WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.879 So we already read this evening from Galatians 1. 00:00:03.879 --> 00:00:10.000 We're going to focus on Galatians 1, verses 6-10 this evening as we close out the Lord's day. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:12.000 ! 00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:21.000 And let's pray one more time before we hear the word preached. 00:00:24.000 --> 00:00:28.440 Our Father, we are thankful for your holy and errant, sufficient word. 00:00:28.440 --> 00:00:36.439 And we do pray this evening that you would work your way in our hearts and in our minds and in our souls. 00:00:36.439 --> 00:00:44.439 May we find that these very simple truths which most of us, if not all of us, know in this room, 00:00:44.439 --> 00:00:52.439 we pray that we would find our hearts stirred afresh and anew with them, our minds peaked once again with them, 00:00:52.439 --> 00:00:58.439 our affections moved. 00:00:58.439 --> 00:01:02.439 And we pray that we would truly give you glory over these next minutes. 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:05.439 Thank you for being our God. 00:01:05.439 --> 00:01:08.439 Thank you for making us your people. 00:01:08.439 --> 00:01:12.439 We want to exalt your name. 00:01:12.439 --> 00:01:15.439 We pray all this in the strong name of Christ. 00:01:15.439 --> 00:01:16.439 Amen. 00:01:16.439 --> 00:01:17.439 Amen. 00:01:17.439 --> 00:01:18.439 Amen. 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:19.439 Amen. 00:01:19.439 --> 00:01:21.439 This book of Galatians is unique. 00:01:21.439 --> 00:01:23.439 It's unique in a lot of ways. 00:01:23.439 --> 00:01:34.439 One of them is that when Paul writes this book, he begins it very differently than he begins every other book that he writes. 00:01:34.439 --> 00:01:45.439 In every other one of his epistles, he either thanks God for the people or he thanks the people for their ministry. 00:01:45.439 --> 00:01:49.439 And yet here at the very beginning of this letter, he doesn't do that. 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:54.439 He gives his greeting and then he just kinds of erupts. 00:01:54.439 --> 00:02:08.439 He's received news that so troubles him about these people that he doesn't thank God for them or thank them in Christ. 00:02:08.439 --> 00:02:11.439 He just can't help himself. 00:02:11.439 --> 00:02:15.439 He says, I'm astonished. 00:02:15.439 --> 00:02:21.439 And Paul, when he read it, he paused there rightfully because it's meant to grip. 00:02:21.439 --> 00:02:24.439 He's astonished. 00:02:24.439 --> 00:02:26.439 He's grieved. 00:02:26.439 --> 00:02:30.439 He's struck to the heart about what he has heard about these Galatians. 00:02:30.439 --> 00:02:32.439 It's a very strong word. 00:02:32.439 --> 00:02:33.439 We might say something. 00:02:33.439 --> 00:02:34.439 I don't know if you do this in England. 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:35.439 We say it in the United States. 00:02:35.439 --> 00:02:37.439 His jaw hit the floor. 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:39.439 He's open mouth. 00:02:39.439 --> 00:02:42.439 He can't believe it. 00:02:42.439 --> 00:02:47.439 What is it that concerns him so greatly? 00:02:47.439 --> 00:02:53.439 He says how quickly they're abandoning the gospel that they recently received. 00:02:53.439 --> 00:03:00.439 He had preached to them the gospel and they had welcomely received that gospel. 00:03:00.439 --> 00:03:03.439 And they received that gospel with rejoicing. 00:03:03.439 --> 00:03:06.439 And now they're tossing it aside. 00:03:06.439 --> 00:03:10.439 And he's astonished. 00:03:10.439 --> 00:03:12.439 You've seen this. 00:03:12.439 --> 00:03:17.439 A child receives a gift on their birthday or on Christmas. 00:03:17.439 --> 00:03:20.439 And oh, they are so elated with that gift. 00:03:20.439 --> 00:03:21.439 They are rejoicing. 00:03:21.439 --> 00:03:26.439 There's all kinds of little giggles and chuckles as they open this gift. 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:30.439 And then maybe even they do a little happy dance as they have this gift. 00:03:30.439 --> 00:03:37.439 And then the next gift they have that they're given is in a box. 00:03:37.439 --> 00:03:38.439 And they unwrap that. 00:03:38.439 --> 00:03:39.439 And there's the box. 00:03:39.439 --> 00:03:42.439 And whatever was in the box kind of gets put to the side. 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:47.439 And then they're delighted with the box for the next hour or two hours. 00:03:47.439 --> 00:03:51.439 And you think as a parent, why in the world did I spend the money on these gifts? 00:03:51.439 --> 00:03:53.439 They were happy with the box. 00:03:53.439 --> 00:04:04.439 And Paul here is saying they've been driven afar from what they were so excited about before. 00:04:04.439 --> 00:04:07.439 Let's give the context here. 00:04:07.439 --> 00:04:14.439 Jewish Christians have come to Galatia, what is modern day Turkey, most likely from Jerusalem. 00:04:14.439 --> 00:04:20.439 This region, Galatia, Paul had preached the gospel in and he had successfully done so, 00:04:20.439 --> 00:04:26.439 where there were different churches established throughout Asia Minor or modern day Turkey. 00:04:26.439 --> 00:04:36.439 And now these Jewish Christians, these Judaizers have come most likely from Jerusalem and they are seeking to add to the gospel. 00:04:36.439 --> 00:04:43.439 Their claim is that there isn't actually a free offer of grace. 00:04:43.439 --> 00:04:47.439 Maybe not so surprising. 00:04:47.439 --> 00:04:56.439 These Judaizers believe that one must have credentials to receive the gospel, to receive the grace of Christ. 