be unto you and peace from God the Father and from
our Lord Jesus Christ. And then immediately Paul defines
his gospel. Verse 4. Here is his gospel.
Our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins. I want
you to turn to a few scriptures now, who gave himself for our
sins that he might deliver us from this present evil world
according to the will of God and our Father. Gave himself.
Let's go first of all to Ephesians 5. Ephesians 5, verse 25. Ephesians 5, verse 25, "...he
gave himself." Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also
loved the Church, and gave himself for it. He gave himself that
he might sanctify it and cleanse it with the washing of water,
with the word that he might present it to himself. A glorious Church,
not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but it should
be holy and without blemish. How is this church redeemed? How is this church cleansed,
sanctified, and presented? By himself. To himself. Nothing anyone else does makes
any contribution to it. The royal bath in which black
souls are washed white was drawn from the veins of the Son of
God, and no blood of noble martyrs has entered that glorious stream,
it flows from Calvary's cross. It's the blood of Jesus Christ
that cleanses us from all sin. The banquet of mercy is prepared
and served by one host, the Lord of glory. Turn with me to Hebrews
1, Hebrews chapter 1. Himself, he gave himself. He
gave himself. for our sins. Verse 1, God, who
at sundry times and in divers manners spake in times past unto
the fathers of the prophets, hath in these last days spoken
to us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things,
by whom also he made the world, who being the brightness of his
glory, the express image, the exact image of his person, who
upholdeth all things by the word of his power," who are we talking
about here? Now, what's this? When he had,
by himself, by himself and us too, no, by
himself and the fathers, no, by himself, by the sacrifice
of himself, by himself without the aid of any creature, by himself,
purged our sins. He sat down at the right hand
of the Majesty in glory. himself. Turn with me to Titus
chapter 2. Titus chapter 2, listen to this
thoughtful here. Titus 2 verse 13 and 14. Verse 13 says we are looking
for that blessed hope, the glorious appearing of the great God and
our Savior, our only Savior, our one Savior, Jesus Christ.
who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity
and purify by himself, unto himself, a peculiar people, salves of
good works." And one more, Hebrews 9. This is Paul's gospel. This is
our gospel. who gave himself for our sin. Hebrews 9, verse 26. For then must he often have suffered
since the foundation of the world. But now, here's what I want you
to see. Now, once, one time, in the end of this world, hath
he appeared to put away sin, to put it away
to separate it from us as far as the east, just from the west,
to put it away to be remembered no more, to put it away in the
depths of the sea, to put it away behind the back of God,
to put it away once for all. How? By the sacrifice of himself. Now brethren, if there is anything
clear, if words mean anything, our gospel of redemption It's
not Christ plus baptism, or Christ plus circumcision, or Christ
plus deeds and duties, or Christ plus the law, or Christ plus
church membership. It's Christ, who by himself gave himself for our sins. Look
at the next line, that he might deliver us. Deliver us from the
present evil world. He translated us from the kingdom
of darkness into the kingdom of the sun. He delivered us from
the power of Satan. He delivered us from the curse
of the law being made a curse for us. He delivered us from
condemnation, there is therefore now no condemnation to them who
are in Christ. He delivered us, there is therefore
no judgment to them who are in Christ. Look at the text again,
Galatians 1 verse 4. He gave himself that he might
deliver us from this present evil world. What was the basis,
the first cause of all this, of him giving himself, of him
delivering us, of him putting away sin? Not according to our
will, according to the will of God. According to the will of God
our Father. Turn with me to John chapter 1. Let's just run a reference
or two on this will of God, who gave himself for our sins,
that he might deliver us from this present evil world, all
of this according to the will of God our Father." John 1, verse
10. Christ was in this world and
the world was made by him, but the world knew him not. He came
unto his own, his own received him not. That's the Jewish people,
the Gentiles, the world, his own, the Jewish religious people. As many as received him, believed
him, to them gave he the right, the privilege to become the sons
of God, even to them that believe on his name, which were born,
not of blood, natural genealogy, family inheritance, not of the
will of the flesh, not of the will of man. But according to
the will of God, that's how we are born. He gave himself for
our sins. that he might deliver us from
this well of darkness and death into the kingdom of his Son according
to the will of the Father. Turn to John 6. Let's look at
a few references now. This thing of salvation begins
with God. It begins with God. John 6, listen
to this. Verse 37, All that my Father
giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me out
of nowhere is cast out. I came down from heaven not to
do my own will, I came to do the will of him that sent me.
