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Paul's epistle to the Galatians, 
picking up in verses 6-10 this morning. We look at what the 
Apostle considers as most important with reference to Christianity. 
Galatians 1, I'll just read verses 1-10, and then we'll ask the 
Lord's blessing upon our time together. 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, 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 preached 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 
accursed. 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 bondservant of Christ. Amen. Well, let us pray. Our Father in Heaven, we thank 
You for this epistle to the Galatians. We thank You, Lord God, for Paul's 
answer to those who would tamper with the Gospel of free and sovereign 
grace. How we thank You, Lord God Most 
High, for this book and the history of the church. We thank You, 
Lord God, for the Reformation and for the truths that were 
reiterated at that time in church history. And God, we pray for 
our own generation that these things would be thundered afresh 
that Your people would be doctrinally sound, that Your people would 
understand Your Word and the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ. 
God, we pray now that You would fill each one of us with Your 
Holy Spirit, that You would forgive us for all of our sin, that You 
would help us, Lord God, to receive eagerly Your Word, to leave from 
this place having had dealings with our God. And we ask through 
Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. Well, if you were to compare 
the letter to the Galatians to all of Paul's other epistles, 
with the exception of 1 Timothy, at this point in his letter, 
verse 6, we would expect his next two words to be, I thank. 
In every other letter, again, except for 1 Timothy, after giving 
that greeting to the church, he then stops, or he then thanks 
God, or he pronounces blessing upon God. And he gives specific 
thanks for the churches to whom he is writing, or in 2 Timothy, 
to Timothy himself. Such is not the case here. Instead 
of the two words, I thank, we find Paul say, I marvel. Or literally, 
I am astonished. I am amazed. He immediately addresses 
the issue that is affecting the churches of Galatia. And it is 
helpful for us and it is good for us to see how Paul gets to 
business and how he attacks error and falsehood and heresy by setting 
forth the truth of Jesus Christ and Him crucified. Now this morning 
as we take up verses 6-10, we'll notice three things. The first 
is the astonishment of the Apostle. Secondly, the defection of the 
Galatians. And thirdly, the curse pronounced 
upon Heretics. So there is astonishment, there 
is defection, and there is a curse pronounced by the Apostle Paul. 
Notice, first of all, his concern. Now, as we consider Paul's letters, 
as we consider the book of Acts, I think we would all describe 
Paul as a very gracious character, a very kind man, a very humble 
man, a very loving man. But when doctrinal heresy comes 
to pass, when the saints of Christ are threatened, when people are 
looking to turn away from the truth of the Gospel, Paul gets 
in their face. Paul doesn't play games. Paul 
immediately addresses himself to the situation plaguing the 
churches in southern Galatia. Notice he describes this in verse 
6. I marvel that you are turning 
away. They are defecting. They are 
deserting. The idea is such of a military 
man who deserts. He's supposed to be in a specific 
place. He's supposed to be loyal to his command. He is supposed 
to be forthright and honest and carry out his duty in a way that 
pleases God and pleases man. But he deserts from that. He 
doesn't give any reason, doesn't give any excuse. He just departs 
and goes a different direction. If a man does that in wartime, 
he is liable to be shot for treason. And that's what's going on within 
the churches in southern Galatia. They are defecting. They are 
turning away. They are rejecting the simplicity 
of the Gospel message as it is in Jesus Christ. And I submit, 
brethren, that the modern church should take seriously this model 
demonstrated by the Apostle Paul. We ought to marvel when men turn 
from the Gospel. We ought to marvel when men begin 
to mingle works with grace in order to be saved. Now, we believe 
in the place of law. We believe in the abiding commandments 
of God. But as a means of sanctification. That's not what was going on 
in Galatia. What they were doing was taking 
faith and works and combining them in order to be justified 
before the Lord God. Paul doesn't say, well, this 
is another approach. This is ok. You understand the 
things a little bit differently than perhaps we do over here. 