00:04:56.439 --> 00:04:59.439 And they, of course, have the credentials. 00:04:59.439 --> 00:05:03.439 They are Jews who confess to having been converted to Christ. 00:05:03.439 --> 00:05:06.439 Jews who have long believed in the God of the Bible. 00:05:06.439 --> 00:05:10.439 And they come along saying, yes, Paul gave you the gospel, but there's more. 00:05:10.439 --> 00:05:13.439 Don't you know the people of God have always been circumcised? 00:05:13.439 --> 00:05:16.439 They've always abided by the law. 00:05:16.439 --> 00:05:21.439 And so you have to understand that first you must be circumcised. 00:05:21.439 --> 00:05:32.439 First you must observe the law, be adherence to the law, and then the grace of God that is extended to you, then you may receive it. 00:05:32.439 --> 00:05:37.439 The grace that Paul spoke about. 00:05:37.439 --> 00:05:40.439 But their grace is no grace. 00:05:40.439 --> 00:05:44.439 And their gospel is no gospel. 00:05:44.439 --> 00:05:54.439 And what astonishes Paul is that these Galatians have tossed aside the gospel which he gave to them by preaching it to them, this beautiful costly gift. 00:05:54.439 --> 00:06:01.439 And they were embracing this cheap replacement that's being peddled by these Judaizers. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:06.439 And Paul was rightfully astonished. 00:06:06.439 --> 00:06:14.439 So here, as we sit here, 21st century, you say, well, that doesn't make a lot of sense. 00:06:14.439 --> 00:06:19.439 Surely this isn't something that we are dealing with. 00:06:19.439 --> 00:06:29.439 Understand why Paul would be astonished who would cast aside the gospel that is surely an anomaly in Paul's time. 00:06:29.439 --> 00:06:32.439 But it's far from an anomaly. 00:06:32.439 --> 00:06:35.439 It's far from just being part of his time. 00:06:35.439 --> 00:06:41.439 It's something that you and I are prone to. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:48.439 This church, though I don't know it, it's prone to it. 00:06:48.439 --> 00:06:53.439 My church that I serve is prone to it. 00:06:53.439 --> 00:06:55.439 I'm prone to it. 00:06:55.439 --> 00:07:05.439 This is why it's always good to be reminded about the gospel. 00:07:05.439 --> 00:07:10.439 It's also always good to be reminded that the greatest threats are not usually outside the church. 00:07:10.439 --> 00:07:12.439 They are usually inside the church. 00:07:12.439 --> 00:07:17.439 You and I, we get worked up about the threats outside of the church. 00:07:17.439 --> 00:07:20.439 And rightfully, we are to be on guard. 00:07:20.439 --> 00:07:31.439 But often it is the threats inside the church that do the greatest harm and destroy more of God's people and churches than you and I can count. 00:07:31.439 --> 00:07:35.439 It's much more subtle, but it's much more deadly. 00:07:35.439 --> 00:07:38.439 So let's see what we can learn from the text this evening. 00:07:38.439 --> 00:07:44.439 First, turning from the gospel, Paul says, is desertion of God. 00:07:44.439 --> 00:07:47.439 Turning from the gospel is desertion from God. 00:07:47.439 --> 00:07:50.439 He comes right out of the box saying in verse 6, 00:07:50.439 --> 00:07:54.439 You are so quickly deserting him who called you. 00:07:54.439 --> 00:07:57.439 You are deserting God the Father. 00:07:57.439 --> 00:08:02.439 His warning in the text comes quickly because the stakes are so dire to him. 00:08:02.439 --> 00:08:05.439 He doesn't say that they have deserted God. 00:08:05.439 --> 00:08:06.439 He doesn't say that. 00:08:06.439 --> 00:08:09.439 He says, but they are deserting God. 00:08:09.439 --> 00:08:11.439 They're in process. 00:08:11.439 --> 00:08:14.439 Their end isn't sealed yet. 00:08:14.439 --> 00:08:18.439 It hasn't come to a conclusion yet, but they are on their path to deserting. 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:20.439 They're on the path to destruction. 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:24.439 And so he's warning them. 00:08:24.439 --> 00:08:28.439 It's a good descriptive word that Paul uses here, deserting. 00:08:28.439 --> 00:08:35.440 Because it makes us think about times of war when soldiers will desert in the midst of battle, 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:39.440 or they will desert their army in the midst of war. 00:08:39.440 --> 00:08:44.440 And that's a good word here because you and I are engaged in war. 00:08:44.440 --> 00:08:51.440 We're engaged in the great war. 00:08:51.440 --> 00:08:54.440 Not World War I. 00:08:54.440 --> 00:08:56.440 The great war. 00:08:56.440 --> 00:09:01.440 The war that's been waged since the Garden of Eden, Genesis 3.15. 00:09:01.440 --> 00:09:04.440 You and I are participants in that war. 00:09:04.440 --> 00:09:08.440 You're a soldier in that war. 00:09:08.440 --> 00:09:15.440 And Paul is warning them that it is very easy to desert those whom you are linked together with. 00:09:15.440 --> 00:09:18.440 Your comrades and arms. 00:09:18.440 --> 00:09:21.440 To abandon your captain of salvation. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:26.440 And to go chasing after and aligning yourself with the enemy. 00:09:26.440 --> 00:09:31.440 In the United States we would say you're being a Benedict Arnold, 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:33.440 but he's a hero to you. 00:09:33.440 --> 00:09:35.440 A traitor to us. 00:09:35.440 --> 00:09:42.440 It would be like being Guy Fawkes, I guess, in your context. 00:09:42.440 --> 00:09:44.440 What did it look like? 00:09:44.440 --> 00:09:47.440 How were they quickly deserting God the Father? 