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e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e e welcome to everyone it's good to be back in the house of our God on this Lord's Day evening for our call to worship you can turn to Psalm 100 a familiar Psalm a good Psalm to introduce the worship of our living and true God Psalm 100 I'll begin reading in verse one a Psalm of Thanksgiving Make a Joyful Shout to the Lord all you lands serve the Lord with gladness come before his presence with singing know that the Lord he is God it is he who has made us and not we ourselves we are his people and the Sheep of his pasture enter into his gates with Thanksgiving and into his courts with praise be thankful to him and bless his name for the Lord is good his Mercy Mercy is Everlasting and his truth endures to all generations amen well please turn in your hym books to Psalm 22c Psalm 22c as in Charlie we'll stand as we sing together [Music] is pra the Lord children of his with his glor and his of the sorrow [Music] the he [Music] to his [Music] the soul and sis shall live and praise the Lord for his Mery the of all the Earth the worship the king of King [Music] Earth let us pray our great God and blessed father we thank you for this opportunity to gather again on the Lord's Day evening we praise your great and awesome name as we are called upon in the Psalms to bless your Holy Name to acknowledge your loving kindness and your goodness to express our thankfulness and gratitude to you for your works of creation for Providence and for Redemption we praise you that your power and your wisdom and your goodness are displayed in these works and especially that goodness that is demonstrated in the the the work of the Lord Jesus Christ on behalf of needy Sinners we praise you for that Grace and that Mercy we praise you that with you there is abundant redemption and forgiveness and we praise you for your your your loving kindness to each one here we ask that as we sing tonight as we pray tonight as we as we gather around the word of God we pray that you would be enthroned upon the Praises of your people here you would be glorified and honored and adored and worshiped that you would encourage and strengthen us build us up in our Most Holy Faith and cause us to leave from this place further conformed under the image of your blessed son help help us as we enter into a new week to walk in a manner that is consistent with our our calling in the Gospel of Jesus Christ and help us to shine as lights in a crooked and perverse generation and give us that boldness and courage necessary to hold forth your word of Truth we ask God that you would be merciful to us now as we gather together as we consider your Holiness and your righteousness and your majesty we see our own transgression and our lack of Conformity to that law we confess that sin now trusting in the advocacy of our Lord Jesus Christ we have that great encouragement from the Apostle John that if we do sin we have an advocate with the father even Jesus Christ the righteous so wash us now and purify us now in that precious blood and again father fill us with your holy spirit that we may walk carefully before you as well we pray that you would be merciful to any and all who've come here tonight that are dead in their trespasses and sins may you bless the proclamation of your gospel may you Open Hearts may you bring that conviction for sin and set forth Christ in all of his offices to save even as Prophet priest and King we ask that you'd bless our brother tonight as he comes to preach the word may you fill him with your spirit and give us the spirit that we might rightly receive that word and may it affect us for good as well God we pray for your blessing upon all those in our local church that are struggling with physical trials and challenges we pray that you would be great gracious and merciful to them you would uphold them by your by your power and by your goodness as well we pray for the several ladies in our congregation that are pregnant we thank you God for the the the blessing the rich blessing of so many children and little ones and we praise you God for these gifts and ask that you would bless the the babies in the wombs and that and in your time they would come forth and one day Born Again by the power of the Holy Spirit we ask God that you would be gracious to the several churches that we are are in communion with we thank you for the brethren in Suri and in Armstrong we pray for the Saints in Northern Ontario and as well God for the churches in medicon hat in pinoca and in Regina we praise you for the association that is forthcoming we ask God that it would be For Your Glory that it would be for the further strengthening of our churches and fellowship and communion in the gospel of our Lord Jesus and our God we pray for the persecuted church and the suffering Saints throughout the Earth we know there is great turmoil all throughout the world and we pray for our brothers and sisters that they would remain faithful in the midst of hardship and affliction our hearts go out in a particular way to the Saints in Cuba we know that this recent uh situation in terms of power outage and electric electricity shortages God we just pray that you would give the Brethren great grace and help and enable them to be able to continue to cook food and provide for themselves and bless the work of the Seminary may you continue to to uh cause men to be trained and to sent forth be sent forth in that land to proclaim the glories of Jesus Christ for the Salvation of Sinners be with the brethren in Myanmar God bless Peter and his wife and his kids and just strengthen him help him God to navigate in a most difficult situation with wisdom and with Grace from on high may you protect those children and may you provide for them food and shelter and clothing and all the things that they stand in need of we do pray God for a ceasefire in that land we pray that there would be some degree of peace and stability that there would be the opportunity for more gospel work and more conversions to our Lord Jesus Christ in that land god thank you again for this time tonight bless our time of worship strengthen us and and be glorified in the midst of the assembly and we pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ amen we can turn again in your hym books to 459 459 we'll stand as we sing together [Music] trly Jus ground s all s [Music] is unchanging gra every High [Music] my all ground is sing all ground s his hope is [Music] and all my he all [Music] my ground singing [Music] Christ all [Music] you can turn in your Bibles to the Book of Joshua Joshua chapter 13 for our scripture reading this evening as we're moving through the Book of Numbers we see the the difficulties of that the first generation in the wilderness and yet Joshua sure us that they finally make it to the land and