I remember those who requested
prayer. The Lord saw fit to take His
servant, Sam Vance, home to glory on Thursday. I can't tell you
how much I'll miss him. He's a tremendous fellow, good
preacher. I'm thankful for the Lord. I remember Wanda and Mike and
family and their prayers. Championsville, is that what
it is? Something like that. Championsville? Yeah, Championsville. Championsville, West Virginia,
on the third down, next to Winfield, 12 o'clock. So I remember the
families, they traveled to West Virginia, and buried their loved
one. Also, Sylvester Crowe was in
the hospital with pneumonia. Right now, it doesn't sound horribly
bad, but it's always bad when you're 80-some years old. But
they got him on antibiotics, and he ate good this morning,
slept good last night. So we're thankful for that, keeping
people in the red. She was off on measles this morning. She's coming down with something.
So remember them, your prayers, and the others who requested
prayer. Peggy's granddaughter, Martine
Hudson, had a serious stroke. She's only 32, is that right?
13 years old. She was as struck as me. Didn't
your daughter have a stroke? What? Did your daughter have
a stroke once upon a time? She has a rare disease. Oh, I
knew she had something. She now has to use a wheelchair
to walk. Oh, really? That's not hard.
The disease attacks a muscle and deteriorates it over a period. And all they can do is you know,
shots or medicine to slow it down. But she has a wheelchair
now, she can't walk. Bless her heart. So remember
her in your prayers also. Seek the Lord's help for them. I haven't had any word on Clare's
hearing as to whether or not the diagnosis is cancer or whatever
it is, but as soon as I find out, I'll let you know. Alita's
mom. Oh, Alita's mom, I'm sorry. Inaz
is deteriorating with age. She's not eating very well, and
this is a difficult time for them. So remember Lita, she mentioned
to them, and Holly also. Remember Inaz, pray for her. It's a tough week. Tough week, so. I don't usually,
I'm not a depressed type person. I don't get the blues very often.
But I've been kind of blue this week. I'm worried about our folks,
and Sam, his family. So remember me in your prayers
also. Let's begin our worship service
with hymn number 236, Amazing Grace, How Sweet the Sound. Amazing grace, how sweet the
sound. I've slain a wretch like me,
I'm on my way I am full of life, Lord, now
I see What grace hath taught my heart to fear And grace hath
healed me How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed Through many dangers, toils, and snares Away we come His grace hath brought
us safe thus far And grace will lead me home We'll be imagined
thousands of years Bright shining as the sun we first we Also, remember Ed, he lost his best friend for the last four
years when Sam passed away. I mean, they called each other
two or three times a day. Sam was the first to tell Ed
about the gospel. He gave him the Bible that he's
still carrying in his hand. It's a wondrous thing in these
days to be thankful that you have a brother and a sister in
Christ that you can sit down and talk to about the things
of God. There's nothing sweeter, nothing more important, nothing
more eternal than those things. after Scripture reading and prayer
listening in number 6. If you have your Bibles, turn
to Galatians, Paul's letter to Galatians, chapter 1. Lord, that ye are so soon removed
from him that called you unto the grace of Christ unto another
gospel, which is not another, but there be some that trouble
you and would pervert 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 approved. As we said
before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel
unto you than that which ye have received, let him be accursed. Let us pray. Our Father. We are thankful for the shed
blood of Jesus Christ that put away our sins by the sacrifice
of Himself. We are thankful that He purged
our sins and when He had done so, He sat down at the right
hand of the Father who ever lived to make intercession for us. We are thankful that He prays
for us and not for the world. has only the best for us. Controls
and manipulates and moves this universe for our good and for
His own good. Father, we pray for those families
who have lost loved ones, remember. Him and Wanda, a father, 60 years
is a long time to be with someone and then lose them. We know the
struggle will be great. We pray you'll be a comfort to
her and her family. Pray for with him and bring him back to
a good measure of health. Pray for our brother Sylvester
as he's in the hospital today. Be with him and bring him back
to a good measure of health. He was a relative. Stan is due
as an institute. Father, we pray this hour that
you might be pleased to give us grace to worship you. We know
that the trials and tribulations are a child of God's lot in this
life. As one brother said, we're either
going into a trial or we're in a trial or we're coming out of
a trial. That's the life of a child of
God. We pray also for Anna Inez. We pray that you'd be merciful
to her and gracious to her. And we know that as we all grow
older, the body becomes infirmed and we are weaker each day. We
ask Lord you'll strengthen her family She would be with her
as she ministers to her mom. Father, help us this hour to
worship you in spirit and truth. Uplift our Lord Jesus Christ