00:09:47.440 --> 00:09:50.440 He says in verse 6, 00:09:50.440 --> 00:09:53.440 They're doing this by turning to a different gospel. 00:09:53.440 --> 00:09:54.440 And he makes it clear. 00:09:54.440 --> 00:09:56.440 They were extended grace in Christ. 00:09:56.440 --> 00:09:59.440 The gospel, of course, meaning good news. 00:09:59.440 --> 00:10:03.440 And he's reminding them that this good news, this good news for sinners, 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:06.440 he's saying is Christ. 00:10:06.440 --> 00:10:09.440 Christ is your good news. 00:10:09.440 --> 00:10:16.440 Sinners are extended grace because the Son of God came into the world and became fleshed 00:10:16.440 --> 00:10:18.440 and lived the perfect life that we could not. 00:10:18.440 --> 00:10:22.440 And then died the atoning death upon the cross that we could not. 00:10:22.440 --> 00:10:26.440 And was buried and remained in the grave for three days. 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:31.440 And was raised from the grave, triumphing over all of his and our enemies, 00:10:31.440 --> 00:10:39.440 showing that Satan and death and sin and hell have no hold upon the Christian. 00:10:39.440 --> 00:10:43.440 Because they have no hold on him. 00:10:43.440 --> 00:10:46.440 And then by the Spirit that he sends into the world, 00:10:46.440 --> 00:10:52.440 he unites us with himself so that his victory is our victory. 00:10:52.440 --> 00:10:58.440 That all that is his, that all that becomes his as his inheritance, 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:03.440 as he sits enthroned above and even now liveth to intercede for us, 00:11:03.440 --> 00:11:07.440 and he sits on the throne of God. 00:11:07.440 --> 00:11:12.440 And he exercises his divine, kingly authority for you and I, 00:11:12.440 --> 00:11:17.440 that we have all things in Christ. 00:11:17.440 --> 00:11:22.440 You've been set free. 00:11:22.440 --> 00:11:26.440 It's a gospel. 00:11:26.440 --> 00:11:33.440 And Paul is saying you have turned from the simple gospel. 00:11:33.440 --> 00:11:36.440 Grace in Christ. 00:11:36.440 --> 00:11:38.440 Receiving Christ. 00:11:38.440 --> 00:11:44.440 And when you do so, you desert God. 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:49.440 The underlying thought is this, to have God one must have Christ. 00:11:49.440 --> 00:11:53.440 To wander from Christ is therefore to desert God the Father. 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:57.440 As Paul will say in another book, there is one mediator between God and man, 00:11:57.440 --> 00:12:00.440 the Lord Jesus Christ. 00:12:00.440 --> 00:12:02.440 There's only one. 00:12:03.440 --> 00:12:06.440 Apart from Christ, God is not our Father. 00:12:06.440 --> 00:12:07.440 He's not our friend. 00:12:08.440 --> 00:12:13.440 He's not anything that we would welcome. 00:12:13.440 --> 00:12:15.440 He's our enemy apart from Christ. 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:18.440 He's not our Savior. 00:12:18.440 --> 00:12:20.440 He's not our defender. 00:12:20.440 --> 00:12:22.440 He's not our protector. 00:12:22.440 --> 00:12:24.440 He's not our hope. 00:12:24.440 --> 00:12:26.440 He's not our salvation. 00:12:26.440 --> 00:12:27.440 He's not our salvation. 00:12:27.440 --> 00:12:29.440 Apart from Christ. 00:12:29.440 --> 00:12:32.440 But in Christ, 00:12:32.440 --> 00:12:36.440 He's all of those things and more. 00:12:36.440 --> 00:12:39.440 He's our friend. 00:12:39.440 --> 00:12:41.440 And He's our... 00:12:41.440 --> 00:12:45.440 Our lover, if we can say it that way. 00:12:45.440 --> 00:12:47.440 The lover of our soul. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:51.440 He's our King who reigns over us. 00:12:51.440 --> 00:12:54.440 He is our fortress and our defender and our protector. 00:12:54.440 --> 00:12:58.440 He is our peace and He is our joy and He is our hope. 00:13:02.440 --> 00:13:04.440 All things in Him. 00:13:04.440 --> 00:13:06.440 In Christ. 00:13:06.440 --> 00:13:12.440 To embrace Christ is to have God. 00:13:12.440 --> 00:13:15.440 To reject Christ is to reject God. 00:13:15.440 --> 00:13:23.440 Second, there is no other gospel. 00:13:23.440 --> 00:13:25.440 There's no other gospel. 00:13:25.440 --> 00:13:29.440 No matter what people say. 00:13:29.440 --> 00:13:31.440 No matter what they argue. 00:13:31.440 --> 00:13:33.440 No matter what they offer to you. 00:13:33.440 --> 00:13:36.440 There is no other good news. 00:13:36.440 --> 00:13:38.440 Eternally good news. 00:13:38.440 --> 00:13:40.440 Apart from Christ. 00:13:40.440 --> 00:13:47.440 All people will present their teaching as good news. 00:13:47.440 --> 00:13:52.440 You notice the enemies of the gospel seldom fly the flag of being opposed to the gospel. 00:13:52.440 --> 00:13:55.440 They always present their message as the gospel. 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:59.440 And they will often use the same words and even the same terms. 00:13:59.440 --> 00:14:04.440 A Jehovah's Witness that comes to your door will use the exact same phrases. 00:14:04.440 --> 00:14:07.440 And we'll use the same words. 00:14:10.440 --> 00:14:14.440 When my kids were little I was catechizing them. 00:14:14.440 --> 00:14:18.440 And there was a day that Jehovah's Witness came to our front door. 00:14:18.440 --> 00:14:19.440 Two of them. 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:20.440 They always come in twos. 00:14:20.440 --> 00:14:21.440 Right? 