But that's ok. No, Paul saw the threat. The 
moment we introduce our merit, the moment we introduce our work, 
the moment we seek standing before God based on what we do, that 
is astonishing and amazing. And this brother marvels that 
they would reject the simplicity of the Gospel for human effort 
to earn their salvation with God. They did it soon too. It didn't take long for this 
to happen. If, as we've constructed the 
history, Paul in his first missionary journey in Acts 13 and 14 visits 
the cities of Pisidian Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derbe in 
the years 48 and 49, After he finishes this missionary journey, 
he writes this letter to the Galatians. It doesn't take long 
for heresy to affect the people of God. It doesn't take long 
for these ideas to find root in the heart of men. Because 
we gravitate toward heresy, brethren. You've got to know that about 
yourself. You not only gravitate toward works of the flesh in 
terms of the big sins, you gravitate toward heresy. We are by nature, 
all of us, Pelagians. We are by nature, all of us, 
thinking that we're okay. Thinking that we can avail with 
God. Thinking that sin isn't that bad. That the remedy isn't 
that necessary. And that we're okay in and of 
ourselves. That's not the case. We need 
to understand that when someone comes along preaching something 
that puts us in a higher place, very often we will gravitate 
toward it. Very often we will seek ascendancy. Very often we will seek to build 
up our pride and our arrogance. It was a soon turning away from 
Him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel. And as we'll see as we work our 
way through this, to turn away from the gospel of Christ is 
to plunge oneself into eternal condemnation. The stakes are 
very high in Galatians 1, 6-10. To add words to faith is to deny 
the very gospel we are supposed to be promoting. And to turn 
away from the true gospel is to embrace a different gospel. I think Machen captures well 
the whole sentiment of the epistle when he said, certainly, the 
point of difference between Paul and the Judaizers. That's Paul's 
enemies in this epistle. A Judaizer agreed with Paul concerning 
who Jesus was. A Judaizer agreed with Paul that 
faith in Christ was necessary. But the Judaizers came along 
and said, Paul's message, insofar as it goes, is good, but you 
also must be circumcised. You also must include these words 
of the law. I believe there's a hint of this 
in 3.3. Notice in 3.3, he says, Are you so foolish? Having begun 
in the Spirit, are you now being made perfect by the flesh? I 
think that's a dig at his opponents. We've got the full Gospel. We've 
got the right picture. Paul is a good preacher, but 
he likes men. He likes to be received by men. 
So when he's around Gentiles, he sort of shaves off that requirement 
to be circumcised. He sort of reduces things. He 
sort of doesn't always play the right thing. So we want to bring 
to you this path to full enlightenment. He goes on to say, Machen does, 
again, writing in the early 30's in Christianity today, certainly 
the point of difference between Paul and the Judaizers was no 
trifling difference. I was just here praying before 
I came up here, and I feel like I'm going to battle here. This 
is like the main thing, right here. Galatians 1, 6-10, in terms 
of Bible passages and texts, is right up there in terms of 
most important. We today have no grasp on how 
serious doctrine is. I wanted to get the confession 
of faith here. I like what Spurgeon said in 
his introduction to this 1689. He said, be not ashamed of your 
faith. Remember, it is the ancient gospel 
of martyrs, confessors, reformers, and saints. Above all, it is 
the truth of God against which the gates of hell cannot prevail." 
I'm not convinced we believe that. I'm not convinced we appreciate 
the fact, as Spurgeon says elsewhere, that our Bible is a blood-soaked 
book. Not just the blood of the Lord 
Jesus, but the blood of confessors and martyrs and reformers that 
fought and died for justification by faith. So Machen says, this 
was no trifling difference, no matter how trifling it may seem 
to the modern church. What's the big deal? Who cares? Why do you get so worked up about 
these things? I mean, come on! If a guy believes 
on the Gospel, that's great. If he thinks that he can contribute 
some, that's not the best, but that's okay. He says it was the 
difference between a religion of merit and a religion of grace. That's the issue, brethren. He 
said, the Judaizer's teaching required a man to earn at least 
a part of his salvation by his own keeping of God's law. Paul 
saw clearly that to follow such teaching was to do that despite 
to the cross of Christ. If we have to fill up even the 
slightest gap by our own words, then we are still lost in sin. That's the effect of this error. 
That's the effect of this heresy. The Reformation wasn't launched 
just as a matter of, you know, it's a bit of a different type 
of clothing that Rome wears. It's a little bit of a different 
approach. They kneel down sometimes. They carry things. They look 
a little bit different than us. Justification by faith alone 
was at the center. Because if you reject that, you 
reject Christ. You reject the justifier if you 
reject the means. He goes on to say, For the awakened 
conscience sees clearly that our own works are insufficient 
to bridge even the smallest gap. We must trust Christ for nothing 
or for all. To trust Him only for part is 
the essence of unbelief. There are two ways of being saved 
according to the Apostle Paul. One way is to keep the law perfectly. 
That way is closed because of sin. The other way is to accept 
the gift of salvation which Christ offers us freely by His cross. The two ways cannot both be followed. That is the burden of the epistle 
to the Galatians. A man must choose as the way 
of salvation, either the law or grace. In bidding men choose 
the latter, the apostle was contending for the very heart of the Christian 
religion. Again, Paul's concern here is 
not the abiding place of the Ten Commandments. He is talking 
about how is a sinner made right with God. How are we declared 
righteous before God? And it's by grace alone, through 
faith alone in Jesus Christ alone. Now notice, secondly, the defection 
of the Galatians. Two things we need to notice. 
The identification of the heresy and the intention of the heretics. 