Joshua basically is a four-part book we've got them entering the land according to Chapters 1: 4 taking the land in chapters 5 to2 and this next section is the division or the dividing of the land in chapters 13 to 21 and the book ends with chapters 22 to 24 basically exhortation on retaining or keeping the land by God's grace and by their faithfulness so Joshua 13 beginning the the the division of the land now Joshua was old advanced in years and the Lord said to him you are old advanced in years and there remains very much land yet to be possessed this is the land that yet remains all the territory of the Philistines and all that of the gites from sior uh which is east of Egypt as far as the border of erron northward which is counted as Canaanite the five Lords of the Philistines the gites the ashad ites the ashalon ites the gites and the ecrites also the aites from the south all the land of the Canaanites and mea that belongs to the sidonians as far as APAC to the border of the amorites the land of the gabites and all Lebanon toward the sunrise from balad below Mount Herman as far as the entrance to HTH all the inhabitants of the brook of of the mountains from Lebanon as far as the brook mrao and all the side iians them I will drive out from before the children of Israel only divide it by lot to Israel as an inheritance as I have commanded you now therefore divide this land as an inheritance to the nine tribes and half the tribe of Manasseh with the other halft tribe with the other halft tribe the reubenites and the gadites received their inheritance which Moses had given them beyond the Jordan Eastward as Moses the servant of the Lord had given them from aror which is on the bank of the river Arnon and the town that is in the midst of the Ravine and all the plain of medba as far as Debon all the cities of Sion King of the amorites who reigned in heshbon as far as the border of the children of Ammon Gilead and the border of the gites and meites all Mount Hermon and all Bashan as far as Sala all the kingdom of OG and Bashan who reigned in ashteroth and ID who remained of the remnant of the of the Giants for Moses had defe defeated cast out these nevertheless the children of Israel did not drive out the gites or the meites but the gites and the meath sites dwelt among the Israelites until this day only to the tribe of Levi he had given no inheritance the sacrifices of the Lord God of Israel made by fire are their inheritance as he said to them and Moses had given to the tribe of the children of Reuben an inheritance according to their families their ter territory was from arar which is on the bank of the river Arnon and the city that is in the midst of the Ravine and all the plain by meta heshbon and all its cities that are in the plain Debon bamoth Bal Beth Bale Mayon jhaza cth me meath kirame sidma zerth Shahar on the mountain of the Valley Beth peor the slips uh slopes of pisca and Beth jeso all the cities of the plain and all the kingdom of sihon King of the amorites who reigned in heshbon whom Moses had struck with the princes of Midian eie rean Zur her and reeba who were princes of sihon dwelling in the country the children of Israel also killed with the sword balum the son of beor the soothsayer among those who were killed by them and the border of the children of Reuben was the bank of the Jordan this was the inheritance of the children of Reuben according to their families the cities and their Village Moses also had given in an inheritance to the tribe of GAD to the children of GAD according to their families their ter territory was jzer and all the cities of Gilead and aror which is before rabba and from heshbon to Rath mispah and bonim and from Mahan to the border of deir and in the valley of Beth heram Beth nimra suo and zah zon the rest of the kingdom of sihon king of heshbon with the Jordan as its border as far as the edge of the Sea of kenth on the other side of the Jordan Eastward this is the inheritance of the children of God according to their families the cities and their Villages Moses also had given an inheritance to half the tribe of Manasseh it was for half the tribe of the children of Manasseh according to their families their territory was from Mahan name Al Bashan all the kingdom of OG king of Bashan and all the town towns of Jer which are in Bashan 60 cities half of Gilead and ashtaroth and idra cities of the kingdom of a and Bashan were for the children of makir the son of manessa for half the children of makir according to their families these are the areas which Moses had distributed as an inheritance in the plains of Moab on the other side of the Jordan by Jericho Eastward but to the tribe of Levi Moses had given no inheritance the Lord God of Israel was their inheritance as he had said to them amen well let us pray our gracious God and Holy Father as we come to the Book of Joshua we see your uh promises are yay and amen we see that what you g said to Abraham Isaac and Jacob was realized and fulfilled in the conquest under Joshua we thank you for that Joshua of the New Testament our blessed Lord Jesus Christ the one who came to save his people from their sins a a conquest that in many ways p and significance what what we find here in the Old Testament we see the Old Testament pointed forward it prefigured it typified and certainly demonstrated the glory that was to come we thank you for Redemption we thank you for that blood atonement wrought by our savior and we thank you that in this new covenant era you have made us Kings and Priests to our God and that you are our portion and our lot and we praise you through Christ Jesus our lord amen well you can turn in your hym books again to 543 before our brother comes up to preach 543 we stand as we sing [Music] together all my might Christ is streng and Christ My All Shall be by joy [Music] and lift up my eyes and see [Music] Christ is [Music] Christ his Mercy will proide and the trting Soul shall Christ [Music] Christ his arm are CH and th here only Christ is [Music] all good evening to everyone you can turn with me in your Bibles to the book of Galatians the book of Galatians we're going to be doing an occasional study through the book of Galatians in the in the evening worship uh Pastor Butler will still be preaching through uh Philippians uh for the bulk of those evenings um but on the uh on occasion we'll look at the book of Galatians working through the entirety of the book and so tonight will be uh a bit of an introduction to the book but we'll focus in on verses 1 to5 so I'll read from Galatians 1 beginning at verse 1 though through verse 10 so Galatians 1 beginning at verse 1 this is the word of God Paul an apostle not from men nor through man but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead and all the Brethren who are with me to the churches of galatia grace to you and peace from God the father and our Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins that he might Deliver Us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father to whom be glory forever and ever amen 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 preach to you let him be accursed as we have said before so now I say again if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received let him be ACC cursed for do I now persuade men or God or do I seek to please men for if I still pleased men I would not be a bond servant of Christ amen well let us pray Heavenly Father we thank you for this time in worship the preaching of your word we pray that you would bless us by the presence of your Holy Spirit we pray that we might be lifted up to high thoughts of of you our Triune God and we pray that we would be lifted up by that Spirit to high thoughts of our Christ who came into this world Sinners to save we thank you for that precious gospel and we pray that you'd help us now to worship you a right in spirit and in truth we pray in the name of Jesus Christ Our Savior amen well the book of Galatians is a is a glorious epistle in the history of the Christian Church perhaps one of those most liberating Epistles if you will especially not exclud not exclusive to but especially when we look at the Protestant Reformation and the recovery of true Doctrine with regards to the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ we know as we've heard before or you've possibly heard before that Martin Luther was liberated by the doctrine that this book holds forth in shining Glory the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone uh it was a book cherished not only by the Reformation but by the church throughout the ages as those enemies of the gospel of Christ had do seek in every Century in every decade to throw the people of Christ off course from believing the truth no doubt animated by the Devil Himself those uh errorists those teachers throughout history who seek to steal Christians away from the precious doctrine of justification by faith alone in our blessed savior and Paul immediately medely gets to the heart of the matter in this particular epistle that that will'll look at next Lord's Day evening beginning at verse 6 but we want to look at verses 1-5 in a number of moments here just to see how the Apostle Paul begins this epistle and actually with the language he uses here he serves the emphasis of the epistle with the language that he uses to introduce it but just some some backdrop before we get into the the sermon proper uh the the region of galatia is named after the guls uh perhaps any history Buffs out there might recognize that name they were uh large collection of Celtic tribes um in um in ancient history prior to the birth of the Lord Jesus Christ they had migrated from Europe uh to Asia Minor in around the the 3 Century BC um much like the Vikings in fact who were commissioned by the Saxons in England to be mercenaries in military Endeavors against competing kingdoms the the uh the Celtics the the Kelts the GS in this case were commissioned by helenistic Kings to carry out militaristic attacks against their enemies and so these Gaul these these uh uh these Galati as the Romans and the Greeks would call them as the Greeks would call them um came to the region of Asia Minor in the 3r century BC and and over time as Rome became more prominent both the northern galatia region and the southern galatia region essentially become romanized there were uh fading retentions of their Celtic religion but eventually they become hellenized they become romanized and at the time of the writing of the Apostle Paul uh they were largely uh largely Roman um absorbed into the Roman Empire and Roman the Roman culture of that day the the timing of this epistle is most likely around 48 or 49 ad and it follows after we'll look at this in a moment but it follows immediately after Paul's first missionary journey within a within a very short amount of time after Paul's first missionary journey so when we look at the verse here to the churches of galatia uh we would want to note then if you'll back up with me to the book of Acts who these churches are as you're turning there there are two theories with regards to the recipients who the recipients of this letter are uh who are these churches of galatia are the churches in Northern galatia which was sort of the first uh original location of the kingdom of the gulls uh or the kingdom of galatia or is it to the southern galatian churches that we find in the book of Acts specifically beginning in Acts 13 uh most likely it is this latter the southern galatia uh Theory as um as being that which rests upon the biblical data especially as we see it in the book of Acts now we don't need to work through the entirety of the of the the discourse here but acts 13 Begins the first missionary journey of the Apostle Paul where he and Barnabas are sent out for gospel Proclamation and we see that initially they they sail from Antioch and Syria to uh Cyprus and they they go to Pathos first and then they go um and then they go to um uh paos in pamilia so they they sail to the island of Cyprus they Minister there then they travel North to pamilia which is right on the coast and then they immediately go north there into the region of galatia into the region of Southern galatia and that's where we find the largest part of the missionary journey uh Paul ministering in and amongst those churches in galatia notice first at 1313 the ministry in Antioch in pidia or pidan Antioch we have that wonderful declaration that the Apostle Paul gives to both Jews and Gentiles concerning the Conquering Jesus who came into this world notice and this is an important connection to the book of Galatians verse 39 of Acts 13 and by him that is by Christ everyone who believes is Justified from all things which you could not be justified by the law of Moses and so Paul continues to preach throughout the region of galatia as we move uh as we move into chapter 14 in the book of Acts he goes to Iconium then to lisra then to Derby and so those are the cities that constitute the churches of of galaa pidan Antioch Iconium lisra and Derby and you'll notice that at the end of the account of chapter 14 we have so what we have is the Apostle Paul going out ministering to Southern galatian churches and then he comes back through those self-same churches notice at verse 21 of Acts 14 and when they had preached the gospel to that city that is to Derby and made many disciples they returned to lisra Iconium and Antioch that is pidan Antioch strengthening The Souls of the disciples exhorting them to continue in the faith and so um when Paul is writing to the churches in galatia he's writing to these churches that we just noted uh and he's writing very soon after that first missionary journey that's why we can read in that first chapter of Galatians