And this is the Father's will, according to the will of the
Father, which hath sent me, that of all which he hath given me
I lose nothing, but raise it up at the last day." And one more scripture, Hebrews
10, this one has to be read here, Hebrews 10, one more, Hebrews
chapter 10. Verse, let's look at verse 7.
Then said I, this is the Savior, this is our Messiah speaking.
Then said I, lo, I come, and the volume of the book is written
of me. This book I hold in my hand, and the book in Romans,
Revelation 5, that God held in his hand, in the volume of the
book. the book written within and without,
the book no man could look upon or open, the book of God's decrees
and covenants and purposes. In the volume of the book it's
written of me. I come, listen, I come to do thy will, O God. Above, when he said sacrifice
and offerings and burnt offerings and offerings for sin in the
Old Testament, tabernacles and temples, Neither hast thou pleasure
therein which are offered by the law. Then said I, Lo, I come
to do thy will, O God." He takes away the first, the Levitical
law, the Mosaic ceremonies and sacrifices, the holy days, the
feast days, the patterns, and establishes a second, faith in
Christ, grace in Christ. By the which will? Not by my
will or your will, but by the will. of which our Lord spoke
when he said, I come to do thy will. By which will? We are sanctified,
we are redeemed, we are forgiven, we are saved by his will through
the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all. Now these priests back yonder
stand daily ministering, offering all the time the same that Moses
commanded, the ceremonies, the sacrifices, the circumcision,
the holy days, which could never take away sin. But this man,
Jesus Christ, when he offered one sacrifice forever for sin,
sat down on the right hand of God, by the which will we are
sanctified, according to the will of God. Look at my text. I'm coming into something here.
I want you to listen very carefully. Less poor power defines his gospel. Grace from God the Father and
our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he
might deliver us from this present evil world. This was the will
of God the Father. To whom be glory. All the glory
is his. I've often said, if you want
to know if a man is preaching the gospel, ask this question
in his messages. Who gets the glory? Who gets the glory? Are people
of a church worshiping God, ask this question, who gets the glory? Is the man singing, is he singing
for the truth, the gospel? Who gets the glory? When a man
testifies about how God saved him or how he got saved, who
gets the glory? See, whatever we do in word or
deed is for the glory of God. To whom be glory forever and
ever. So be it. Amen. He gets all the
glory. And he will not share his glory.
Now, listen to Paul. Here we come to that second problem.
Paul said, I marvel. I'm astonished. I am amazed that
you are so soon. This is not many years after
our Lord died. This is not many years, Peter,
James and John, the apostles, are all still alive. This was
in their lifetime that these people went back to the ceremonies
and back to the feast days and the Sabbath days and the tithes
and all these things. Requirements added to the blood
of Christ. Paul says, I'm amazed. I marvel
that any man would turn from Christ to Moses. Over here in Hebrews, Paul wrote
concerning Moses. He said in Hebrews chapter 3,
he said, verse 2, "...Moses was faithful to him who appointed
him." Moses was faithful in all his house. But this man is counted
worthy of more glory than Moses. Inasmuch as he had built the
house, has more honor than the house. Moses was faithful in
his house, but God built the house, Christ built the house.
Why would a man turn from Christ to Moses? I'm amazed, he said. I marvel that a person would
turn from Christ's righteousness to his own righteousness. Why in the world would I turn
from the... Our Lord Jesus Christ came into this world in the flesh,
a man, born of a woman, made under the law, he walked This
earth tempted, tested, tried in all points as we are, yet
without sin. Perfect. He loved God with all
his heart, mind, soul, and strength. Loved his neighbors and himself.