He says it is not another Gospel. When he says in verse 7, you 
are turning to a different Gospel. He doesn't want to leave it out 
there like there are various options. No, there's this option 
over here, there's this option over here, based on our culture, 
based on our likes, based on our desires. We can sort of choose 
whatever it is that we want. No, he says it's not another 
gospel. It is a denial of the truth. It is a rejection of all 
that Jesus Christ did at Calvary. If you turn, if you go away from, 
if you desert from the God of grace and mercy. Notice in chapter 
3 again, just foreshadowing a few of these passages that God willing, 
we'll deal with in the coming weeks. Chapter 3, verse 1, O 
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? 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? 
We know He's not dealing with sanctification. Because later 
in Galatians 5, He's going to say, those who have the Spirit 
walk by the Spirit. They do the things of the law. 
He's talking about how is a man made right with God. That's the 
issue confronting Paul in this letter. Galatians 4.21, tell 
me, you who desire to be under the law, do you not hear the 
law? And then he goes on to make that 
analogy or that allegory between Hagar and Sarah, between Mount 
Sinai and Mount Zion, between the Jerusalem that now is and 
the Jerusalem which is above. The Mother of us all. The One 
that frees us and liberates us. Notice in Galatians 5, 1-3, Stand 
fast, therefore, in the liberty by which Christ has made us free. 
And do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage. Indeed, 
I, Paul, say to you that if you become circumcised, Christ will 
profit you nothing. And again, if you trace the life 
and history of Paul, circumcision is a Jewish custom he didn't 
oppose. He had Timothy circumcised. What was at stake here is that 
men were turning to circumcision as a means of being right with 
God. Paul says when you turn to circumcision, 
then you are obligated to keep the entirety of the law. No man 
can do that. The law condemns. The law is 
a tutor. The law is a taskmaster. It leads 
us to the Lord Jesus. He saves us by grace. He cleanses 
us in His blood. God imputes His righteousness 
to us. Then He points us back to the law so that we may live 
as God's people, sanctified, growing in the grace and knowledge 
of the Lord Jesus. And then notice in 5.4, he describes 
it this way. Paul is not teaching Arminianism 
in 5.4. You have become estranged from 
Christ. You who attempt to be justified by law, you have fallen 
from grace. He's not saying you have fallen 
from grace. You were once saved and now you're lost. That's not 
the point. There's two systems of approach to the Holy God. 
By law, by grace. When you try it by law, you fail. You reject grace. You despise 
the cross. That's the point. John Eady said 
the Judaizing Gospel, for it might be named Gospel by its 
preachers and receivers too, was of a totally different genus 
from that proclaimed by the Apostle. It's not dealing with just a 
couple of different approaches here. You've got to get this. 
Eady goes on to say, differing from it as widely as law and 
grace, works and faith, bondage and liberty, flesh and spirit. And Dr. John Brown said, every 
plan which, like that of the Judaizing teachers, leads men 
to depend on their own obedience to any law, to any extent, in 
any degree, either as the ground of their justification or the 
means of their justification, is another gospel. You don't 
throw a few works in to become right with God. You don't come 
into the system and do their sacraments to complete the package 
so that on the day of judgment, you are declared not guilty. 
You don't add to your standing before a holy God with your covenantal 
faithfulness. You stand before a holy God because 
Christ was faithful, because Christ obeyed the law, because 
Christ offered Himself willingly on behalf of sinners, and God 
takes that active and that passive obedience and He imputes it to 
us by faith alone. That's how we stand before a 
holy God. Notice the intention of the heretics. They trouble the church. What's the church supposed to 
be? It's supposed to be the pillar and the ground of the truth. 
I know we all seek church to meet our various needs in various 
ways. We all seek completion in some 
sort of form or other. The bottom line with reference 
to the church is that she is to be the pillar and ground of 
the truth. She is to proclaim the truth. She is to administer 
the sacraments. She is to administer discipline. 
If she's doing that, she's a church. These guys come in and they trouble 
the church. That's what they do. Notice what Paul says in 
verse seven, which is not another, but there are some who trouble 
you. Paul saying, leave them alone. I heard a story once, I don't know 
if it's apocryphal, knowing what I know about Pastor Albert N. 
Martin, I would believe it. Someone came in and he began 
to trouble the flock. And Pastor A.N. Martin got him 
in the back, the foyer, and he whispered in his ear, leave my 
sheep alone. That's what Paul's doing. Get 
out. Aren't you concerned for their 
souls, Paul? Oh yeah, I'm concerned for their souls, but I'm concerned 
more for God's people. Get out. You want to trouble 
the church? Get out. You want to add works 
to faith? Get out. You think merit is going 
to get you into heaven? Get out. They want to trouble 
the church. Heresy brings confusion and discord. Truth brings peace and harmony 
among God's people. What is one of the characteristics 
of love that the church today needs to revisit? 1 Corinthians 
13. We have fridge magnets. We have bumper stickers. We put 
it in our greeting cards. We celebrate love according to 
1 Corinthians 13. And while we should, brethren, 
there's a certain aspect of love that the church needs to revisit. Love does not rejoice in iniquity, 
but it rejoices in what? In truth. Truth. That commodity that we are able 
to just so willingly give up. describes Jesus Christ. I am 
the way, he said, and the truth. How does God describe himself 
in the Old Testament? The Lord God of truth. To tamper with the gospel, one 
commentator said, is to trouble the church. Indeed, the church's 
greatest troublemakers now as then are not those outside who 
oppose, They're not those outside who ridicule and persecute it, 
but those inside who try to change the gospel. We expect opposition. We expect ridicule. We expect 
persecution from those outside the church. We certainly don't 
expect it from within our ranks. I mean, with an open Bible and 
open heart, we do expect it. He goes on to say, Conversely, 
the only way to be a good churchman is to be a good gospel man. I like that. He says the best 
way to serve the church is to believe and to preach the gospel. Luther comments, and a little 
bit more pointedly. If you haven't read Luther on 
Galatians, pick him up. He says, that work which is built 
up of long labor may be overthrown in a night. Paul spent that long 
on a missionary journey, preaching the Gospel, planting churches. 