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:22.440 I have a rule with them. 00:14:22.440 --> 00:14:24.440 I love when they come to the door. 00:14:24.440 --> 00:14:25.440 Let them come to the door. 00:14:25.440 --> 00:14:26.440 I have a rule. 00:14:26.440 --> 00:14:27.440 My rule is this. 00:14:27.440 --> 00:14:29.440 When they show up, family member has to come get me. 00:14:29.440 --> 00:14:33.440 And I will go to them and I'll say, listen, I am happy to answer all of your questions for as long as you want. 00:14:33.440 --> 00:14:38.440 But at the end I get to ask you three questions. 00:14:38.440 --> 00:14:41.440 And they always accept that. 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:45.440 And so this day I was letting them ask all of their questions. 00:14:45.440 --> 00:14:48.440 And at the end we got to the end and I said, okay, great. 00:14:48.440 --> 00:14:51.440 Is it my turn just to ask you my few questions? 00:14:51.440 --> 00:14:52.440 They said, yes. 00:14:52.440 --> 00:14:58.440 And I said, do you believe that Jesus is the Son of God? 00:14:58.440 --> 00:15:00.440 And they said, oh, yes, absolutely. 00:15:00.440 --> 00:15:05.440 And I said, do you believe that he is God? 00:15:05.440 --> 00:15:08.440 And the older one hesitated. 00:15:08.440 --> 00:15:11.440 The younger one started to say yes. 00:15:11.440 --> 00:15:15.440 And the older one said, well, it depends what you mean. 00:15:15.440 --> 00:15:20.440 And I said, well, do you believe that we believe in the same God? 00:15:20.440 --> 00:15:24.440 And the younger one said, oh, yes, we do. 00:15:24.440 --> 00:15:27.440 I said, then let's just return back to that second question. 00:15:27.440 --> 00:15:28.440 Would you answer that? 00:15:28.440 --> 00:15:34.440 I said to the older one, and she said, well, we believe that he is a God. 00:15:34.440 --> 00:15:39.440 He was created by God the Father. 00:15:39.440 --> 00:15:46.440 And my daughter, who was sitting in the front room playing with toys, heard that. 00:15:46.440 --> 00:15:50.440 And she came running up and she said, that's not true. 00:15:50.440 --> 00:15:57.440 God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, unchangeable in his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. 00:15:57.440 --> 00:16:02.440 They've never come back since that day, they strove his witnesses. 00:16:02.440 --> 00:16:06.440 She knew what she heard was wrong. 00:16:06.440 --> 00:16:10.440 It was a false Christ, and that was no Christ. 00:16:10.440 --> 00:16:13.440 But it can happen much more subtle than that. 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:17.440 It can happen in the church. 00:16:17.440 --> 00:16:20.440 It's happening in churches that Paul has helped to begin. 00:16:20.440 --> 00:16:22.440 Our adversary is the deceiver, the father of lies. 00:16:22.440 --> 00:16:29.440 He doesn't tempt with things that are opposite of what we have embraced. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:32.440 He just likes to distort it just a little bit. 00:16:32.440 --> 00:16:36.440 He just likes to get it a degree off. 00:16:36.440 --> 00:16:47.440 You know, if in those ancient days when you were a pilot of a ship and you were going across the Atlantic from Great Britain to the United States, 00:16:47.440 --> 00:16:55.440 and if you were just a degree off, you end up in Brazil instead of the United States. 00:16:55.440 --> 00:17:00.440 A degree off over time just puts you somewhere else. 00:17:00.440 --> 00:17:02.440 And that's what our adversary does. 00:17:02.440 --> 00:17:12.440 He just likes to sew just a little bit, just a degree off, or something to say, just have a little bit of the wrong tincture. 00:17:12.440 --> 00:17:16.440 I think of it like a dial on a radio. 00:17:16.440 --> 00:17:18.440 And you just, you tune it in. 00:17:18.440 --> 00:17:21.440 You get that frequency and you tune it in. 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:24.440 I guess we don't do that anymore, but I used to when I was a kid. 00:17:24.440 --> 00:17:25.440 You tune it in. 00:17:25.440 --> 00:17:28.440 And if you're just a little bit off, it's all fuzzy. 00:17:28.440 --> 00:17:31.440 And eventually it just disappears. 00:17:31.440 --> 00:17:38.440 A little distortion of what is pure and right makes it filthy and wrong. 00:17:38.440 --> 00:17:46.440 Say we were baking a cake together and as we were baking a cake, we'd say, oh, we've got to get all those ingredients. 00:17:46.440 --> 00:17:56.440 And so we go and we get the flour and we get the eggs and we get the butter and we get the yeast and we get it all out and we lay it on the counter. 00:17:56.440 --> 00:17:57.440 Let's make a chocolate cake. 00:17:57.440 --> 00:18:01.440 So we go and we get cocoa powder too and we put it on the shelf there. 00:18:01.440 --> 00:18:05.440 And then we remember, ah, got to get sugar. 00:18:05.440 --> 00:18:11.440 So we run to the pantry and you grab those crystallized white crystals off the shelf and you bring them back. 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:17.440 And as you bring them back and we're looking at it, you say, ah, but that's salt, not sugar. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:20.440 Ah, let's call it sugar. 00:18:20.440 --> 00:18:23.440 And we put it in and we bake a cake. 00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:27.440 Say, well, that's not a cake I want any part of. 00:18:27.440 --> 00:18:29.440 It would not taste good. 00:18:29.440 --> 00:18:31.440 It's not the same. 00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:34.440 A little off, it ceases to be cake, no matter what you call it. 00:18:34.440 --> 00:18:37.440 A little off of the gospel, it doesn't matter what you call it. 00:18:37.440 --> 00:18:40.440 It's not the gospel. 00:18:40.440 --> 00:18:45.440 These false teachers, they don't seem to be adding much, just a little. 