Did no sin, knew no sin, had no sin. Now that righteousness
is ours by faith. That holiness is ours by faith. Why would I turn from that? That
righteousness, imputed, charged, reckoned to me by Christ's obedience.
to putting my 10% in here for Sunday, keeping a day, making
Sunday a Sabbath day, not doing certain things, not walking so
far, not eating too much a day, leaving off pork or ham, or dressing
in the garbs of religion and making all, why would I leave
His perfect holiness to this stuff? He said, are you so foolish?
Hadn't it begun in the Spirit you were made perfect by the
law? He said, I marvel, I am absolutely
stunned. I'm amazed that these fellows
can even reach you people that have seen Christ and have seen
yourselves and have seen his holiness and seen your lack of
it and seen his light and your darkness and seen his ability
and your inability. In the name of heaven, would
you turn from Christ to Moses? Would you go from the freedom
of grace to the bondage of the Lord? Why would you do that?
Why could anybody come here or anywhere else and sucker you
into keeping a holy day and think God considers you more spiritual
than somebody else? I'm amazed, he said, I'm amazed
you would turn from the blood of cleansing to a bloodless ceremony. Why would you go from Abel to
King? Why? But verse 7, I marvel, don't
you know he was amazed, sitting up there in jail, and they came
up there and told him, some fellas had come in there and said, you're
not an apostle. Some fellas had come into the churches of Galatians
and said, it's alright to believe in Jesus Christ, but you've got
to be a Jew, you've got to You've got to keep the Sabbath, you've
got to pay the tithe, and you've got to keep the holy days and
feast days, you've got to abstain from certain meats. He said,
now come on, are you telling me the truth? I'm amazed. I'm
amazed. You mean they've gone from Christ
back to Moses? They've gone from his righteousness
to their own? They've gone from the blood of cleansing to a bloodless
ceremony? Another gospel? Verse 7, this
is not another gospel. This is not another gospel. I
tell you what it is, if some would trouble you and pervert
the gospel of Christ. This is not another gospel. What
does the word gospel mean? Think a minute now, I know you
know. Gospel, gospel. It means good news, right? That's
gospel. Well, this is not good news.
that I have to keep the law in order to add to the blood of
Christ. That's not good news, that's bad news. The good news
is this. Behold, we bring you good tidings
of great joy which shall be to all the people under you as born
in this day in the city of David, our Savior Christ the Lord. That's good news. This is good
news. Of God are you in Christ Jesus. who have made unto us righteousness,
wisdom, sanctification and redemption, and all you need. That's good
news. Do and live is not good news. Jesus paid it all, all
the debt I owe, sin, leprosy, crimson stain, he washed it white
as snow. That's good news. So Paul said this is not another
gospel. This is a perversion, a twisting. of the gospel of Christ. Christ
plus anything is not gospel. And here's the
seriousness of it. Let's look at this. And I love
the way God leads Paul to write. He says, though we are an angel
from heaven. He didn't say, though an angel
from heaven preach any other gospel. He says, if old Paul
comes along preaching any other gospel, let him be accursed. This man is a man of humility.
This is a man of deep humility. He said, I'm less than the least
of all the saints. I'm not worthy to be called an
apostle. I'm the chief of sinners. And I'm not charging just others. I'm charging myself or anybody,
though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel than that which we've preached
unto you, let him be anathema. Let him be excommunicated, let
him be accursed, let him be separated from God Almighty. And he carried this confidence in
the gospel of Christ to some serious conflicts. Look over
here at chapter 2, just a moment. Chapter 2, verse 11. And I'll tell you briefly the
story of this. Down here in Antioch, Gentiles
and Jews had been saved, brought to Christ. They were all eating
together and fellowshipping together, circumcised and uncircumcised,
and the Jews and the Gentiles and publicans and sinners, people
had all been saved. And Peter came down, he was enjoying
the fellowship. But listen to what Paul said.