in our midst that we might see him and glorify him and honor
him for all he's done for us. Help us now with praying Christ's
name. Amen. Come, Thou Almighty King, Help us by name
to sing, Help us to praise. Father of glorious, Lord of victorious,
Come and reign over us, Come and thy people bless, and
give thy word success. Hearing the holiness on our streets
say. The glory of the Lord! Thy sacred name is there, in
this glad hour! Thou who almighty art, Thou who
in every heart, Tendeth for us the ones we will love! His sovereign majesty, may we
in glory sing, Hail to the eternity of our God. Father, give me approach in the
name of Jesus Christ, that magnificent and glorious name, that name
to which every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that
he is Lord and the glory of the Father. and and and so so I love you. back to Galatians chapter one
the epistle to the church of Galatia was written by Paul to
confront those in the churches of Galatia that had begun to
listen to those who added another righteousness to that of the
Lord Jesus Christ. Now he had preached the pure
gospel to them that Jesus Christ is our righteousness, our redemption,
our sanctification and our wisdom. He did that in the first epistle
that he wrote in 1 Corinthians chapter 1 in verse 30. These people believed or were
beginning to listen to folks who were preaching that you are
righteous by keeping the law. Paul defines the gospel here
in a very unique way in verse 6. I marvel that ye are so soon
removed from him that called you unto the grace of Christ
unto another gospel." So the gospel is a hymn, is a hymn. He declares that the gospel is
Jesus Christ or rather God in Christ through grace is the gospel.
And asserting that Christ is the gospel, Paul, who is inspired
by the Spirit of God, narrows the field of revelation. And
when I speak of revelation, I'm not just talking about the book,
I'm talking about Genesis to the book of Revelation. He narrows
the scope and the field of revelation to the person and the work of
the Lord Jesus Christ. And I use terms like person,
You can't talk about one without talking about the other. You
can't mention the person of Christ without speaking of His work
because there is no mention of Him and nor would there need
to be a mention of Him had He not done the work that He came
to do. His name is Jesus. I shall call His name Jesus,
which means Savior, Joshua, Savior. His name was Jesus, Savior. So
his name means he's saving somebody. He is the Christ. That means
he was anointed or appointed by God for the task of saving
his people. And he's the Lord, which assures
that once he sets his hand to anything, it will take place. And this book is about him. One
may preach the gospel only parameters of the person and
the work of the Lord Jesus Christ. You may preach a whole lot of
stuff from the Bible and not preach the gospel, but you can't
truly preach the Word of God and tell people the truth about
God and not preach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Paul
speaking to a church who had all kinds of trouble with all
kinds of things in his He said, I determine, looking at all the
stuff that's going on, the schisms and the divisions that are going
on in the church, well, I'm going to talk about this schism and
that schism. No, I determine to know nothing among you save
Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Woe is unto me, he said, if I
preach not the gospel. To venture outside the established
strictures inspired by God to any degree is to preach would be accursed. And what that
means, they would spend eternity separated from God in a place
where the worm dies not and the fire is not quenched, in eternal
darkness where there is yet fire and heat. Any or all who would
dare to introduce anything, anything that belongs to man into the
pure truth of the gospel is condemned to eternal punishment without
recourse. You can't add anything to it.
It's complete in itself. And Paul says, I marvel, in verse
6, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from the gospel, or from
him that called you unto the grace of Jesus Christ unto another
gospel. Paul marvels, he's astounded,
not only that the churches of Galatia are removed from the
gospel, but it appears that he also marvels that they were removed
from the gospel shortly after their conversion. So soon. It
might mean that he expects sooner or later some of us are going
to be removed for a while and have to be called back in. Because
when you deal with human beings, you're dealing with nature. You're
dealing with, even though a person is spiritual, he's still plagued
with his carnal nature that resides in his bosom. So you can very
well expect you ain't going to find a really good Christian
in this world. If you find one, he's probably
a self-righteous Pharisee. But you need to read Romans chapter
7. You probably need to read it every day. Every day. And be reminded of
this fact that when I would do good, evil is present with me. My nature is in constant war
and battle with my spirit so that I can't do what I would.
So soon removed, he said. Now he's preached the gospel
to them. They've received the gospel. I don't think Paul has
suggested it would be more probable that one might be removed after
a long period of belief, but that could be the meaning here.