As they returned back to Antioch, they went to those churches, 
they strengthened the disciples, they laid hands on men who would 
function as elders. He gets back and then he already 
begins to hear word that they're defecting, they're departing. 
Luther said, a man may labor half a score of years to build 
up some little church to be rightly ordered. And when it is so ordered, 
there creeps in some malbrain, yea, a very unlearned idiot, 
and he in one moment overthrows all. That's true, isn't it? A couple 
of guys, Judaizers, come in and they basically undo everything 
that Paul labored to do. And the worst part, again, from 
the Scripture, from doing some comparing, from sort of looking 
at what's going on here, they did not come in with horns and 
a pitchfork and a long red cape and said, we're the devil, we 
want to ruin you. No. They came in and they probably 
applauded Paul. He's a good man. He's a good 
brother. He's a good guy. But he's not giving you everything. 
That's what we're here for. Trust us. We're the government. 
They want to trouble or they trouble the church. And then 
notice as well, they want to pervert the gospel. These men 
know what they're doing. Notice in verse seven, he says 
they want to pervert the gospel of Christ. The introduction of 
works and merit into the gospel of grace is a perversion of the 
highest order. These men are distorting. These men are twisting. These 
men are confounding and confusing a very simple thing in the grand 
scheme of it. God is a holy God. We are miserable 
sinners. Jesus came and lived perfectly 
in obedience to His Father, died as a sacrifice and rose again. 
You believe that truth and you will be saved. Pretty simple. These guys came in and said, 
but you also have to do. You also have to add. You also 
have to supplement. You have to throw some things 
in. They're perverting the Gospel. The introduction of merit into 
grace is a perversion. Do not think otherwise. It is 
a perversion. We all saw on the news probably 
about the Pope's confession with reference to sexual sin in Ireland. That's a perversion. But so is 
the rejection of justification by faith alone. That is a perversion. We tend to think only in terms 
of those fleshly things. They're bad. So is heresy. Look at Galatians 5 for a moment. Notice what Paul says of the 
works of the flesh in Galatians 5.19. 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. God's not given you 
the opportunity or right to think incorrectly. God has not given 
you the liberty to think wrong. You can think whatever you want 
in Canada, but not according to God. You can conceive your 
own means of approaching God with reference to the civil state, 
but not theologically. Heresy is a work of the flesh. I've often thought of this. Again, 
brethren, I'm not trying to be crass, but if a man was found 
out as a serial pornographer, and he was looking at the Internet, 
he was doing that sinfully, we would discipline him. We would 
deal with him. But if a man reads heresy, if a man reads things 
that are wrong, and he's not reading them in a critical manner 
so that he can be up on it, so that he can answer and refute 
heretics, but he's reading it and he's getting sucked into 
it, that's as bad. Get rid of that Internet. You 
shouldn't give your brain or your mind that filth. God cares 
about what you think. If you don't think properly, 
if you don't believe the truth, you don't go to heaven. That's 
the point of this whole letter. The departure from biblical truth 
is not done by theologians and pastors unwittingly. To distort the message is a willful 
perversion and we must see it as such. Well, I just don't know. Well, then you shouldn't preach. 
You shouldn't teach. Right? How many guys out there 
shouldn't be preaching? If you don't know what James 
2 is about, don't preach and teach people. If you haven't 
worked out justification and sanctification and the similarities 
but the differences, go back to the Westminster larger catechism 
and study. Don't go preach. Don't go teach. If you have stepped outside confessional 
orthodoxy, don't preach and teach. It's okay. You have to preach 
and teach. You can just work. Nobody wants 
to be a preacher and a teacher. That's great. If you're fit and 
called and ready and able to do it. Spurgeon well said, if 
God wants Leviathan to fly, He'll put wings on him. If He doesn't 
put wings on Leviathan, He doesn't want him flying. These men knew what they were 
doing. And notice thirdly, and quickly, the curse pronounced 
upon heretics. Three things to observe here. 
