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They turn in your Bibles to Galatians 
chapter 5. Galatians chapter 5. Matthew 6, tonight we're looking 
specifically at verses 7 to 12. This is the last portion of the 
doctrinal section and it is essentially Paul's condemnation or Paul's 
pronouncement of condemnation for the false teachers or the 
heretics who had been troubling the churches of Galatia. And 
then he enters into some practical admonition and encouragement 
to show the sanctifying power of the gospel. I just want to 
read in Galatians 5, beginning in verse 1. Stand fast, therefore, 
in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not 
be entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Indeed, I, Paul, 
say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will profit 
you nothing. And I testify again to every 
man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole 
law. You have become estranged from Christ. You who attempt 
to be justified by law, you have fallen from grace. For we, through 
the Spirit, eagerly wait for the hope of righteousness by 
faith. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision 
avails anything but faith working through love. You ran well. Who hindered you from obeying 
the truth? This persuasion does not come 
from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole 
lump. I have confidence in you, in the Lord, that you will have 
no other mind. But he who troubles you shall 
bear his judgment, whoever he is. And I, brethren, if I still 
preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Then the 
offense of the cross has ceased. I could wish that those who trouble 
you would even cut themselves off. For you, brethren, have 
been called to liberty. Only do not use liberty as an 
opportunity for the flesh. But through love serve one another 
for all the law is fulfilled in one word. Even in this, you 
shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you bite and devour one 
another, beware lest you be consumed by one another. I say that walk 
in the spirit and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh 
for the flesh lusts against the spirit and the spirit against 
the flesh. And these are contrary to one 
another. so that you do not do the things 
that you wish. But if you are led by the Spirit, 
you are not under the law. Now, the works of the flesh are 
evident, which are adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lewdness, 
idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, 
selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, 
revelries, and the like. of which I tell you beforehand, 
just as I also told you in time past, that those who practice 
such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit 
of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, 
faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law, 
and those who are Christ's have crucified the flesh with its 
passions and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let 
us also walk in the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, 
provoking one another, envying one another. Amen. Well, let 
us pray. Father, we come now and we ask 
that You would bless and guide us in our study tonight of Galatians 
5. We pray that Your Spirit would 
just lead us into the truth and that You would give us ample 
warning about the dangers of false doctrine. That You would 
grant us grace to run well, Father. that we would not only believe 
on the Lord Jesus, but we would constantly live in dependence 
upon him in our lives of sanctification. We just pray, God most high, 
that you would be glorified in this glad hour. And we ask through 
Christ the Lord. Amen. So, as I said, the doctrinal 
section of the epistle is coming to an end. Remember, the apostles' 
emphasis throughout is on justification by faith alone. Certain agitators, 
certain troublers, who we'll call the Judaizers, came to these 
churches in Galatia, in the southern Galatian area, and they preached 
that it was good to believe the gospel concerning Jesus Christ, 
but you also must be circumcised in order to have salvation. And 
so Paul takes great pains to defend that we're saved by grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone, apart from 
works of the law. Go back for just a moment, Galatians 
chapter 5, verse 3. He says, I testify again to every 
man who becomes circumcised that he is a debtor to keep the whole 
law. So if you get circumcised as 
a means of acceptance with God, you're obligating yourself to 
full, perpetual, personal, and total obedience to God's law. There is no help, no salvation 
rather, in such a scheme, because we are sinners. We are totally 
depraved, and we are totally unable to merit God's favor. 
If we are to be saved, it is by grace alone, through faith 
alone, in Jesus alone. Go back for a moment to Galatians 
2, verse 21. After setting forth that grand 
doctrine of justification by faith, he says in verse twenty 
one of chapter two, I do not set aside the grace of God for 
if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in 
vain. You see, for Paul, it was a great 
attack upon the truth of Christianity, upon the truth of the Gospel, 
if men would introduce law-keeping in terms of acceptance with God. And so, as we come now this evening 
to chapter 5, verses 7 to 12, we will see Paul's mind revealed, 
or God's mind, rather, revealed through the Apostle on just how 
he views doctrinal heresy. We're going to break this down 
into two main considerations this evening. First, the apostles 
confidence in verses seven to ten, and then secondly, the apostles 
practice in verses eleven and twelve. But notice with reference 
to his confidence in verse seven, he highlights their previous 
state. He says you ran well. They began well. It was Paul 
himself who had preached to these various churches. It was Paul 
who preached the gospel of free and sovereign grace. They had 
believed that truth, and they were running well. This is a 
metaphor or an image that Paul uses in other places, this whole 
idea of running the Christian life. Well, here specifically, 
it isn't necessarily the practical or how we live that's in view, 
but rather it's what we believe. We need to exercise our minds 
with reference to sound doctrine, and he highlights the reality 
that they had begun, or they had ran well. Go back for just 
a moment to Galatians 3. Galatians 3 has similar context. He says in verse 3, Are you so 
foolish, having begun in the Spirit? parallel to running well, 
you began in the spirit, you believe the gospel, you look 
to Jesus alone. Everything was going well. The 
implication from his statement here is that currently things 
aren't that well. And that's what he goes on to 
say in verse seven of chapter five. He says, who hindered you 
from obeying the truth? That's similar to Galatians three 
verse one. Oh, foolish Galatians. Who has 
bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose 
eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified? 