00:18:45.440 --> 00:18:48.440 It's a little bit of change. 00:18:48.440 --> 00:18:53.440 From what we can see later in the book, they were simply requiring circumcision. 00:18:53.440 --> 00:18:55.440 Observance of some holy days, that's it. 00:18:55.440 --> 00:18:58.440 It's just a small thing. 00:18:58.440 --> 00:19:00.440 And couldn't a small thing be helpful? 00:19:00.440 --> 00:19:06.440 Almost every heretic in the church is sought to be helpful to the church. 00:19:07.440 --> 00:19:09.440 It's usually one of two drives. 00:19:09.440 --> 00:19:14.440 It's either, let's just make the gospel a little less offensive, 00:19:14.440 --> 00:19:16.440 so that people more readily receive it. 00:19:16.440 --> 00:19:25.440 Or let's make it just a little more appealing to what people want to receive. 00:19:25.440 --> 00:19:30.440 But by adding a little law, it was no longer grace. 00:19:30.440 --> 00:19:32.440 Remember what he said in verse 6, 00:19:32.440 --> 00:19:35.440 God called you in the grace of Christ, 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:38.440 a little law, and it ceased to be grace. 00:19:38.440 --> 00:19:40.440 If I offered you a slice of cake, and said, 00:19:40.440 --> 00:19:45.440 as I made this cake, I just put a little gasoline, a little petrol in it, 00:19:45.440 --> 00:19:47.440 would you eat it? 00:19:47.440 --> 00:19:50.440 No, it's deadly at that point. 00:19:50.440 --> 00:19:56.440 We don't want a perverted cake. 00:19:56.440 --> 00:19:59.440 Even more so, we don't want to swallow a perverted gospel. 00:20:03.440 --> 00:20:07.440 You know, when false teachers do this in the history of the church, 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:11.440 it's usually with the right motives. 00:20:11.440 --> 00:20:16.440 And I think people in our day and age, and even as we sit in our chairs and pews, 00:20:16.440 --> 00:20:18.440 it's often with the right motives. 00:20:18.440 --> 00:20:23.440 The story that often goes through my mind is that account from the Old Testament of Uzzah 00:20:23.440 --> 00:20:24.440 that troubles so many. 00:20:24.440 --> 00:20:27.440 Do you remember when Uzzah is struck dead by the Lord? 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:31.440 There is that account in 2 Samuel, 00:20:31.440 --> 00:20:34.440 and they have gone to get the Ark of the Covenant, 00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:38.440 and David wants to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, 00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:41.440 and he wants to bring it into the Holy City, 00:20:41.440 --> 00:20:45.440 but they don't obey the law of God where they were supposed to carry it upon poles, 00:20:45.440 --> 00:20:47.440 and Levites were supposed to carry it. 00:20:47.440 --> 00:20:51.440 And instead, as 30,000 men go down and get this Ark of the Covenant, 00:20:51.440 --> 00:20:53.440 and they put it on an ox cart. 00:20:54.440 --> 00:20:56.440 It's a new ox cart. 00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:00.440 They're seeking to show honor to the Lord. 00:21:01.440 --> 00:21:03.440 But it's not what he commanded. 00:21:03.440 --> 00:21:07.440 And when that ox cart is going along the way, the ox cart jostles, 00:21:07.440 --> 00:21:11.440 and when the ox cart jostles, the Ark of the Covenant gets jolted. 00:21:11.440 --> 00:21:13.440 And when the Ark of the Covenant gets jolted, 00:21:13.440 --> 00:21:16.440 it begins to fall off the ox cart, 00:21:16.440 --> 00:21:20.440 and Uzzah reaches out, and he just braces the Ark of the Covenant 00:21:20.440 --> 00:21:22.440 so it doesn't fall into the mud. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:25.440 Is it right motive? 00:21:26.440 --> 00:21:32.440 Oh, he's trying to stop the very meeting place of God with his people from hitting the mud. 00:21:32.440 --> 00:21:41.440 It was Jonathan Edwards who first said it, but I remember hearing R.C. Sproul say it provocatively. 00:21:42.440 --> 00:21:45.440 He said, what Uzzah thought was wrong? 00:21:46.440 --> 00:21:49.440 He thought his heart was cleaner than the mud. 00:21:49.440 --> 00:21:56.440 You and I don't realize how filthy we are apart from the grace of God. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:22:00.440 That he actually thought disobeying the law of God 00:22:00.440 --> 00:22:03.440 and stopping the Ark from falling in the mud, 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:07.440 touching the Ark which he was not allowed to do by the law of God, 00:22:08.440 --> 00:22:10.440 that he was in the right. 00:22:11.440 --> 00:22:13.440 God strikes him dead. 00:22:13.440 --> 00:22:16.440 And we find that so offensive. 00:22:16.440 --> 00:22:19.440 David found it offensive in 2 Samuel. 00:22:21.440 --> 00:22:23.440 And you know why? 00:22:24.440 --> 00:22:27.440 Because we don't know how black our hearts are. 00:22:29.440 --> 00:22:34.440 I was watching Paul when he was just doing this thing with the kids 00:22:34.440 --> 00:22:38.440 and the inky, inky finger, inky finger. 00:22:38.440 --> 00:22:42.440 And at one point he went to talk about himself 00:22:42.440 --> 00:22:45.440 and he was pointing at his chest and 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:46.440 Oh, don't touch your chest with your thumb. 00:22:46.440 --> 00:22:47.440 That's what I wanted to say. 00:22:48.440 --> 00:22:51.440 Imagine if 00:22:52.440 --> 00:22:55.440 what it really was, was his hands were just black 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:56.440 and it was old. 00:22:59.440 --> 00:23:01.440 You and I are fallen beings. 00:23:02.440 --> 00:23:04.440 We don't just have inky thumbs. 