But when Peter was come to Antioch, I wish stood him to the face,
because he was to be blamed. Paul is entering a conflict with
the Apostle Peter. Before that certain came from
James, from Jerusalem, James was pastor of Jerusalem, Peter
did eat with the Gentiles. But when these fellows came down
from Jerusalem, these Jews, Peter withdrew himself from those Gentiles,
separated himself, fearing these people of the circumcision. In
other words, he was sitting at the table enjoying fellowship
with his Gentiles in Christ, Christ alone. They hadn't been
circumcised, they weren't keeping the Sabbath day, Saturday and
all this. But when these fellows came down
from Jerusalem, Peter saw them and he got worried. He got up
and left the table. And other Jews saw him do that,
and you know how important Peter was. And they followed him in
so much that Barnabas! Boy, human nature is strange,
isn't it? It's so strong even after we're
converted. These men preached that Christ
is our righteousness, Christ is our circumcision, Christ is
our Sabbath day, Christ is our rest, Christ is our holiness,
Christ is everything. And then when it came down to
it, and these Gentiles were included in the fellowship, they wanted to put a little stock
in their Jewish heritage. And they got up, and even Barnabas
was carried away with this dissimulation. And when I saw that they, even
the apostles of Christ, Walk not uprightly according to the
truth of the gospel." What is this truth of the gospel? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. No matter
how many times it's in the Old Testament, no matter how many
people did it back then, no matter how much significance put on
it, no matter how much feeling you have doing it, it is not
to be added to Christ. Christ is our righteousness. I said it to Peter before everybody
there, if you being a Jew, live after the manner of a Gentile.
If you are saved by the blood of Christ alone and not by your
circumcision or your works or your duties or laws or anything
else, and you live after the manner of a Gentile, you don't
live as a Jew anymore, you don't follow these, you don't keep
Saturday anymore, Peter, you don't do these things anymore,
why are you laying this burden on these Gentiles? Boy, that's how strongly Paul
believes. He is ready He's ready to whip
up on Peter. He's ready to give him a good
dose of sovereign grace truth before everybody there, because
he was to be blamed. And though we, or Apostle Peter,
or the Apostle Paul, or an angel from heaven, preach any other
gospel, let him be accursed. That's serious. And Paul whacked
it in the head, didn't he? I'll say it again, he said, verse
9. I'll say it again, if any man comes along and says Christ
is our Savior, but Christ is our Savior and Christ is our
Savior, you must do. Christ is our only Savior. The
thief on the cross. Did he go to heaven? Christ said
he did. Was he saved? Christ said he was. What did
he do? He didn't wash, he was never
baptized, he was never circumcised, he never kept a day, he never
preached a sermon, he never won a soul, he never walked the step
for Jesus Christ, he died believing in the Son of God. And I'm saved
the same way. Anything that we do or say or
give or act, it's because God saved us, not in order to find
favor with God. Now, how do I know this? How does Paul know this so strongly?
Let me give you four things and I'll let you go. This is how
I know that a person is not justified by works. Look at verse 16, chapter
2. We know that a man is not justified
by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ.
Even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified
by the faith of Christ, not by the works of the law. For the
works of the law shall no flesh be justified. Here are four reasons
why I know salvation is by Christ alone, the grace. I know it because
The law requires perfection, and there's nobody here who can
meet the requirements. Secondly, I know it from the
gospel which clearly states we're complete in him. That's the message. I know it from personal experience.
In my flesh, blood is no good thing. I know it forcefully from
the nature of Christ's work. He said, the Spirit of God is
upon me. He hath anointed me to preach
the gospel of the poor. to give sight to the blind, to
heal the brokenhearted, and to set the captive free. He said,
God gave me that to do, not you. And when he finished it, what
did he say? He said, it's finished. Verse 10, do I persuade men or
God? Do I seek to please men or God? If I please men, I'm not deserving
of Christ. Well, I'll tell you this, the
gospel will please men who are saved, if we believe. Everybody in here, everybody
in here who knows Christ, that message pleased you. You said,
that's the way God saved me. But the natural man can never
be pleased with that which glorifies God. Because it's foolishness
to Him. So when we please God, we'll
please God's people. When we please natural men, we
can't please God. Our Father, bless the Word, Christ
our hope, Christ our life, Christ our wisdom, Christ our righteousness,
Christ, when Christ who is our life shall appear, then shall
we appear with him in glory, rejoicing and singing unto him
who loved us and washed us from our sins in his own precious
blood. To him be the glory and the praise, now and forever.
Amen.