I Marvel that you are so soon turning away from the gospel of your salvation notice as well that this the timing of this letter if it is 4849 ad then that falls prior to the Jerusalem Council in Acts chapter 15 Acts chapter 15 is about the very subject matter of the book of Galatians justify uh how are we Justified before a righteous and a holy God notice at verse one of chapter 15 and certain men came down from Judea and taught the Brethren unless you are are circumcised according to the custom of Moses you cannot be saved therefore when Paul and Barnabas had no small dissension and dispute with them they they determined that Paul and Barnabas and certain others of them should go up to Jerusalem to the apostles and Elders about this question so this this very same conflict over circumcision this error being propagated that unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses you cannot be saved this is the very error that was not prevailing but perniciously penetrating the churches in uh Southern galatia now notice just very briefly regarding the timing of the authorship and why it's most likely the case that the Apostle Paul wrote this in 49 ad prior to this Council setting aside the fact that Paul never mentions this important Council to the churches in galatia when it's about the very subject of that letter but notice at verse 28 of Acts 14 so they stayed there a long time with the disciples so the Apostle Paul has time there in Syrian Antioch to write the epistle to the Galatians so finding a finding our way back to that epistle we notice then that these churches of galatia are as we take up sort of the center of the passage verses 1-5 the churches of galatia are those that we see in the first missionary journey of the apostle Paul uh and Barnabas as they Minister the gospel to the churches there now regarding the value of this epistle The Majestic and glorious nature of this epistle Martin Luther said this using his his wife as a particular metaphor the epistle to the Galatians is my epistle to it I am as it were in wedlock it is my Catherine was the name of his wife and the reason that he writes that is because it was so precious to him him so precious to his soul as one who had labored under the heavy-handedness of the papacy as one who had labored under the the heavy tyranny and under the the the tentacles of the Roman Catholic Church which which says that faith in Christ is not enough but you have to adhere to sacramental Theology and the works of the law in order to truly be justified Martin Luther is saved by amazing Ing and Victorious Grace and he is as it were liberated from the tyranny of error and the error that we see propagated by those who said that the ceremonies of Moses are necessary for salvation so let's now move to the passage and first off while moving to the book of Galatians before we look at the passage specifically I want to do an introduction to the subject matter of the book looking at a few places in Galatians to point out three particular things so in introduction to the subject matter of the book the first thing that we want to note is that regarding the error the pernicious error affecting the churches there is this pernicious error affecting the churches and we see the gravity of it first not it explicitly stated yet but the gravity of it stated in verses six uh verses 8 uh excuse me verses 6-9 I Marvel again 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 so right at the outset where we we can remark with respect to the gravity of the error that is uh that is invading infecting these galatian churches it's not simply a small issue a small matter it's not simply differences on which way the grain of the go goph for Ark and uh gr gopher wood and knowah his ark went but it's with respect to the serious matter of justification by faith alone it's it's connected to the very heart of Christianity the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ it's a different gospel in fact it's not a gospel at all but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ and then we have these grave words with respect to the accursed nature uh connected to this error but even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than what we have preach to you let him be ACC cursed and the Apostle Paul repeats that again a two-fold repetition whenever the Apostle Paul repeats something twice uh we should pay attention when those invading the churches of galatia are bringing a message not just a sideline message not just the stuff of ancillary or tertiary Christianity but the very primary topic of Christian Liberty justification by faith alone through Christ alone when these enemies of the Gospel are opposing the very heart of that gospel it is right for the Apostle Paul to say that such are accursed and to repeat that let them be accursed and so we have this pernicious error with regards to what the error is we already noted from acts 15 that it was teaching that the mosaic ceremonies specifically circumcision and no doubt they pressed others but circumcision is at the heart of it that the Mosaic ceremonies are required in addition to faith in Christ for salvation notice notice at Galatians 3:1 similar language to I Marvel but here he uses the language oh foolish Galatians and he amplifies it by saying who has Bewitched you that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified this only I want to learn from you did you receive the Spirit by The Works of the law or by the hearing of Faith are you so foolish having begun in the spirit are you now being made perfect by the flesh have you suffered so many things in vain if indeed it was in vain so the point of the Apostle Paul here is that he's bringing bringing out the error that these Christians were being were being stolen away by the idea that yes it's good to go so far in the spirit yes it's good to go so far as having professed faith in the Lord Jesus Christ but in order to be accepted by God you have to finish it with works of the flesh notice again the language having begun in the spirit are you now being made perfect by the Flesh and then as well we see in Galatians 52:4 again what the pernicious error is there we read the following 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 have attempted 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 now we ought not to we uh read that rigidly and with some sort of wood wooden literalism I don't want to get too graphic uh with this but if there are any circumcised men out there who had that because of you know birth and health and uh you know we'll just say birth reasons when you came into this world it's it's not a condemnation for anybody who has been circumcised with respect to a cultural or a a medical act the idea of course in view is the emphasis upon or the stress that one needs to be circumcised in order to be finally accepted before God so we