00:23:04.440 --> 00:23:05.440 Great illustration. 00:23:05.440 --> 00:23:09.440 You have inky minds and inky hearts 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:11.440 and inky affections and inky souls 00:23:12.440 --> 00:23:15.440 and inky hands and inky eyes and inky ears. 00:23:16.440 --> 00:23:18.440 You're corrupted through and through. 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:24.440 We're sinners. 00:23:25.440 --> 00:23:26.440 We don't add to the gospel 00:23:27.440 --> 00:23:29.440 because we have nothing to add. 00:23:29.440 --> 00:23:33.440 What you started in, Paul is telling them 00:23:33.440 --> 00:23:34.440 you must continue in. 00:23:34.440 --> 00:23:36.440 You started in Christ, you must continue in Christ. 00:23:37.440 --> 00:23:38.440 And he makes it clear in verse 7. 00:23:39.440 --> 00:23:41.440 Not that there is another one, meaning gospel. 00:23:42.440 --> 00:23:44.440 The gospel is not a rare jewel. 00:23:44.440 --> 00:23:46.440 It is the only jewel of salvation. 00:23:47.440 --> 00:23:49.440 And so you think through the ages 00:23:50.440 --> 00:23:51.440 and we could do this all evening. 00:23:52.440 --> 00:23:54.440 Gnosticism, Arianism, Pleagianism, 00:23:55.440 --> 00:23:57.440 Marcionism, Donatism, Universalism, 00:23:57.440 --> 00:24:01.440 Romanism, Mysticism, Legalism, Easy-Believism, 00:24:02.440 --> 00:24:04.440 The Social Justice Gospel, The Prosperity Gospel, 00:24:05.440 --> 00:24:07.440 The Self-Help Gospel, The Therapeutic Gospels 00:24:08.440 --> 00:24:09.440 are no gospels. 00:24:12.440 --> 00:24:13.440 They're not true. 00:24:14.440 --> 00:24:15.440 They don't give grace 00:24:16.440 --> 00:24:22.440 because it's only found in the good news of Christ Jesus, 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:25.440 the person of Christ. 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:26.440 The Second, 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:26.440 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:27.440 The Second, 00:24:27.440 --> 00:24:28.440 The Second, 00:24:28.440 --> 00:24:29.440 The Second, 00:24:29.440 --> 00:24:30.440 The Second, 00:24:30.440 --> 00:24:31.440 The Second, 00:24:31.440 --> 00:24:32.440 The Second, 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:34.440 Thus, 00:24:34.440 --> 00:24:36.440 a preacher bringing any other message 00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:37.440 is no small danger. 00:24:38.440 --> 00:24:40.440 And Paul wants to make it crystal clear. 00:24:40.440 --> 00:24:42.440 He repeats what he said to them before, 00:24:42.440 --> 00:24:43.440 verse 9, 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:44.440 as we have said before, 00:24:44.440 --> 00:24:46.440 and he repeats it again. 00:24:46.440 --> 00:24:49.440 This is something worth saying again and again. 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:49.440 00:24:49.440 --> 00:24:50.440 He says, 00:24:50.440 --> 00:24:51.440 Even if we, 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:52.440 we that is me, 00:24:52.440 --> 00:24:53.440 and all the rest of the apostles, 00:24:53.440 --> 00:24:55.440 John and James, 00:24:55.440 --> 00:24:56.440 name who you want, 00:24:56.440 --> 00:24:57.440 whoever it is, 00:24:57.440 --> 00:24:58.440 if we came, 00:24:58.440 --> 00:24:59.440 any of us brothers, 00:24:59.440 --> 00:25:00.440 writing this letter, 00:25:00.440 --> 00:25:02.440 or even other apostles, 00:25:02.440 --> 00:25:04.440 and we came preaching to you something different 00:25:04.440 --> 00:25:06.440 than the simple gospel 00:25:07.440 --> 00:25:10.440 that Christ has given for sinners, 00:25:10.440 --> 00:25:12.440 He says, 00:25:12.440 --> 00:25:14.440 let that person be a curse. 00:25:14.440 --> 00:25:17.440 The stakes are that high. 00:25:17.440 --> 00:25:21.440 A preacher bringing any other message is no small danger. 00:25:21.440 --> 00:25:25.440 Notice it's not just the messenger that is important, 00:25:25.440 --> 00:25:26.440 it's the message. 00:25:26.440 --> 00:25:28.440 If a preacher is not declaring to you the gospel, 00:25:28.440 --> 00:25:29.440 he's no good to you. 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:32.440 No matter how much you like him. 00:25:32.440 --> 00:25:37.440 He's a danger, in fact. 00:25:37.440 --> 00:25:42.440 Paul wants to make this even more clear. 00:25:42.440 --> 00:25:44.440 He says, 00:25:44.440 --> 00:25:45.440 If it's not a man, 00:25:45.440 --> 00:25:47.440 but an angel that comes as a messenger, 00:25:47.440 --> 00:25:48.440 verse 8, 00:25:48.440 --> 00:25:50.440 and just so you aren't confused, 00:25:50.440 --> 00:25:51.440 this isn't a hellish angel, 00:25:51.440 --> 00:25:52.440 this isn't a demon, 00:25:52.440 --> 00:25:54.440 this is an angel from heaven, 00:25:54.440 --> 00:25:55.440 he says, 00:25:55.440 --> 00:25:57.440 even if it was an angel from heaven 00:25:57.440 --> 00:25:59.440 bearing witness to another gospel, 00:25:59.440 --> 00:26:00.440 let him be a curse. 00:26:00.440 --> 00:26:02.440 Though he comes from heaven, 00:26:02.440 --> 00:26:05.440 he does not come from God. 00:26:05.440 --> 00:26:07.440 If his message is different. 00:26:10.440 --> 00:26:12.440 The message is all important. 00:26:12.440 --> 00:26:13.440 God has spoken. 00:26:13.440 --> 00:26:14.440 There is nothing more, 00:26:14.440 --> 00:26:15.440 nothing less, 00:26:15.440 --> 00:26:18.440 than Christ Jesus to be proclaimed. 00:26:20.440 --> 00:26:21.440 There's nothing more, 00:26:21.440 --> 00:26:23.440 nothing less than it is to be accepted, 00:26:23.440 --> 00:26:24.440 but Christ Jesus. 