So the picture is they were running well. They were believing the 
truth used synonymously here with obeying the truth. And now 
they've been hindered. They've been taken off of course. 
Instead of believing the gospel alone, now they are thinking 
they need to believe and be circumcised in order to be safe. Paul says 
you've missed it. You're off the beaten path. You're 
not running well anymore. You have been hindered. You have 
been taken off course. Who has done this to you? I think 
Paul knows who has done this to them. He knows it's the Judaizers. He's setting up a contrast for 
what's going to follow here in just a moment. But notice his 
use of obeying the truth here. It's a great statement. Very 
often faith, or at least several times in the New Testament, believing 
the gospel is used interchangeably with obeying the gospel. Now, 
obeying the gospel doesn't mean I go out and live a specific 
life and then God rewards me. Obeying the gospel, as I said, 
is used synonymously with believing it. In John 6, remember, Jesus 
says, we're to eat his flesh and we're to drink his blood. 
Well, none of us in the Protestant tradition actually think we need 
to ingest the flesh and blood of our Lord Jesus. We see that 
that is a metaphor. It is a figurative, a figure 
of speech telling us that we need to believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. Well, the same is true here. 
It ought not to scare us when we talk about justification by 
faith alone, to see this use of obeying the truth. The idea 
is you need to believe the truth. You need to receive the truth. 
You look over at 1 Peter chapter 2 for just a moment. You'll see 
how these terms are used oftentimes interchangeably. 1 Peter chapter 
2 at verses 7 and 8. At 1 Peter 2.7, it says, Therefore, 
to you who believe, he is precious, but to those who are disobedient, 
or we might translate that as disbelieving. There is a great 
verb who, within the semantic range of the verb, is both belief 
and obedience. That's why there's some variant 
in translation in, say, John 3, 36. The New King James says, 
whoever believes in the Son has everlasting life. The one who 
does not believe the Son shall not see life. New American Standard 
translates the verb, he who does not obey the Son. Again, the 
idea is the same. It's to come to the Son for the 
forgiveness of sins and the imputation of righteousness. So, here in 
1 Peter 2.7, to you who believe he is precious, but to those 
who are disbelieving or unbelieving, the stone which the builders 
rejected has become the chief cornerstone, and a stone of stumbling 
and a rock of offense. They stumble, notice, being disobedient 
to the word. So, unbelief is looked at as 
disobedience. A similar convention is used 
in Hebrews chapter 3. The reason I'm stressing this 
is because there's an idea out there today that we need to live 
the gospel. And I think the implication is 
we need to be obedient in order to have a right standing with 
God. That's the underlying assumption there. That's not what these 
texts are indicating. Obeying the gospel means to believe 
the gospel. It means to believe on the Lord 
Jesus. Notice in Hebrews 3.18, And to 
whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest? But to those 
who what they did not obey summary statement, verse nine. So we 
see that they could not enter in because of unbelief. Those two words used synonymously 
for the same idea, rejecting the gospel of Jesus Christ. Now, let's bring that home to 
bear upon our own time here. Have you believed? Could it be 
said of you that you've obeyed the truth? You've heard the truth. You've heard the good news. You've 
heard the blessed, redemptive realities of the scripture that 
God sent forth his son, that his son lived in obedience to 
the law. It's not an amazing thing to 
consider. You look at yourself and you 
ask the question, how do I deal with God's law? Hopefully your 
answer is honest and you say, I fail miserably. I mean, just 
start running through the commandments. You're done. Each and every one 
of us. We have all broken that law in 
more ways than we can even imagine. And then we consider this champion, 
this son of his love, this one who obeyed perfectly, perpetually, 
completely, totally. He didn't just engage in external 
obedience and compliance, but the heart was always with him. 