have this pernicious error and the language that has been used of these people as you've heard from Pastor Butler over the years and and others as well they're called judaizers the the emology or one of the beginnings of that word we can find in Galatians 2 at verse4 judaizer isn't just a word that you know the reformers made up or something or that uh people in the early church just made up and applied to these people unjustly but it's a word that actually comes from the Bible itself notice in Galatians 2 at verse 14 but when I saw that they were not straightforward about the truth of the Gospel I said to Peter before them all if you being a Jew live in the man manner of Gentiles and not as Jews why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews that could literally read why do you compel Gentiles to judaize and so they are these judaizers who have gone about and sought to destroy and pervert the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ stealing away disciples unto themselves and cast casting into the dirt the very saving Perfection of the Lord Jesus Christ now we have this pernicious error affecting the church we also have then the reigning truth that is to be confessed by the churches the Apostle Paul as he's dealing with these errorists as he's dealing with these Heretics seeking to steal away disciples he also then on the flip side of that proclaims the truth that is to be believed is if this error is to be cast off if these people are not to be believed but to be avoided and to be called forth as such who are anathema a cursed damned to destruction then what is it that we are to remember what truth is it that we are to emphasize what is the very heart of our Christian Happiness joy hope and peace well Paul brings this out in a number of places but only very briefly Galatians 2:16 remember where talking about the subject matter of the book so it's Paul dealing with error by now as we'll see answering that error with the Blessed truth notice Galatians 2:16 this comes in the context of the Apostle Paul rehearsing his opposition to Peter who had stumbled a little bit in his dealing with Gentiles but notice at verse 16 at Galatians 2 knowing that a man is not justified by The Works of the law but by by faith in Jesus Christ even we have believed in Christ Jesus that we might be justified by faith in Christ and not by The Works of the law for by The Works of the law no flesh shall be justified and that if if we could what is the the theological substance of the book of Galatians it is in essence Galatians 2:16 Paul in a three-fold manner with negations and affirmations upholds what the truth is to be in opposition to this error we are not justified by The Works of the law but by faith in Jesus Christ as well the truth is Amplified as Paul Works through Galatians chapter 3 with regards to the liberty or the Salvation connected to Faith In Christ notice notice in Galatians 3 at verse 7 therefore know that only those who are of Faith are sons of Abraham now perhaps in the future we can have a with this with this working through Galatians we can have a an excursus on covenant theology and baptism but for a Reformed Baptist to come to Galatians he is first to come to galations like Martin Luther because it is that blessed and glorious Majestic epistle that speaks to Christian Liberty that is specifically justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ but it is also a blessed rep repository for the reformed or particular Baptist as we see the Apostle Paul here not upholding Abraham as the model for uh for covenantal uh for the Covenant of Grace but rather dealing with those who were perverting Abraham as a model for their own particular approach to Salvation highlights who really are the the Seed of Abraham those who are of Faith there is a blessed and intimate connection to the doctrine of salvation to the doctrine of baptism it is only those who are children of Abraham those who are his seed or those who are connected to that Capital SC Jesus Christ who are to be baptized again therefore know that only those who are of Faith are sons of Abraham so only those who are of Faith are such as who are to be baptized but notice the language of 13113 as we see the truth set against error by the Apostle Paul Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law having become a curse for us for it is written cursed is everyone who hangs on a tree that The Blessing of Abraham might come upon the Gentiles in Christ Jesus that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith you know as he's dealing dealing with these judaizers and as he's dealing with an audience that may largely be Jews um some have sort of went to either side are they entirely Gentiles or entirely Jews it's probably a mix of both but probably largely Jews who had found themsel not found themselves in galatia but uh had uh had in the diaspora went to Asia Minor and gone to galatia and were equipped with the knowledge of the Old Testament who had studied the oldest Testament who as converted Jews appreciated the reality and the connection of the Old Testament to the Lord Jesus Christ and he can preach to them or write to them and speak with regards to Old Covenant matters The Blessing of Abraham and highlight that if you go after error you're not upholding the purity of abrahamic religion but much rather you are opposing old Covenant and abrahamic religion the religion of the Triune God who promis Pro that he would bless the Gentiles by virtue of Jesus Christ that through the promise to Abraham where many nations would come to a knowledge of God Christ Jesus would be the Redeemer of both Jew and Gentile that we might receive the promise of the spirit through faith and then if you'll just there are a number of places but let's just turn back for a moment to Galatians 2 before we move on to the implications of rejecting the truth for the error because that's also what the Apostle Paul deals with I if anything is to hit the hard or cut to the quick for these galations as Paul is writing to them I believe it it's Galatians 220 and 21 imagine you're you're you're a converted Jew uh you're you're a Christian it doesn't necessarily have to be an ethn a converted Jew um Jew or Gentile and you're you're being you're being being tempted by these Juda judaizers you know they they come with this measure of authority they're speaking with this strong rhetoric um they're they're they're talking about the application of the Mosaic law God God gave the Mosaic law it was a a good law that he gave to the people of Israel perhaps there's something to these judaizers in saying that we must add to our faith um these particular Works in order to be part of the Covenant people in order to be accepted by God these converted Christians and if if there if any of the recipients of the letter were Christians the converted Christians who are