Its extent, its gravity, and its repetition. Its extent. Notice what Paul does here in 
verse 8. 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 accursed. Perhaps you've heard of diplomatic 
immunity. If I'm a diplomat from America, 
let's say, and I'm in your country, and I get pulled over, I can 
just sort of show my credentials, and they won't give me a ticket. 
I think this happens among police officers as well. If one pulls 
another one over, oh, here's my license badge. Oh, OK, you're 
all right. There's a bit of immunity there. 
I'm not trying to be mean or vicious or unkind. That's just 
the way this world works. I know in Southern California, 
at least for a time, a policeman would get free donuts at the 
donut shop. There's a certain immunity there. He doesn't have 
to pay like the rest of us. See what Paul's doing? There's 
no apostolic immunity. There is no angelic immunity. If you listen or if someone preaches 
a gospel that is different than what we preach to you, let him 
be accursed. Paul is saying if it would be 
the case that a holy angel could fall out of heaven and take one 
of your pulpits and tell you that you must also be circumcised 
in order to be saved, let him be accursed. Paul says, if I 
happen to come back through Pisidian Antioch and Iconium and Lystra 
and Derbe, if I happen to come back through your fair cities 
and I begin to sound like one of these Judaizers and I add 
merit to grace, let me be accursed. There's no apostolic immunity. There's no angelic immunity. 
There's no immunity, period. I think what he is highlighting 
here is that the gospel embodies a core, a fixed tradition, not 
tradition in the sense of Rome, whatever they say becomes tradition, 
but the Bible itself in terms of tradition. It embodies a core, 
a fixed tradition, which is normative so that no preaching deviating 
from it can be called gospel in the proper sense of the word. 
And notice what Paul is doing as well. He's going to defend 
his apostolic authority because it does hinge upon the gospel 
that he preaches. But you know what he's saying 
here? It's not the messenger so much, it's the message. Right? Luther in his uncanny way says, 
even if Paul or Peter or James were to preach something that 
is in accord with Christ, that's another gospel. But if Simon 
Magus and Judas Iscariot and those men preach the truth, That's 
not another gospel. It's the message. It's the message 
of the word of truth. What's this word that he uses 
here, accursed? It's literally the word anathema. You may have heard that word 
before, anathema. The word, in a sense, is neutral. 
It can be used negatively and positively. It means devoted 
to God. In Luke 21.5, the word is translated 
in the New King James Version as devotions. They were gifts 
given at the temple as devotions to God. This word translator 
is used in the Greek Old Testament for the word haram, which is 
a Hebrew word which means to ban something or something under 
the ban. And so in this context, brethren, 
I think, not I think, this is what he means. It means devoted 
to destruction. That's what Paul means here. 
That's how it's used in Joshua chapter 6, when God tells them 
not to take things under the ban. When you go in and invade 
these countries, don't take those things that are devoted to destruction. 
What does Achan do? Achan steals. Achan brings it 
back into his tent. Achan becomes a troubler in Israel. It's like these Judaizers are 
troublers in the churches of southern Galatia. What happens? By Achan's association with these 
things devoted to destruction, he then becomes devoted to destruction. And what we need to notice here, 
brethren, is that Paul is not talking about excommunication. 
He's not talking about just put them out of your church. He's 
talking about devoted to destruction in terms of God's judicial wrath. That's how important this is. 
He who preaches a false gospel is delivered to destruction by 
God. Again, it is not a matter of 
an act of church discipline in the sense of excommunication. The curse exposes the culprits 
to the judicial wrath of God. Paul uses this word in a few 
other places in the New Testament. He uses it in Romans 9.3. to 
show the lengths that he would go to for the sake of his countrymen, 
his kinsmen according to the flesh. He said, I could wish 
that I myself were anathema from Christ. Paul has a very Christ-like 
and very Mosaic-like attitude with reference to his people. 
If it were the case that I could suffer in hell eternally for 
them, I would be willing to do so. 1 Corinthians chapter 12, 
he says, nobody who has the Spirit says Jesus is a cursed anathema. And here he uses it twice in 
1 Corinthians 16.22 as well. If anyone does not love the Lord 
Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Again, not just simply removed 
from your church, but devoted to destruction under the hand 
of Almighty God. And he uses it twice here in 
Galatians 1.8 and 9. He says, if this happens, brethren, 
if these Judaizers come along and they teach merit, they teach 
works, they add to the Gospel, they say faith plus, here's what 
I want. I want the wrath of God to fall 
on them. You see, Paul's not playing games, 
brethren. I don't know how well Paul would fit in our current 
situation. Matron again says, To the men 
that dominate the life of the modern church, it would seem 
to be a subtle, hair-splitting distinction at the most. Surely, 
they would say, Paul ought to have made common cause with those 
Judaizers who had such a zeal for righteousness and furthermore 
exalted the Lord Jesus Christ so high. As a matter of fact, 
the Apostle did nothing of the kind. What he actually said with 
respect to the Judaizers was, let them be anathema. He seemed 
to have none of the modern virtue of tolerance at this point. And 
he was a tolerant man, brethren. He was a very gracious, very 
charitable brother. But when you start to tamper 
with the Gospel of the grace of God Most High, Paul says, 
anathema is your lot. You see why this passage is so 
important? The preacher of another gospel 
exposes himself to the divine indignation. And the awful penalty 
incurred by him is not inflicted by man. He falls into the hands 
of the living God. And we know this isn't simply 
excommunication because Paul includes angels. Angels don't 
get excommunicated from churches. But if an angel twists the gospel, 
he could be damned eternally to hell. That's what's in view 
here. That's why Paul throws down. Notice he repeats it in verse 
9. As we have said before, so now I say again. I don't know 
that that refers to verse 8. Or that it refers to when He 
was among them. When He preached the truth. He 
not only issued forth the truth, but He put hedges around it. 