He says, I delight to do thy will. He says to his disciples, 
my meat or my food is to do the will of Him who sent me. There's 
not a one of us who can ever say such a thing. I mean, can 
you for a moment say, I always, at least for that two second 
block of time, or that one second block of time, or that millisecond 
block of time, in that moment, I love God with all my heart, 
soul, mind, and strength. And I love my neighbor as myself. Can you honestly answer yay and 
amen to that challenge? No. But Jesus always conducted 
himself in love to God and love to man. So you've heard that 
truth. You know, it didn't stop there. It wasn't just his obedience 
to the law. We needed remission. We needed 
forgiveness. We needed sacrifice. We needed 
atonement. And that's what the cross is 
all about. The cross isn't simply a big story designed to make 
you feel good. The cross isn't simply there 
to promote warm fuzzies. The cross isn't there simply 
to make or to teach us how we ought to love our fellow men 
and lay down our lives for them. The cross is there to deal with 
sin. The cross is about demonstrating 
the righteousness of God in the salvation of sinners. The cross 
demonstrates how God can be both just and the justifier of the 
one who believes on Jesus. So you've heard these truths. 
I believe that you have. You've either heard them in this 
church, you've heard them at the family altar, you've heard 
them on sermonaudio.com, you've listened to Pastor Martin, you've 
listened to Pastor Piper, you've listened to Pastor MacArthur, 
you've listened to whatever preacher out there you really like, and 
you have heard about the doing and the dying and the rising 
again of the Lord Jesus. Now, the question is, have you 
believed? Have you obeyed the truth? Have 
you come? Have you listened to him when 
he says, come to me, all who are weary and heavy laden? Have 
you responded in faith to the son of God who loves sinners 
and who gave himself up for them? This is the thrust of the text. 
He says, you ran well. Who hindered you from obeying 
the truth? As we move through the exposition 
this evening, it ought not to surprise us that Paul could say 
in verse 12, I want bad things to happen to these people. Why? Because they are keeping you 
from obeying the truth. That's a huge problem. Heresy 
is a bad thing. Did you notice that when we were 
reading the works of the flesh? I'm sure none of us need much 
convincing that adultery is really bad. Fornication is really bad. Idolatry is really bad. Sorcery 
is really bad. Hatred, really bad. Those are 
all things we say, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. No problem. 
I accept that. I understand that. But Paul includes 
heresies. Heresy is something that is a 
work of the flesh. It is to twist the word of God 
in such a way as to poison the minds of men. This is why the 
Baptist said brood of vipers. This is why Jesus said brood 
of vipers. You are snakes. You are dangerous, 
poisonous snakes that are going to affect people that listen 
to your error. This is a horrible thing to hinder 
someone from obeying the truth. So before we move on, ask yourself 
the question, have I believed? Have I come? Have I tasted and 
seen that the Lord is good? And then if the answer is no, 
ask yourself, why not? Jesus in his gospel, Jesus in 
the preaching of the word, Jesus says, all who come to me, I will 
certainly not cast out. What is it in Jesus that I don't 
want? What is it in Jesus that is keeping me away? Ask yourself, 
young or old, if you're not in Christ, why not? These are legitimate 
questions. These are legitimate things to 
search your soul with. What is there in Jesus that you 
don't want? Now notice what he goes on to 
say. I mentioned that he is establishing a contrast. He says, who hindered 
you from obeying the truth? Notice in verse 8, this persuasion 
does not come from him who calls you. He's highlighting the origin 
of the truth. This persuasion that you can 
add circumcision to faith in order to have acceptance with 
God doesn't come from him who calls you. You see, he who calls 
you knows you better. He who calls you knows that your 
law keeping, your merit, your good works are not good enough 
to merit salvation. He who calls you knows that you're 
in a desperate condition. He who calls you knows that you're 
dead in your trespasses and sins. You see what Paul is saying. 