receiving this letter they they get verse 21 and we'd have to imagine that that would cut to the quick in a manner similar to when you know Jesus Christ looks with his eyes upon Peter after Peter had just denied him three times notice the language of Galatians 20 20 excuse me Galatians 2:21 what what's at stake here I do not set aside the grace of God for if righteousness comes through the law then Christ died in vain the very thing that is at the heart of the Christian confession the the very thing that is the lifeblood of Christianity that is the cross of the Lord Jesus Christ if these galatian Christians were to lay hold of error and allow this different gospel which is not a gospel at all to make a foothold in the churches of galatia they are essentially saying that Christ died in vain so this is why the Apostle Paul one of the reasons why the Apostle Paul backing up to Galatians 1 moves so quickly into the subject matter of the epistle as Pastor Butler has noted before and noted recently there's not much there's zero praise given to the galatian Christians here in fact there's something notable as compared for example to the letters to the Corinthians when Doctrine is at stake the the subject matter of the epistle is immediately launched into there's something interesting with regards to the greeting to the churches of galatia you can if you if you have quick hands and quick fingers you can back up to the Book of Romans the Apostle Paul of course wrote the book of Romans notice Romans verse uh 7 of chapter 1 to all who are in Rome beloved of God Called to be Saints notice 1 Corinthians chapter 1 1 Corinthians chapter 1 at verse 2 to the Church of God which is at Corinth to those who are Sanctified in Christ Jesus called to be Saints with all who in every place call on the name of Jesus Christ Our Lord both theirs and ours turn just two more turn to Ephesians for a moment Ephesians chapter 1 verse one verse 1 B to the Saints who are in Ephesus and faithful in Christ Jesus and then Philippians to all the saints in Christ Jesus who are in Philippi with the Bishops and deacons and so finding our way back to the book of Galatians what do we have there to the churches of Galatians I I don't think that's just because he you know he just didn't have time or he forgot to include to the Saints in the churches of galatia to the churches of galatia and all the saints therein who are faithful in the Lord Jesus Christ I think it's because this letter comes with the weight of destroying the error that was so pernicious in the Church of galatia when Doctrine is at stake and when truth is at stake Paul cuts to the quick quickly in order in order to dash away the heresies that affect the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ notice the implications for rejecting the truth for the error we already saw two of those the two-fold anathema given in verses 8 and N but notice at chapter 3 and verse 10 so we have the pernicious error affecting the churches we have the reigning truth that is to be be confessed by the churches and we have the implications of rejecting the truth for error now notice verse 10 of Galatians 3 for as many as are of the works of the law are under its curse are under the curse for it is written cursed is everyone who does not continue in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them so what do we how does that connect to the implications for rejecting the truth for ER well if you reject justification by faith alone for this error that was so pernicious you are subject to the entirety of the law of God to obey every jot and tit because you've put yourself under the Covenant of Works to be obedient to law in order to be accepted before God if you are if you put yourself under the Covenant of works you put yourself under the curse for it is written cursed is everyone who does not uh continue in all things were which are written in the book of the law to do them and then 49 notice at 49 the implication for rejecting the truth for error Galatians 4 at ver9 but now after you have known God or rather known by God how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to be in bondage so we have anathemas or pronouncements of uh being a cursed we have the fact that those who reject Truth for error Place themselves under the curse of the law and then we have the fact that those who reject the truth for error are such who are in bondage to the law in bondage to their own fleshly lusts in bondage to their own narcissism in bondage the devil who promotes the wickedness of rejecting Christ so let's look then at the stuff of Galatians 1 with just our brief remaining time Galatians 1: 1 to 5 understanding that in the background we have this percious error affecting the churches we have the reigning truth that is to be confessed by these churches in opposition to the error and we have these looming implications of rejecting the truth for the error notice first asserting uh Paul asserts his Apostolic Authority he asserts his Apostolic Authority First his office and then the origin of his office notice Paul an apostle not from men nor through men but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead now this isn't simply an identification of the author it is that it is an identification of the author but Paul is also arguing here for his authority and and the authenticity and purity of his message in opposition to the errorists message these false Apostles these judaizers who were going about preaching another gospel which is no gospel at all would have no doubt not only in addition to to preaching heretical error and errors that stand under anathema they would have been preaching against the Apostle Paul they would have been AR they would have argued that they themselves are the Apostles of God that they themselves are the apostles the The Messengers of a proper religion and denigrating the Apostle Paul perhaps saying that they were sent by God but Paul was just sent by men he wasn't with the disciples the original disciples in Jerusalem perhaps he was according to him um converted on the road to Damascus he was not immediately a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ in his Earthly Ministry and no doubt he is just sent by man that's why the Apostle Paul highlights in this parenthetical statement in our Bibles that he's an apostle not from man nor through man but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead it's that wonderful emphasis o on the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ because on that road to Damascus it was Resurrection power uh that converted Paul remember that that resurrection power is that same power that brought creation into existence from nothing according to Paul in in First Corinthians uh in fir uh 2 Corinthians chapter 4 that same power in creation and that same power in the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ is the self-same power that brought the Apostle Paul from Darkness to light on the road to Damascus and it's the same power that illuminated the Apostle Paul for his apostleship that he might go out and preach the truth he is the one from God he is the one from God our Father who raised the Lord Jesus Christ from the dead he is not from men nor through man but from Jesus Christ and this Accords with the the conversion account of the Apostle Paul remember he was not we we see later as we'll get to later portions in the text that he was not the immediate recipient of Earthly teachers he was the immediate recipient of the teaching of the Risen and exalted Christ he is he is uh interrupted on the road to Damascus by our glorious savior he's converted and he's commissioned by the Lord Jesus Christ for his apostil ship and so he is not from men nor through man but through Jesus Christ conversely these who are preaching this regrettable and horrific error that destroys the Gospel of Jesus Christ were from men and through men so Paul's identification and then we see here the addition of the Brethren who are with him now that's significant notice Paul an apostle not from men nor through men but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead and all the Brethren who are with me I don't think that either is just something oh okay you know I'm writing this epistle and you know he's looking around oh okay I'll add these guys in here I think it's very significant for the weight of the epistle we have the weight of the Apostle Paul coming the Apostle Paul himself the minister the Apostle to the Gentiles but we also have this weight of a multitude of fellow consenting counselors that are with the Apostle Paul what does this speak to it speaks to doctrinal consent the Apostle Paul is not alone in believing the precious doctrine of justification by faith alone but the Brethren that are with me probably his intimate circle of friends and fellows those that are with him consent to this self-same doctrine that you're rejecting if you for whatever reason reject my word don't reject the word of the Brethren who are with me the force of their doctrinal consent they likewise affirm the truth and oppose the error and not only do we have Christian consent here with this clause and all the Brethren who are with me but we would have Christian concern you know this is a polemic letter but it comes with love it comes with love it's not it doesn't come with a weight of hatred it comes from the heart of a pastor who said that what comes upon me daily is this this constant concern for the churches of Jesus Christ and so when the churches of Jesus Christ are being affected by devilish error and the wickedness of men he is pre he comes to preach this weighty Doctrine and the weight of the Brethren that are with him the Christian concern that comes from the love of not just Paul from all of these Brethren uh but from all of these Brethren the the charges the reproofs the warning the admonitions that can come from these Brethren the the hope no doubt here is that the weight of this uh will add to the very weight of the truth in order to bring these to repentance in order to have them shake the to shake their metaphorical heads and obey the truth as it is in Jesus Christ Our Savior and lastly notice we have this rehearsing the triumphant and exclusive glory of the Gospel of God close with this observation of verses 3-5 this again is something that serves the weight of the entire letter it's not a simple General reflection upon the gospel it is a reflection upon the glory of the Gospel but it's in order that he might set that as a foundation to Now launch into this subject matter in order perhaps to First fill their hearts with the knowledge of the saving gospel so that they might be all the more ready to turn from being uh confused and stolen away back to the truth as it is in Christ notice that we have if you recall a number of months ago we looked at various uh pieces anatomies of letters we looked at benedictions we looked at doxologies we looked at uh some other things salutations greetings that sort of a thing well notice we have a benediction and a doxology in a greeting it it's very interesting in the span of these three verses we have first a benediction and then we have blessed theology closed off with doxology so notice first the benediction grace to you and peace from God the father and our Lord Jesus Christ the Apostle Paul very often uses this two-fold convention uh sometimes there is a uh love that is included in there sometimes the order is reversed sometimes there are more than two particular uh blessings that that are listed but very often we see this and predominantly we see this grace to you and peace and the Galatians needed that didn't they they they needed we all need Grace and peace but in a particular measure as opposed to some of the other churches for example the church in Philippi which did not have the same weight of error the same immediacy of pmic writing by the Apostle Paul Grace and peace was was much needed Grace to oppose these errorists uh Grace to not have their hearts stolen away by uh by adherence to law in order to be saved the the weight of Grace to press upon their Christian Minds to recall the Blessed Gospel of Jesus Christ which he which he opens up next and so they would need this grace and no doubt no doubt they would need peace peace we all need peace it is the the very thing that Christians enjoy with respect to peace is connected to the very doctrine that Galatians is all about the Apostle Paul writes elsewhere therefore having been justified by faith we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ to to subject yourself to the teachings of these errorists to subject yourself to the notion that you must obey that you must do these work works of the flesh that you must obey Mosaic law in order to be saved there's no peace in that there's no resting and Lasting peace in in adding your own fleshly Works to the works of Christ that's why that's why Luther can say the epistle to the Galatians is my epistle I'm in wedlock with it it it is my wife because he he knew the rigors of a law obedience religion and and make no mistake the the law Obedience of Roman Catholicism has not gone away and it's not just it's not just works added to Faith in order to be saved but if you have if you have time and you want to Google it children if you ask your parents if you want to watch it but The Madness of the idolatry and the error of such religion has mounted to a place where thousands of people will tape rocks to their knes and walk around not walk around but Shuffle around statues of Mary in order to Merit time off in their stint in purgatory so error The Madness of error the perniciousness of error in infects the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ can enter within