He guarded it. He said, do not tamper with it. 
Do not admire it. Do not adverts. We see that in 
Pisidian Antioch. He highlights these very truths. 
But then He says, now I say again, if anyone preaches any other 
gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. 
Now He's dealing with the Judaizers. It's no longer this hypothetical 
Paul or an angel, but anyone. They twist what you have received. 
If they distort what you have heard, if they tamper with that 
glorious gospel of free and sovereign grace, let Him be anathema. You see, Paul means business 
when it comes to the Gospel. Notice verse 10. Do I now persuade 
men of God, or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, 
I would not be a bondservant of Christ. Kind of a difficult 
verse, at least for me to wrap my mind around. Here's what I 
believe he's saying. In all of this, in his Gospel 
preaching, in his proclaiming the Lord Jesus, in his missionary 
endeavors, he is seeking God's favor, not man's. If the Judaizers 
said this, Paul only wants to court your favor. Paul only wants 
to tell you what you want to hear. Paul is saying, would I 
pronounce anathema on people if I wanted their favor? Generally speaking, the guy who 
just gushes love and is never controversial and never says 
anything untoward is well received by people. Conversely, when somebody 
comes in and says, if you don't believe what I'm saying, you're 
going to go to hell and the wrath of God is upon you. That generally 
doesn't court man's favor. Paul's a bondservant of Christ. 
He's going to preach the truth. He is going to set it forth. 
He is going to do it in a demonstration of the Spirit and of power. And 
in so doing, He is serving His Master and bringing glory to 
God and being of genuine benefit and help to the people He ministers 
unto. We learn four things and then 
we close. The first, I've already highlighted this, the intolerance 
of Paul. Look at 1 Corinthians 9 for a 
moment. 1 Corinthians 9, verse 19. For 
though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant 
to all, that I might win the more. And to the Jews I became 
as a Jew, that I might win Jews. To those who are under the law, 
as under the law, that I might win those who are under the law. 
To those who are without law, as without law, not being without 
law toward God, but under law toward Christ, that I might win 
those who are without law. To the weak I became as wheat, 
that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all 
men, that I might by all means save some. Now this I do for 
the gospel's sake, that I may be partaker of it with you." 
If I were to say, this is the intolerant Paul, you'd say, you're 
nuts. This is not an intolerant man at all. You can almost hear 
the Judaizers. Look at this Paul. He comes and 
he preaches to you Gentiles that you're not supposed to be circumcised. 
But then he takes Timothy who's half Gentile and has him circumcised. The Judaizers had a field day 
with false conduct. His having Timothy circumcised 
did not jeopardize gospel. It was culturally a good move. That's what he's talking about 
in 1 Corinthians 9. I become all things to all men 
so that I may bring the gospel to them. He's not saying, I go 
to this church, and if they believe in a works plus faith, I'll do 
that. I'll go to this church, and if 
they deny faith completely and say, we've got to work it out, 
I'll do that. That's not what He's saying. He's saying, I'll go 
to the Jews, I'll go to the Greeks, I'll go to the whoever's. And 
those things that don't breach upon gospel integrity, I'll do 
it. In fact, in the book of Acts, 
He shaves His head, He goes to temple, and He fulfills an oath. 
Because it did it jeopardize the gospel. Look at Philippians 
one for a moment. Again, we see something of Paul, 
the man Philippians chapter one, verse 15. He says some indeed preach Christ 
even from envy and strife and some also from goodwill, the 
former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely supposing 
to add affliction to my chains. That's the point. You guys have 
it in for Paul. They got an axe to grind with 
Paul. You can hear these guys, Paul is such a great guy, why 
is he in jail? Paul is such a great missionary 
and such an earnest contender and valiant for truth, why is 
he sitting in a Roman jail? Paul knew this. He knew their 
motives, or he knew that at least when they spoke, they mistreated 
him. They preached from envy and strife. The former preached Christ from 
selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to 
my chains. You don't expect them to say, 
may God send anathemas upon these men. No, they got the message 
right. When we were living in Southern 
California, when the kids were small, and I tried to impress 
upon them the importance of the Word of God, I said, if the neighbor's 
dog jumps over the fence and begins to speak Scripture to 
you, you need to listen. We laugh, oh, that's funny, yeah. 