Who hindered you from obeying the truth? This didn't come from 
God. I can hear the Judaizers now assuming the pulpit, grabbing 
on and saying, Paul's a good brother and what Paul is saying 
is right. Believe on Jesus and We search 
the scriptures diligently. We do a Bible study. You also 
must be circumcised. This is what the Lord says. The 
Lord has not minimized his holy requirements. The Judaizers would 
have promoted their false doctrine under the banner that it was 
of God. Paul says, no, this persuasion 
does not come from him who calls you. He knows you better. He 
knows you intimately. He knows that you make a mess 
out of your life. He knows you can't keep the law 
for a millisecond. He knows that you can't believe 
and produce works in order to be justified. He knows you so 
well that he sent the son of his love into this world, sinners 
to save. He knows you so well that he 
must bring his son to the point of suffering and death. He knows 
you so well that it pleased Yahweh to bruise him. This persuasion 
does not come from God who calls. That's the point. Martin Luther 
said, this is why I often want to say that a fall from sound 
doctrine is not human, but demonic. From the very heights of heaven 
to the lowest depths of hell. Do not think for a moment that 
faith plus words originates in God. Do not think for a moment 
that the Roman Catholic doctrine or the new perspective doctrine, 
or the federal vision doctrine, or anything that seeks to add 
to the finished work of Christ is of the Lord. Paul says that's 
not the case. Salvation is by grace alone, 
through faith alone in Christ Jesus alone. Notice he uses this 
figure of speech to highlight the powerful influence of heresy. Look at verse 9, a little leaven 
leavens the whole lump. It's a figure of speech to be 
sure, but when you sort of plug it in here, a little bit of circumcision 
affects the whole gospel. A little work here or there for 
acceptance with God distorts the entirety. A little crack 
in the mirror ruins it. One slug in the salad makes it 
inedible. I don't know how many of us just 
throw that slug out and just keep going. I love this Caesar 
salad. You find a slug in the salad, 
usually you put the salad to the side. You introduce law keeping 
into this gospel, this little bit of leaven that seems, it 
seems so harmless. It almost even seems to have 
biblical warrant because of course, God wants you to obey. Obedience 
is not a part of our justification. Obedience is in sanctification. Acceptance with God is grounded 
upon the work of Jesus. The Spirit's work in us in terms 
of obedience is sanctification. Keep those two separate. Keep 
those two in their proper place. A little leaven leavens the whole 
lump. Doctrinal heresy is just that 
way. You introduce a bit, you turn 
a blind eye to a bit, and what happens? It begins to affect 
the entirety. John Calvin said it well. He 
said, Satan's stratagem is that he does not attempt an avowed 
destruction of the whole gospel. Isn't that beautiful? Satan doesn't 
come walking into a pulpit and say, we're here to destroy the 
gospel. That's not how he works. Calvin says, but he taints its 
purity by introducing false and corrupt opinions. He taints its 
purity by introducing false and corrupt opinions. He then goes 
on to say many persons are thus led to overlook the seriousness 
of the injury done and therefore make a less determined resistance. Because it's subtle, because 
it just creeps in. Oh, it's not that mind-blowing, 
right? You know, Satan was up here in a cape and he had his 
pitchfork and his, you know, his horns and he had a long tail 
and he was saying, deny the gospel, deny the gospel. You say, no 
way, we're not going to do that. You would resist him. The man 
comes up here wearing a suit. He looks polished. He looks studied. 
He says, yeah, you need to believe the gospel and you need to do 
this in order to be accepted with God. Well, everything looks 
good. He's got his Bible open. He spends 
time and study and preparation. You let your guard down. He goes 
on to say the apostle proclaims aloud that after the truth of 
God has been corrupted, we are no longer safe. That's what's 
important about this. You don't obey the truth, you 
end up in hell. You're no longer safe. He says 
he employs the metaphor of leaven, which, however small in quantity, 
communicates its sourness to the whole mass. Just a little 
bit of leaven. Leaven's the whole lump. I'm 
sure you ladies have made bread. You don't have to take a big 
bag full of leaven and dump it in there. It's a small agent. I mean, I see those little bits 
of it at the store. You don't need a lot. It just 
works its way in. It's alive, right? It actually 
works through the entirety of the lump. That's what heresy 
does. So what are you all excited about? 
Because if heresy gets in, it starts to work. Our natural inclination, 
our natural tendency is to gravitate toward heresy. We want the easy 
way. We want the way that makes us 
look good. We want pride. We want esteem. 
One brother said this morning, man, I never really thought about 
that. But, yeah, we only ever want to sin. So if we repent 
from sin, that's the work of God. Absolutely. Our inclination is wholly given 
under sin. He goes on to say, we must exercise 
the utmost caution lest we allow any counterfeit to be substituted 
for the pure doctrine of the gospel. Amen, a hundredfold. Remember Jesus' words, beware 
the leaven, the Sadducees. Beware the leaven, the false 
doctrine of these heretics. Why? Because if for a moment 
you entertain those things, you're going to be led astray. Now, 
notice his confidence, specifically stated in verse 10. I have confidence 
in you, in the Lord, that you will have no other mind. Isn't 
that a blessed statement? Go to pastor's heart. I have 
confidence in you. You ran while you're being hindered, 
but I haven't given up on you. I think Paul sets an example 
of genuine pastoral ministry. You know, he writes to the various 
churches. I mean, think about how he writes to the Corinthians. 