00:26:27.440 --> 00:26:30.440 The writer of Hebrews will say it this way, 00:26:30.440 --> 00:26:31.440 when he begins his book, 00:26:31.440 --> 00:26:32.440 won't he? 00:26:32.440 --> 00:26:33.440 He'll say, 00:26:33.440 --> 00:26:34.440 Long ago, 00:26:34.440 --> 00:26:35.440 at many times in many ways, 00:26:35.440 --> 00:26:36.440 God spoke to our forefathers through the prophets, 00:26:36.440 --> 00:26:37.440 but in these last days, 00:26:37.440 --> 00:26:40.440 He has spoken to us in His Son. 00:26:42.440 --> 00:26:43.440 That's it. 00:26:44.440 --> 00:26:45.440 It's the final word. 00:26:45.440 --> 00:26:47.440 You don't need anything else. 00:26:47.440 --> 00:26:54.440 The gospel that Paul preaches, 00:26:54.440 --> 00:26:56.440 that the Bible proclaims, 00:26:56.440 --> 00:26:59.440 and I'm here this evening preaching to you, 00:26:59.440 --> 00:27:02.440 is that God the Father sent God into the world, 00:27:02.440 --> 00:27:04.440 and God the Son willingly took on flesh, 00:27:04.440 --> 00:27:07.440 and lived and died for sinners. 00:27:07.440 --> 00:27:11.440 And He extends His grace to you. 00:27:12.440 --> 00:27:14.440 And you but receive. 00:27:15.440 --> 00:27:17.440 You receive Him by faith. 00:27:17.440 --> 00:27:18.440 You just believe in Him. 00:27:19.440 --> 00:27:22.440 You just trust in Him for your salvation. 00:27:22.440 --> 00:27:23.440 That's it. 00:27:26.440 --> 00:27:27.440 Nothing less, 00:27:28.440 --> 00:27:29.440 but nothing more. 00:27:30.440 --> 00:27:31.440 That's it. 00:27:31.440 --> 00:27:34.440 There's no other gospel. 00:27:34.440 --> 00:27:36.440 How could there be? 00:27:37.440 --> 00:27:40.440 How could God give any more than His Son? 00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:45.440 How is that even possible? 00:27:48.440 --> 00:27:51.440 I love how one theologian has said, 00:27:51.440 --> 00:27:52.440 God sent God. 00:27:52.440 --> 00:27:54.440 How could God give any more than Himself? 00:27:54.440 --> 00:28:00.440 Let me just offer a few quick applications. 00:28:00.440 --> 00:28:01.440 First, 00:28:02.440 --> 00:28:04.440 be an expert of the gospel. 00:28:05.440 --> 00:28:07.440 Be an expert of the gospel. 00:28:09.440 --> 00:28:12.440 I've been told that U.S. Treasury officers, 00:28:12.440 --> 00:28:16.440 that they don't study counterfeit American dollar bills or bills. 00:28:18.440 --> 00:28:20.440 They just study the real thing. 00:28:20.440 --> 00:28:23.440 They study the real thing, 00:28:23.440 --> 00:28:25.440 so that they know it through and through. 00:28:25.440 --> 00:28:28.440 And so that when they hear or see anything different, 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:30.440 it sends off alarm bells. 00:28:31.440 --> 00:28:33.440 You should so know the gospel. 00:28:33.440 --> 00:28:35.440 So know Christ. 00:28:37.440 --> 00:28:39.440 That you hear anything else. 00:28:40.440 --> 00:28:41.440 That's false. 00:28:42.440 --> 00:28:44.440 And you can run from it. 00:28:45.440 --> 00:28:47.440 Be an expert. 00:28:47.440 --> 00:28:48.440 Second, 00:28:50.440 --> 00:28:52.440 oh, I wish I didn't have to say this. 00:28:54.440 --> 00:28:56.440 Don't get bored with the gospel. 00:28:57.440 --> 00:29:01.440 Some of you are even sitting here tonight, 00:29:01.440 --> 00:29:02.440 and it's gone through your head, 00:29:02.440 --> 00:29:03.440 I know this. 00:29:04.440 --> 00:29:07.440 Don't get bored with the gospel. 00:29:07.440 --> 00:29:10.440 I wonder, 00:29:11.440 --> 00:29:16.440 in your spare moments, 00:29:16.440 --> 00:29:18.440 when you have free time, 00:29:19.440 --> 00:29:21.440 what is it you think upon? 00:29:23.440 --> 00:29:25.440 When you're in conversations with one another, 00:29:26.440 --> 00:29:27.440 what is it that you talk about? 00:29:27.440 --> 00:29:31.440 What animates you? 00:29:32.440 --> 00:29:33.440 I mean, 00:29:33.440 --> 00:29:35.440 what really stirs you? 00:29:36.440 --> 00:29:38.440 Is it rugby? 00:29:39.440 --> 00:29:41.440 Is it gardening? 00:29:42.440 --> 00:29:43.440 Is it 00:29:44.440 --> 00:29:47.440 biscuits after church? 00:29:48.440 --> 00:29:50.440 What is it? 00:29:50.440 --> 00:29:53.440 Is it 00:29:54.440 --> 00:29:57.440 is so easy to get animated about all kinds of 00:29:58.440 --> 00:29:59.440 Christian things. 00:30:02.440 --> 00:30:04.440 These Judaizers, they're animated. 00:30:06.440 --> 00:30:07.440 And they profess Christ, 00:30:07.440 --> 00:30:10.440 but what they're animated by is the law, 00:30:10.440 --> 00:30:11.440 not Christ. 00:30:11.440 --> 00:30:14.440 They're animated by what they want people to do, 00:30:14.440 --> 00:30:17.440 rather than what has been given to us. 00:30:17.440 --> 00:30:20.440 What are you animated by? 00:30:23.440 --> 00:30:24.440 Is it Christ? 00:30:24.440 --> 00:30:25.440 Or are you bored with Christ? 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:30.440 Do you find yourself thinking upon Christ, 00:30:30.440 --> 00:30:31.440 and talking about Christ, 00:30:31.440 --> 00:30:33.440 and delighting in Christ, 00:30:34.440 --> 00:30:36.440 and wanting to know more and more of Christ? 00:30:40.440 --> 00:30:42.440 It's so easy, just to be a degree off. 00:30:44.440 --> 00:30:45.440 Third, 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:47.440 recognize wolves, 00:30:47.440 --> 00:30:49.440 and treat them as enemies. 00:30:50.440 --> 00:30:51.440 Paul said in verse 7, 00:30:51.440 --> 00:30:52.440 that quote, 00:30:52.440 --> 00:30:53.440 there are some who trouble you. 00:30:53.440 --> 00:30:55.440 No doubt these teachers believe they were helping. 00:30:55.440 --> 00:30:57.440 Here's a better, more mature, 00:30:57.440 --> 00:30:58.440 higher view of the Christian life. 00:30:59.440 --> 00:31:00.440 These are enemies. 