Balaam's ass spoke the Word. The Word is what matters. The 
Word is what is important. Paul, sitting in a Roman prison, 
knows that these guys have it in for him, but he says, I don't 
care. I don't care whatever they think 
about me, Paul. It doesn't bother me. What does he say? He says, but the latter out of 
love, verse 17, knowing that I am appointed for the defense 
of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether 
in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached. And in this I rejoice, 
yes, and will rejoice. If we come back to Galatians 
1, we see that there is a biblical intolerance that we must possess 
as the people of God. We are intolerant of heresy, 
we are intolerant of error, we are intolerant of departures 
from biblical truth. Again, there is a hierarchy within 
the Scripture. Jesus said in John 8, 24, if 
you do not believe that I am, you will die in your sins. We 
may differ on eschatology, we may differ on some of those other 
matters, but when it comes to the Gospel, when it comes to 
how does a man stand before God, how is man justified before God, 
we can't be separate on that. We must say, by faith alone. Secondly, we see the damning 
influence of false doctrine. Ronald Fung, in his commentary, 
said, the severity of the anathema is thus the measure of the significance 
which Paul attaches to the principle of righteousness by faith. What 
does Paul think about justification by faith? Look at how he argues 
here. Some have redefined Paul in Galatians and Romans. They 
say, what he's dealing with are some social issues, how Jews 
and Gentiles relate to one another. Wow. This is race relations with 
a vengeance. You don't tolerate one another, 
anathema from God. No, he's not dealing with that. 
He's dealing with how does a man stand before God. Interesting 
that after the Jerusalem Council, which I believe this letter predates, 
they didn't sign it to the Jews and say, if you don't receive 
those Gentiles, may the anathema of God fall upon you. That's 
what he's dealing with. He's dealing with how does a 
man stand before a thrice holy God. Fung goes on to say, for 
any teaching at variance with the original apostolic preaching 
involves the messenger in the divine wrath, then only the message 
of justification by faith is the divinely sanctioned message, 
the one gospel worthy of its name. And then thirdly, the need 
for caution on the part of God's people. I realize this has probably 
been a bit more didactic than what we're used to. You've got 
to think clearly on these issues. What do we learn as the church 
of Jesus Christ, not as the church we're at, but as a local expression 
of God's church on earth? What do we learn from this? Or 
what are some cautions that we need to take from Galatians 1, 
6-10? I have a few. The first is beware 
of doctrinal indifference. There is an attitude that goes 
like this. I really don't care about all 
the nuts and bolts and nitty-gritty about doctrine. Let's just love 
Jesus. That's folly. That's foolish. Because we must 
ask the question, what Jesus? Is it the Jesus that walks around 
and, as one man said, drinks chamomile tea and looks like 
a hippie? Is it the Jesus that will just encourage you in your 
folly and sin? Is it the Jesus that will just 
be your helpmate to a better life? Or is it the Jesus of grace 
alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone? You cannot be indifferent 
to these things. You cannot reckon it's only for 
the pastors, it's only for the deacons, it's only for the reverends, 
it's only for the whoever, it's only for the seminary. No. Beware 
of doctrinal indifference. Secondly, beware of doctrinal 
imprecision. What do I mean by imprecision? I don't know anything about carpentry 
other than what I've garnered or learned from a few of the 
men in the church here. I do know this, that framing 
a building like this, you're going to be a little bit more 
imprecise than building a piano. You can have a little bit of 
edges and length In fact, I think I've got a wall in my house that's 
crooked. I mean, you look at it when the sun's on it and it's 
warped. You've got to look at it in just the right way. If 
that piano was warped, you'd see it immediately. A little 
bit of imprecision. I'm not dissing on the framers 
versus the finishers, but there is a bit of a difference in terms 
of percentage and lengths that you could be off. We can be imprecise 
in certain things. Again, eschatology, I pick on 
that a lot. Not because it's unimportant. 
I actually think it's very important. However, you can go to heaven 
as a premillennialist. That was for you, brother. You 
can go to heaven as an amillennialist. And you can go to heaven as a 
postmillennialist. In fact, when we're there at 
the marriage supper of the lamb, we'll just be grinning at Jesus. 