Beloved saints. chosen of God, all these glowing 
terms. And then he has to chide, reprove 
and rebuke these saints, these beloved of God, these choice 
ones for sexual immorality, for drunkenness, for eating meat 
offered up to idols, for causing a brother for whom Jesus died 
to stumble. I mean, you might read the center 
section of the bulk of Corinthians and go, how could he ever call 
these people saints? He's a pastor, he's gracious, 
he's loving. Same thing here. He had not given 
up on them. He had confidence, notice, in 
the Lord. Not in them, but in the Lord. 
Paul takes pen to paper with the specific desire to call them 
back to course. And he has confidence in the 
Lord that they will be or have no other mind. In other words, 
they will not be sidetracked, they will not follow the Judaizers, 
they will not try and add circumcision to faith in order to find acceptance 
with God. He has confidence in the Lord 
for them. But he also has a conviction. At the end of verse 10, it says, 
But he who troubles you, or he who agitates, shall bear his 
judgment, whoever he is. That's a strong statement. James 
3 verse 1 says, Let not many of you be teachers, because we 
shall incur a stricter judgment. That is a strong responsibility. When a man comes in the name 
of Jesus to preach the Word, if he does it wrong, if he is 
a heretic, not just He's not that great of a preacher, or 
he doesn't have homiletical polish, or he doesn't have style, or 
whatever the things that we might judge him for. If he is inaccurate 
in the presentation of the truth, according to the apostle, he 
who troubles you shall bear his judgment, whoever he is. Again, 
Calvin said here, let all who introduce confusion in the churches. That's what the bottom line is. 
I've seen a church that doctrinal heresy infected. It wasn't this 
church. Doctrinal heresy infected that church and confusion was 
the result. See, true doctrine promotes unity 
and peace, not perfection. There's always, you know, frayed 
ends when you've got sinners involved. But heresy promotes 
confusion. Heresy promotes distrust. Heresy 
promotes all sorts of unrest. That's what Calvin says. Let 
all who introduce confusion into churches, who break the unity 
of faith, who destroy their harmony, Lend an ear to this. And if they 
have any right feeling, let them tremble at this word. And that's 
appropriate. And that's what the apostle is 
saying. He who troubles you shall bear his judgment. I have confidence 
in the Lord. I trust that you will come back. 
I trust that you will have the proper mind. I trust that you 
will obey the truth. But I'm also convinced of this 
very thing, that the ones who trouble, the ones who agitate, 
just as they might appear now to be successful preachers, they 
might appear to be the ones that the world all loves. God will 
judge them. God will tend to them. God will 
indeed take care of them. Notice verses 11 and 12, the 
apostles' practice. I believe verse 11 is an answer 
to an allegation that perhaps circulated concerning the apostle, 
that he himself preached circumcision. And I, brethren, if I still preach 
circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? Perhaps the 
Judaizers, in an attempt to ground their case even more, said, well, 
look at Paul. His own practice is such that 
he sees and he knows that people are circumcised, and he doesn't 
have a big deal about that. He doesn't get bent out of shape 
about that. He must agree with it. He must 
be okay with it. Well, there's a big difference 
with Paul between cultural practice and gospel truth. Paul does not 
have a problem. I believe that Galatians was 
written prior to this particular event, but I believe Paul probably 
thought the same way when he wrote this and people knew about 
it. Do you remember in Acts 16 when 
he wanted Timothy to go with him? What does he have done to 
Timothy? He has him circumcised. Some 
might conclude from that Paul's really off to lunch on this whole 
thing. He really doesn't know what he's doing. Yes, circumcision, 
no circumcision. With Timothy, it was cultural, 
cultural sensitivity. He was going into a Jewish region 
and he wanted Timothy to imbibe the custom. Cultural sensitivity, 
not gospel, not acceptance with God. And so you need to understand 
that and appreciate that about Paul when you get to Acts 21. 
James and him meet together, and James says, We've heard that 
you're telling people they don't need to keep the law of Moses. 
Here's what we want you to do. We want you to take a bow, and 
we want you to go to the temple. Paul looked at that. It didn't 
compromise gospel truth, so he does it. This is what he means 
in 1 Corinthians 9. To the Jews I became as Jews. 