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:02.440 And it's right to warn sheep, 00:31:03.440 --> 00:31:04.440 if a wolf is in their midst. 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:06.440 It seems harsh that he would say, 00:31:06.440 --> 00:31:07.440 let them be accursed, 00:31:07.440 --> 00:31:08.440 but sheep are being devoured. 00:31:09.440 --> 00:31:10.440 You don't pet a wolf. 00:31:10.440 --> 00:31:11.440 You don't reason with a wolf. 00:31:11.440 --> 00:31:12.440 You drive it off. 00:31:12.440 --> 00:31:14.440 Lives are at stake. 00:31:14.440 --> 00:31:15.440 So, 00:31:15.440 --> 00:31:16.440 if there is a wolf, 00:31:16.440 --> 00:31:17.440 you recognize it. 00:31:17.440 --> 00:31:22.440 You recognize them as enemies. 00:31:23.440 --> 00:31:24.440 Finally, 00:31:25.440 --> 00:31:27.440 no sound preaching. 00:31:27.440 --> 00:31:28.440 No sound preaching. 00:31:31.440 --> 00:31:34.440 I can speak for Paul and Reuben. 00:31:34.440 --> 00:31:35.440 No. 00:31:35.440 --> 00:31:36.440 Listen, 00:31:36.440 --> 00:31:41.440 I want the people in my congregation to stop me at any moment that they say, 00:31:41.440 --> 00:31:42.440 Jason, 00:31:42.440 --> 00:31:43.440 you're not preaching Christ. 00:31:43.440 --> 00:31:48.440 any moment that I'm off and, 00:31:48.440 --> 00:31:49.440 oh man, 00:31:49.440 --> 00:32:01.440 I am on different precipices and there are other things that seem to animate me and I am doing all kinds of things but not putting Christ before them. 00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:02.440 Oh my goodness, 00:32:02.440 --> 00:32:02.440 00:32:02.440 --> 00:32:04.440 I want them to come and say, 00:32:04.440 --> 00:32:05.440 oh pastor, 00:32:05.440 --> 00:32:07.440 we love you and that was wrong. 00:32:08.440 --> 00:32:10.440 We need Christ. 00:32:10.440 --> 00:32:14.440 No sound preaching. 00:32:14.440 --> 00:32:23.440 If anyone is preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one you receive, the essence of preaching is a gospel. 00:32:23.440 --> 00:32:27.440 It's Christ that is the good news is to be proclaimed. 00:32:27.440 --> 00:32:31.440 There's a lot that passes for preaching that is anything but preaching. 00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:35.440 When Paul thinks about preaching, his mind immediately links it with the gospel. 00:32:35.440 --> 00:32:36.440 He says in 1 Corinthians, 00:32:36.440 --> 00:32:39.440 we preach Christ and we preach him crucified. 00:32:39.440 --> 00:32:43.440 And as he says in these final verses, this is being faithful to God. 00:32:43.440 --> 00:32:46.440 He says if he wanted to please men, he would preach differently. 00:32:46.440 --> 00:32:47.440 Paul says, 00:32:47.440 --> 00:32:48.440 I preach Christ, 00:32:48.440 --> 00:32:49.440 the gospel. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:51.440 He says in 1 Corinthians, 00:32:51.440 --> 00:32:52.440 we preach Christ, 00:32:52.440 --> 00:32:55.440 a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles. 00:32:55.440 --> 00:32:56.440 He says, 00:32:56.440 --> 00:33:04.440 he offends everyone because Paul is willing to offend everyone with Christ because everyone needs Christ. 00:33:04.440 --> 00:33:07.440 That's what you need. 00:33:07.440 --> 00:33:08.440 That's what I need. 00:33:08.440 --> 00:33:10.440 That's what our neighbors need. 00:33:10.440 --> 00:33:12.440 That's what the people in the office need. 00:33:12.440 --> 00:33:14.440 That's what your coworkers need. 00:33:14.440 --> 00:33:17.440 That's what your fellow students and teachers need. 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:19.440 That's what your neighbors need. 00:33:19.440 --> 00:33:21.440 It's Christ. 00:33:21.440 --> 00:33:33.440 Oh, we can compromise a little here, add a little there, and just make this Christianity thing a little more appealing. 00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:34.440 Just a little less offensive. 00:33:34.440 --> 00:33:35.440 Isn't that loving? 00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:36.440 No. 00:33:36.440 --> 00:33:40.440 It's just not loving at all. 00:33:40.440 --> 00:33:46.440 If you are giving them anything more that they must have than Christ or anything less than Christ. 00:33:46.440 --> 00:33:53.440 It's only Christ that is the good news. 00:33:53.440 --> 00:33:55.440 It's Christ. 00:33:55.440 --> 00:34:02.440 It's not a Christ we've dressed up. 00:34:02.440 --> 00:34:04.440 It's a Christ we've dressed down. 00:34:04.440 --> 00:34:07.440 It's the Christ of the Bible. 00:34:07.440 --> 00:34:10.440 And he is good news for the sender. 00:34:10.440 --> 00:34:12.440 He is abundantly good news. 00:34:12.440 --> 00:34:14.440 All that we need. 00:34:14.440 --> 00:34:18.440 And he has simply been gifted to us. 00:34:18.440 --> 00:34:30.440 Isn't it astonishing that we would ever be tempted to wander from Christ. 00:34:30.440 --> 00:34:33.440 And hold firmly to that gospel. 00:34:33.440 --> 00:34:34.440 Let's pray. 00:34:34.440 --> 00:34:35.440 Amen. 00:34:35.440 --> 00:34:36.440 Amen. 00:34:36.440 --> 00:34:37.440 Amen. 00:34:37.440 --> 00:34:38.440 Amen. 00:34:38.440 --> 00:34:39.440 Amen. 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:40.440 Amen. 00:34:40.440 --> 00:34:41.440 Amen. 00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:42.440 Amen. 00:34:42.440 --> 00:34:43.440 Amen. 00:34:43.440 --> 00:34:44.440 Amen. 00:34:44.440 --> 00:34:45.440 Amen. 00:34:45.440 --> 00:34:46.440 Amen. 00:34:46.440 --> 00:34:47.440 Amen. 00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:47.440 00:34:47.440 --> 00:34:47.440