Though time and tide can often do bring believers to a state
of apathy, we know that. Woe unto you that are at ease
in Zion, to lay on your beds and drink your wine, and never
consider the judgment day, Amos said in Amos chapter 6. The source
of Paul's astonishment concerning the hasty removal of the Galatians
to another gospel could be due to the fact that the first love
is so powerful that to be quickly seduced seems highly unlikely. It was their first love. These
were not Jews who had the law and the ceremony and the oracles
and the priesthood and the sacrifices and all that had the word of
God. These weren't Jews. These were pagans in Galatia. Had a lot of Greek influence
and philosophy. And when they heard the truth
of the gospel, they just rejoiced. They were so happy and so peaceful.
And he said, I'm just amazed that you allow this stuff to
come in. But this stuff is what we're
born with and what we believe by nature. And that is the law
of God. I've said many times I'm a legalist
in recovery. I'm not recovered yet. There's
still a lot of it in me. Whatever is meant by the were quick to pounce on their
prey. The Judaizers who came in to
spy on their liberty, as he says in chapter 2. These were quick
to pounce. Why? Because he was preaching
that the law was utterly fulfilled and kept by Jesus Christ and
the believers not under the rule of law at all. And for one who
lives by the law and lives to preach the law and lives to govern
and control people's lives, that's a methyl mind. We have to do
something about that. The legalists, the Judaizers,
move with lightning speed to do their evil deed. Nothing motivates
the immediate response of the false teachers more than someone
who believes the truth that is in Jesus Christ. If you don't
believe so, think of your own family history. Many of us have
been through it. The minute you start to believe
the truth, your family gets awfully angry. They might not have spoken
to you about Jesus Christ for 25 years. Boy, you get a hold
of the truth, and they're going to talk to you. They're going
to do something about it. That's what the Jews were doing.
I mean, call the false teaching of the enemies of the truth another
gospel. Paul is quick to assert that what the legalists are preaching
is not actually the gospel at all, because there's no good
news in it. He says that in verse 7, which is not another, but
there be some that trouble you who pervert or poison the gospel
of the Lord Jesus Christ. Why is it not another gospel?
Because the gospel means good news. The gospel means good tidings
and glad tidings of good things. The gospel is good news, but
there's no good news in the law. Because in the law there is no
mercy. And there is no grace. The law says do this and live. And if you don't do this, you're
gonna die. And the law says to offend me
in one point, you're gonna be guilty of every law that's ever
been written. That's what the law, ain't no
good news in that. No good news whatsoever. Anything
added to the righteousness of Christ, Anything added to the
righteousness of Christ for acceptance with God is bad news if you have
any spiritual understanding whatsoever. It destroys the doctrine of grace
and removes the possibility of assurance. Peace with God is
changed from the accomplishment of Christ to the precarious efforts
of man. And since man in his best state
is, according to Scripture, all together, from the top of his
head to the bottom of his feet, altogether vanity, the best effort
that a man can make to establish righteousness is completely vain. Completely empty. It is therefore not another gospel
but an effort of vain religionists to pervert the gospel of Jesus
Christ. That other teaching that is not
the gospel is evil things at every turn. There's nothing good
in it, or about it, and there can never be. It is the product
of men, the product of men, designed for the palate and glory of men,
and results in the diminishing of the truth of the Word of God.
The other teaching is evil personified. The evil personified. I use the
word personified because of the manner in which Paul defines
the gospel. in contrast to this other thing which is not the
gospel. Having established that the gospel
is a person, he also establishes that the un-gospel has to do
with a person also. It always does. The context asserts
that the Galatians are removed from him who called them to some
that trouble them. So he's talking about people.
He's talking about the Lord Jesus Christ and somebody else in this
other gospel. Just as Paul does not address
the gospel as a doctrine, but rather a person, he does not
address the un-gospel as doctrine, but as a person. This does not
diminish the doctrine of the gospel. We are to pursue and
to seek sound doctrine at all times, but rather declares that
the doctrine may never be separated from whoever declares it. Jesus
Christ declared the gospel. He can't separate the gospel
from him. He is the gospel. But there are men who declare
the un-gospel. These Judaizers, they declare the un-gospel. There's
no teaching without a teacher. Now those who come to God come
to Christ because they are taught of God according to John chapter
6 and verse 45. All who the Father teaches comes
to me, Christ said. There's no teaching without a
teacher, and that's what doctrine is. The word is didaktos, and
a teacher is a didactician, one who teaches doctrine. So, there's a person involved
in this, and that's important to remember. Ultimately, the
teaching always points to the subject, or always points the
student to the teacher. Teaching always points the student
to the teacher. When you talk about school and
your best classes, you don't talk about that teacher. You're
not talking about the subject, because most of all subjects
in school are boring, at least they weren't to me. But I had
some good teachers, and I can tell you which ones they were,
and they influenced me in my life. Ultimately, the teaching
always points the student to the teacher. Those who preach
the gospel beseech men to look to Christ, because the gospel
itself is Christ saying, look unto me, and be you saved, all
the ends of the earth. Come unto me, all ye that labor
and heavy laden, I'll give you rest. Take my yoke upon you,
and learn of me, and you shall find rest in your soul, because
my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Likewise, the preacher
of the young gospel, though he says that he points men to the
law, in truth, bids men to look at himself instead of Jesus Christ. See, a man may not preach the
law and not use himself either negatively or positively as the
measure or standard of his message. I know because when I heard,
when I was under the preacher of the law for many years, I
always looked at that guy who was saved and looked how he lived
and tried to live like that. That's what happens, you see.