To the Gentiles I became as Gentiles. The whole point is that I want 
to win them to Christ. Cultural sensitivity is not the 
same as acceptance with God. So this allegation was out there 
concerning Paul, but notice the proof of its falsity. He says, 
And I, brethren, verse eleven, if I still preach circumcision, 
why do I still suffer persecution? If I'm doing what these guys 
say should be done, why are they so mad at me? Why are they upset 
with me? If I'm preaching circumcision, 
then I should be accepted in any Jewish setting. Everybody 
should love me. Everybody should hail me. I'm 
smiling because it's a beautiful argument. If I'm still doing 
this, why are all these bad things happening to me? What's the implication? I am not preaching circumcision. I am preaching grace alone. I 
am preaching belief alone. I am preaching the gospel alone. I'm not adding. I'm not subtracting. 
I'm not supplementing. I am giving the purity of the 
truth of Jesus Christ. I am not preaching circumcision. This is a false allegation. He suffered for the cross. You 
can turn to Acts 14. This is an instance that they 
would have certainly known about. After the very end of the tail 
end of the first missionary journey, when he visited these churches 
in the southern Galatian region, the very churches that he is 
writing to in the book of Galatians. We remember this account from 
our Wednesday night Bible study. You remember how unbelieving 
Jews were on his trail. They were hunting him down. They 
were after him. He gets specifically, or he leaves 
from, or he's on his way to Derby. And we read in Acts 14 at verse 
19, it says, Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there. Now, 
the Antioch that's in view here, it was 80 miles from Iconium. I set this up where I share this 
bit of geography because I want you to see their enmity against 
the Apostle. I mean, some of us won't even 
drive 80 miles because we don't want to be bothered with something, 
right? Somebody said to him, I want 
you to drive to Vancouver. There's a place that sells a 
great cup of coffee. He'd say, you know, I'd have 
a not-so-great cup of coffee right here in Chilliwack. I don't 
want to drive 80 miles. OK? They didn't have SUVs. They didn't 
have Greyhound. They didn't have the Abbotsford 
hop over to Calgary, or Calgary, as you say in Canada here. 80 miles from Antioch to Iconium, 
OK? So, Jews from Antioch, the city 
in Antioch, come to Iconium. They meet up in Iconium with 
more Jews that are haters of the Apostle Paul, unbelieving 
Jews. Now, Iconium was 18 miles from Lystra. So, the Antiochian 
Jews came, what, 98 miles? The Iconium Jews came 18 miles. They're on the hunt for Paul. 
He's been preaching, in a sense, minding his own business. Setting 
forth Jesus Christ and him crucified to the various churches in Galatia. Southern Galatia theory is the 
one we've established in our study here in the book of Galatians. Now notice chapter 14 verse 19. Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium 
came there and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul 
and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. You 
see, Paul is saying, if I preach circumcision, why no love for 
me? If I preach circumcision, why 
are they throwing stones at a nice guy like me? If I am doing what 
they want me to do, this would have never occurred. This is 
one of the proofs of the fact that he was not preaching circumcision. Notice, they stone Paul, they 
drag him out of the city, supposing him to be dead. However, when 
the disciples gathered around him, he rose up and went into 
the city, and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derby. 
That's just a few short sentences that we can read over and go, 
man, Paul's really cool. But if we take the time and really 
consider what it is that Paul is doing, we have to be led with 
more of a conviction than he's really cool. Look at what the 
text says. He was dragged out of the city, 
supposed to have been dead. So when they threw these rocks 
at him, kids, they weren't picking up little pebbles and trying 
to irritate him. You ever do that to somebody? You know, they're 
not looking at you and you might throw something at their back 
and you watch them kind of do that. Or you're in a boat and 
you have a long stick and you touch them on the ear and they 
think it's a mosquito or something. You're just trying to irritate them. 
That's not what happened. They picked up big stones and 
they threw them at the Apostle Paul, to the point where they 
supposed him to be dead. So they drag him out of the city. 
Now, verse 20, however, when the disciples gathered around 
him, he rose up and went into the city. Imagine those disciples 
said, Paul, you don't want to go back into the city. There's 
mean people in that city. They just tried to kill you, 
Paul. Do you really understand what it is you're doing? This 
man's driven. He's not a really cool guy. He 
is a driven missionary for the gospel of Jesus Christ. So he 
rises up. That in and of itself is amazing. 
He rose up. He rose up after having been 
stoned to the point where they supposed him to be dead. That's 
pretty strong there. And then notice, the next day 
he departed with Barnabas to Derbe. The next day. He didn't 
say, you know, brother, I got to have a three week sabbatical. 