its Gates and we need to be filled with the grace and with the peace of God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ that they might might impress Upon Our Minds by the spirit the blessing of justification by faith alone notice the rehearsal of divine Redemption Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins verse four that he might Deliver Us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father Again this isn't simply a general reflection upon gospel Glory but it is also specifically designed to set the foundation for the entirety of the epistle Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins the madness then for you to seek to add to your faith in Christ works that are not christs but that are your own the Blessed Son of God the second of the Blessed Triune came down from heaven assumed our nature without sin in order that he might redeem many sons to glory and so it it it is understandable that the Apostle Paul will then later write that for you to seek to be obedient to the law that is in essence to render the Cross of Christ vanity who gave himself for our sins what a blessed Clause that the Son of God gave himself he gave himself for our sins you know you know as Christians it you know as we sin is is your first motion of your heart to you know find out which Mosaic ceremony you can do no it's not it's to reflect with the joy of your Christian heart upon so great a Salvation that Jesus Christ gave himself for our sins when we sin it is our hope in our own flesh to somehow counterbalance the wickedness that we do with our own Good Deeds if that's if that's our religious vantage point then Christ has died in vain then we are casting the Cross of Christ into the mud of fleshly and beggarly elements he gave himself for our sins what a blessed thing that the creator of all came down that he might give himself for us and not only that he gave himself for our sins or we could say that the purpose connected to the giving of himself for our sins is this next Clause that he might Deliver Us from this present evil age according according to the will of our God and Father now that would that has a double Force I think a general and a specific one specifically it has to do with that worldly and that present evil age connected to the judaizing elements among them but at large it has salvific to do with the fact that it's not about so much a change of location but a a a change of of status or a a change of connection to a particular Kingdom remember the the the language of of Paul in the book of Colossians that we have by virtue of the work of Christ been conveyed from the kingdom of darkness from out of the kingdom of darkness and into the kingdom of the son of God's love that is the stuff of this Deliverance Christ gave himself for our sins that he might Deliver Us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father Paul emphasizes the sacrificial work of the Lord Jesus Christ The Amazing Grace of God in bringing us from out of Darkness into Marvelous Light and the Very Sovereign good pleasure and will of God that it would be so this this massive emphasis with the character and the glory of God the Blessed exclusive salvation in Jesus Christ and the exclusivity of Amazing Grace in that salvation is brought to bear upon these galatian churches that they might have the weight of Truth shatter their inclinations to seek after error and to follow after these judaizers and he closes with this blessed doxology to whom be glory forever and ever amen that that isn't routine either when whenever the apostles close with that to whom be glory forever and ever amen you know God is not glorist or somehow lacks in elements of glory and we have to fill that up by our you know praises and those sorts of things when we give God glory when we render Glory unto God that that simply means that we recognize his Divine perfection and the glory of his works and we ascribe praise and honor to him because he's worthy to be praised in the exclusive work of Salvation by Jesus Christ in this Amazing Grace deliverance and in his Sovereign good pleasure he is to be praised and honored forever and ever it the Christian's job in worship is to recognize the glory of our God to to give him glory to recognize his intrinsic Perfections and to recognize the blessedness of his extrinsic Works in giving Christ for our sins in giv giving us the preciousness of Deliverance and so as we work through this book of Galatians we'll see the perniciousness of error we'll see the glory and the repetition of the Blessed truth and we'll see the Apostle Paul consistently bringing bringing ink to paper that he might steal these back from from Temptations to go after Madness and to Behold The Glory of justification by faith alone and if you're here tonight that's wherein your Christian joy and peace resides it's in justification by faith alone it's in the Perfection of the work of Jesus Christ it's in no spot or measure because of what you do because of those things done uh according to worldly standards or by your own flesh but your joy and peace is intimately linked to the finished work of Jesus Christ and isn't that a glorious thing that that our our joy and our happiness isn't dependent upon or linked to how we perform with regards to some religious obedience that's that's why that's how our joy and our hope and our our happiness will will never be like that necessarily our our Christian Joy when we if we hone in our Christian Joy it should never be like that because it isn't linked to us to the EB and flow of our own doings and thinkings but it's directly linked to the finished work of Jesus Christ and the glory of the god of Amazing Grace So Saint rest upon the king of Peace Jesus Christ and unbeliever if you're here this evening the only hope the only true lasting happiness and joy is in Jesus Christ who gave himself for our sins let's pray Heavenly Father we thank you for your word of Truth we thank you for the Glorious gospel goel of our blessed God uh we thank you for Paul uh emboldened by the spirit of God to defend truth against error and we pray that we would greatly appreciate the doctrine of justification by faith alone in Christ alone as that uh stuff of the the heartbeat of the Christian the Blessed uh Central truth with regards to Christianity we pray that you'd help us to lay hold of that that our peace our joy uh uh our um our Christian Hearts would be linked to to that and not not linked to The Madness of our own flesh we pray that you'd go with us into this week that you'd help us to live in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Sovereign Grace help us to bring honor to you and all the while resting upon the exclusive and perfect work of Jesus Christ Our Savior we pray in his precious name amen we'll have a brief time of prayer and then you're dismissed when the piano is finished e e for