Man may not preach the law and not use himself. The difference
then is the preacher of the gospel says this, don't look at me. The preacher of the gospel says,
I am nothing. Don't follow me. Don't try to
emulate me. You'll end up in a ditch. You're
going to end up in a bad situation. Don't emulate me. David said, not unto us, O Lord,
not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, to thy name. Paul
said, we preach not ourselves, but Jesus Christ. This is the station that Paul
is making in verses 10 through 12. He says, do I persuade men? Do I now persuade men of God,
or do I speak to please men? For yet, if I please men, I should
not be the servant of Christ. That means to say, if you preach
the gospel, you're not going to please men naturally. You'll
please the spiritual man. You'll please the one who's born
again. But you'll not please man. Because the gospel says
to man, you're nothing. You're nobody. You're less than
zero. You're vanity, you're empty,
you're lighter than vanity. You're vile and unclean and un-none.
And the gospel says you can never have anything to do with the
salvation of your soul. That irks the nature of man.
That irks him. He can't stand it. But I certify
you, brother, that the gospel which is preached in me is not
after man. Man didn't come up with it. Not
gonna ask man to do something. The gospel doesn't require anything
of you. All the requirements that were required of you were
met in your Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. He's met all the
requirements. He either redeemed you or he
didn't. He saved you or he didn't. This is the distinction that
Paul is making. The perversion of the gospel
is man adding himself to the mix. It's always that way. Always there is nothing but trouble,
whereas the gospel is nothing but grace, nothing but peace.
It is the pollution and the poisoning of the gospel of Jesus Christ,
one dram of a man. Injected into the gospel turns
the good news into bad news. The balm and Gilead, it turns
it into a lethal injection. One modicum of human merit added
to the merit of Jesus Christ is a perversion of the gospel. Anything and anyone added to
the mix brings trouble rather than peace. The manner in which
the poison gospel is discovered is simple. When it is preached,
men are caused to look at themselves. The false gospel will have you
looking at you. You look at yourself rather than
Jesus Christ. Since the punishment assigned
to the preaching of the un-gospel is so Christ and call them brethren
is to take part in the conversion. It's important. Now, in one sense
we're all brethren, because we're all sons and daughters of God. But in another sense we're not.
Those who would have themselves inserted into the gospel of Jesus
Christ, into the salvation of their souls, are not our brothers.
They may be our friends, and I hope we are friendly to them,
and kind to them, generous to them, and gracious and merciful
to them, and tell them the truth. But if they don't believe the
gospel, as Paul said, what I preached unto you, then they are not our
brothers, because we have different fathers. Paul said, or John said, If a man abides, does not live
and thrive and exist, who does not abide in the gospel of Jesus
Christ, the doctrine of Jesus Christ, he hath not the Father,
and he hath not the Son. If a man abides in the gospel
of Jesus Christ, he hath the Father and the Son. And if any
man comes to you, preaching any other gospel than the doctrine
of Jesus Christ. Don't open your door. Don't invite
them into your house. Don't tell them to have a blessed
day. They're infidel and they care
nothing for the glory of Jesus Christ. Paul says this, I marvel, But
you are so soon removed from Him that called you to the grace
of Christ and to another gospel, which is not another. There are
some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Jesus Christ,
but though we, that is He Himself, if tomorrow Paul changes the
gospel he's preaching, or next Sunday, I stand up here
and start lying to you all about God. Get rid of me for heaven's
sake. Just walk up here and grab me by the ear and jerk me, throw
me out of the yard, because I ain't nothing to you. I can't help
you. I can't be of service to you. If we, apostles, tomorrow
preach any other gospel, they need to be accursed. and be accursed. No, we are angels from heaven.
From heaven? Preach any other gospel unto
you, and that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
And just in case you didn't get it the first time, it says, as
we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any
other gospel unto you, than that which you have received When did you get this?