And all these welts, got all these pains, got all these aches, 
got all these trials. I just need to chill out for 
a time. Let me just relax. No, the next day he went to Derby. Now, Derby was 60 miles from 
Lystra. These unbelieving Jews who came 
to get him, they didn't have SUVs. They didn't have a greyhound, 
they didn't have a little plant, neither did Paul. He walked 60 
miles. One day he's stoned, supposed 
to be dead, and the next day he's walking 60 miles to preach 
the gospel. Absolutely incredible. When you 
get down further, you'll see what he preaches when he gets 
to his destination. He says, we must, through many 
tribulations, enter the kingdom of God. The church didn't say, 
what's he mean? They knew all too well what he 
meant. He probably hobbled in there. He probably limped in 
there. Evidence of having been stoned to the point of being 
supposed dead. Paul says, I don't preach circumcision. 
If I preach circumcision, why do I still suffer persecution? 
Galatians 6.17, he says, from now on, let no one trouble me, 
for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus. That doesn't 
mean he wore a wrist bracelet that said WWJD. Didn't mean he 
had a cross dangling on his necklace. Didn't mean he had a shirt that 
had a picture of a buffed Jesus that said, The Lord's Gym. The 
brand marks of Jesus that he bore were the scars and wounds 
of gospel ministry. That's what he's talking about 
in Galatians 617. He goes on in verse 11 to say, 
then the offense of the cross has ceased. The offense of the 
cross has ceased. If I preach circumcision, then 
sinners are satisfied because they've done something to earn 
their favor with God. That's not the way the cross 
works. The cross is an offense to pride. The cross is an offense 
to self-esteem. The cross is an offense to self-righteousness. If I preach circumcision, then 
sinners actually can congratulate themselves for participating 
in their acceptance with God. He says, no, I preach the cross 
and all of its offending power. I preach the cross to strip away 
the pride of man, to strip away his self-esteem, to strip away 
his self-reliance and his self-dependence. Paul preached in such a way that 
you were dependent upon Jesus alone. There was no hope for 
anything in and of yourself, in and of your own strength. 
I think Bruce captures this when he says there is a more general 
scandal attached to the cross. That's the offense here. The 
Greek word skandalon, scandal. He says, one of which Paul is 
probably thinking here. It cuts the ground from under 
every thought of personal achievement or merit where God's salvation 
is in view. To be shut up to receiving salvation 
from the crucified one, if it is to be received at all, is 
an affront to all notions of proper self-pride and self-help. And for many people, this remains 
a major stumbling block in the gospel of Christ crucified. It 
is in us to want to congratulate ourselves for our place in heaven. 
It is in us, by nature, to want to say, good job, I was wiser, 
I was smarter, I was better, I responded. Not so with the 
cross. It is an offense. He says, If 
I myself can make some small contribution, something even 
so small as the acceptance of circumcision, then my self-esteem 
is uninjured. Paul says, That's not how I preach 
the cross. I preached it as all or nothing. 
I don't preach it as some and you and then you're in. And then 
he ends this with an imprecation. An imprecation is a calling down 
of a curse. Notice in chapter 5, verse 12. Here it's not phrased in terms 
of, God, I want you to curse them. It's expressed as a wish. He says, I could wish that those 
who trouble you would even cut themselves off. The ESV translates 
it, would emasculate themselves, would mutilate themselves. Now, 
do not think that this hasn't caused a bit of a stumbling block 
for interpreters of Paul. It seems quite unpolished. It 
seems quite harsh. It seems quite severe for the 
apostle to say, you know, if they're so caught up in circumcision, 
why don't they just emasculate themselves? Some have tried to 
get around the force of the statement by saying, oh, oh, no, they're 
probably just say, I want them to cut themselves off from the 
assembly. I don't want them to affect the 
church. I think that's included. It's interesting in Deuteronomy 
23, verse 1, the man who was emasculated by cutting was forbidden 
a place in the assembly of the Lord. So Paul, if his wish comes 
true, they emasculate themselves. They're forbidden in the presence 
of the assembly of the Lord. Brethren, Paul is expressing 
here just judgment from God upon those who twist the gospel. He 
refers to this kind of circumcision as mutilation in Philippians 
chapter three. Beware of dogs. Beware of evil 
workers. Beware of the mutilation. It's not outside the apostle 
to express such a thing. And I think we stumble or we 
trip or we have problems with such a harsh statement because 
of three things. The first is a failure to prize 
the truth of God. You see, when the truth of God 
is at stake. When God's word and its veracity 
is on the line. We ought not to want people to 
twist it or to distort it or to confuse it. We want God's 
glory to be manifested. If our heartbeat is such as the 
psalmist in Psalm 138, and we say you have magnified your word 
above your name, when somebody comes and twists that word, we 
ought to pray God bring judgment upon them. The first thing is 
that we don't prize the truth of God. I'm not saying we specifically, 
I mean, we generically, we in the evangelical and reform world 
and say, oh, that's quite harsh. I remember passing out tracts 
in town one time meeting a particular guy and he said Paul would never 
have meant what he said there. Paul would never mean what he 
said there because he was a holy man. How could a holy man ever 
wish such a thing upon another person? A second reason is that 
it's a failure to recognize the seriousness of heresy. You know, 
I've got to suggest to you that if you twist the Scriptures and 
you lead somebody to hell, you're getting off pretty easy only 
being emasculated. There's a much greater danger 
in leading souls to the pit than in losing that portion of your 
person. And then a third thing. It's 
a failure to remember the epistle to the Galatians. What's he already said in Galatians 
1, 6 to 9, you can just look there. Galatians 1, 6 to 9. I marvel that you are turning 
away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to 
a different gospel, which is not another. But there are some 
who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even 
if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you 
than what we have preached to you, let him be a curse. Remember, 
this is the word anathema. It is the Greek word oftentimes 
used in the Old Testament to translate the word that means 
devoted to destruction. Paul is saying, if somebody twists 
the gospel, may they be devoted to destruction, may they be damned 
to hell, may they be eternally condemned. He goes on in verse 
9 to reiterate, as we said before, so now I say again, if anyone 
preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, 
let him be accursed. I mean, if we accept Galatians 
1, 6 to 9, we ought to see Galatians 5, 12 as a walk in the park. If he's going to pronounce eternal 
condemnation in hell for gospel twisters and distorters and perverters, 
it shouldn't surprise us in Galatians 5.12, using a subtlety with reference 
to their particular emphasis in heresy. If they're so caught 
up in circumcision, let them go all the way and emasculate 
themselves. It is legit. It is righteous. 
It is just. It is godly. It is the Apostle 
Paul expressing. his desire to see the truth of 
God valued and prized. It is Paul expressing his recognition 
of the seriousness of heresy. And it is Paul expressing in 
another way the imprecation of Galatians 1. Well, in conclusion, 
we see the gravity of the problem in Galatia. The gravity of the 
problem in Galatia. I mentioned Corinthians earlier. 
You know, Paul introduces his letters in the Corinthians in 
much longer terms, in terms of glowing, loving, caring, sharing, 
just kind of oozing pastoral love all over them in the first 
chapters. He doesn't do that in Galatians. 
Brief greeting and right to the point. Shows us something different 
about the way Paul operates and the way we operate. Yes, the 
stuff going on in the Corinth was bad. The sins of the flesh, 
the licentiousness, Paul's going to deal with that in Galatians 
as well. But he spends more time just greeting them and loving 
them and caring for them, and then he deals with those issues. 
Galatians, right out of the chute, brief greeting and attack the 
problem. The truth of the gospel was at 
stake in Galatia. The rejection of Christ alone 
was at stake in Galatia, and Paul will have nothing to do 
with that. So, the gravity of the problem. Secondly, we have 
learned from this passage, perhaps not as much as I would have liked 
to bring out, the graciousness of the apostle. He hadn't given 
up hope. He had confidence in the Lord 
that God would bring them back to the right course. He is writing 
them in purpose. He is writing them in dependence 
upon the Lord. He is writing a sabbath to try 
and call them back so that they may run the race properly. We 
have learned as well there is a certain judgment of God upon 
heretics. It is unavoidable. He who troubles you shall bear 
his judgment whoever he is. We need to wake up. We need to 
realize that there is a calling involved in preaching the word 
and not just any man because he wants to ought to. He must 
be trained. He must be set apart. He must 
be recognized by the church. He must be approved. He must 
be a man who handles accurately the word of truth, because if 
he twists it, if he distorts it, if he messes it up, he's 
going to lead sinners to the pit. And finally, we have seen 
the necessity of obeying the truth. Believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ. The Bible says crystal clear 
and you shall be saved. That is a blessed statement, 
a blessed privilege, a blessed invitation, and one that I call 
you to respond to tonight. Well, let us pray. Father, we 
thank you for your Word, and we thank you for its clarity, 
we thank you for its power, we thank you for its efficacy, and 
we pray that you would guide us as we continue in our study 
of this great epistle of the Apostle Paul. Help us in our 
studies in Matthew, help us on Wednesday night, keep us, Father, 
close to your truth. Let us not waver, let us not 
depart, let us not seek to add to or take away from or supplement 
but may we indeed rest upon the revelation of God as we have 
it in these wonderful 66 books. We ask again that you would go 
with us, watch over your people in this congregation, and just 
bring glory to your name in our midst. We ask through Christ 
the Lord. Amen.