But you can't be imprecise on justification. You cannot add 
to. You cannot take from. You cannot 
twist. You cannot alter. John Brown 
again said this. He said, it is a most hazardous 
thing to tamper with the Gospel of Christ. It must neither be 
abridged nor enlarged Do we often see that? Oh, you can't take 
away. These are heading. This is oftentimes how it comes 
about. This is the more full way. This is to be truly saved. This 
is to be complete in Jesus. These were acts of piety. These 
were additions. Certainly God won't be offended 
or throw us into hell because we're just doing more. Well, 
yes, when that doing more is a rejection of the cross work 
of Jesus. That's what it is. See, when 
you look to your doing, you are rejecting the doing and dying 
of another. That's the big deal. Beware of 
doctrinal imprecision. Fuzzy thinking also produces 
fuzzy living. Fuzziness is to be shunned by 
1 Corinthians 2, 16 Christians. We have the mind of Christ. How dare us actually believe 
it's okay to be, you know, double speak or say things. I mean, 
there's some theologians out there writing today. I'm not 
the brightest bulb in the chandelier, brethren, but man, it's hard 
to figure out what they're saying. It's not that hard. It's not. You believe what the 
Bible says concerning Jesus and you will be saved. Why do you 
have to write a book and people come away scratching their head 
or have a 15 year movement when you're still condemning people 
because they don't understand you? Could it possibly be that 
you have not been precise? Everybody else, the receiver. 
Thirdly, beware of doctrinal departures. The man comes into 
this pulpit and says, yeah, brethren, believe the gospel and go get 
circumcised. Believe the gospel and go do this. Believe the gospel 
and go do this. There's been a departure at Free 
Grace Baptist Church, a radical departure. Beware of doctrinal 
compromise. We don't see eye to eye on justification 
by faith, but there are genuinely wonderful Christian people. Beware 
of compromise. Don't join hands with errorists 
and heretics. Again, you might think, oh, these 
Judaists, they're good, good guys. No, may the anathema of 
God be upon them. To any outsider, you say, boy, 
Paul, that seems like a little bit of a strong thing. Are you 
devoting them to the wrath of God because of that? When you 
yourself would have Timothy circumcised? What's your problem? Beware. of doctrinal compromise. And 
beware of doctrinal novelties. Novelty means new thing. I'm not suggesting that a Bible 
scholar, a theologian, a pastor, or any of Christ's sheep can't 
stumble on to something new. I'm not saying that. I believe 
in the active ministry of God the Holy Spirit, illumining His 
people, guiding His people, teaching His people, leading His people. 
But when a new perspective on Paul is cast upon the church, 
we ought to be very careful in our embracing of it. Again, not 
that it's wrong because it's new, but when 21 centuries of 
Jesus' church have articulated a doctrine in a particular way 
and someone comes along and challenges that, again, not just because 
it's new, is it wrong? But we need to be very cautious, 
very careful, and we need to scrutinize it. To the Word and 
to the testimony. Again, Luther, he says, Wherefore, 
let us learn that this is a special point of the devil's cunning, 
that if he cannot hurt by persecuting and destroying, he does it under 
a color of correcting and building up. He doesn't come in and say, 
I'm here to kill you. I'm here to help you. I'm the 
government. I love you. I want the best for 
you. I'm a Judaizer. I want you to be complete. I 
get your best interests in my mind. He goes on to say, so he stirs 
up wicked spirits and ungodly teachers which at first allow 
our doctrine to be holy and heavenly. Oh yeah, they're doing a good 
job. Paul's a good preacher. He's a good guy. He's loving. 
He's kind. And teach the same with a common 
consent together with us. But afterwards they say that 
further mysteries of the Scriptures are revealed to them from above. 
And they are called for this purpose to open them to the world. Beware of the man who gets mysteries 
that no one else gets. You maybe haven't met them in 
your lives, but they're out there. Luther met them. Calvin met them. Reformers met them. They've been 
in the church for however long. Beware. Again, the argument is 
not nothing new is good. The argument is we need to be 
very careful. When men challenge Westminster 
Shorter Catechism number 33, be suspect to that, the definition 
of justification. Again, what Spurgeon says on 
our introduction to our confession, this little volume is not issued 
as an authoritative rule or code of faith. whereby you are to 
be fettered, but as an assistance to you in controversy, a confirmation 
in faith, and a means of edification and righteousness. Here the younger 
members of our church will have a body of divinity in small compass, 
and by means of the scriptural proofs will be ready to give 
a reason for the hope that is in them. The longer I live, brethren, 
the more I am happy with our confession of faith. Not that 
those brothers need me to sign off on it. There's protection. There's safety. The old paths 
are safe paths. So again, not everything new 
is bad, but everything new shouldn't just be swallowed in hook, line, 
and sinker. We may find out that we're at 
the first church of the Judaizers, rather than at a place that is 
consistent with the gospel of Jesus Christ. And that gospel 
is summarized by the Apostle Paul. We already saw it last 
week. We saw it in his overview. Galatians 1, 1-5. In his presentation 
of his theme, what does he say? He gave himself for us, that 
he might deliver us from this present evil age. The gospel 
is about Jesus. The good news isn't a good feeling. 
It isn't just to make you warm. It isn't just to make you fuzzy. 
It isn't just to make you happy. The Gospel is a recorded message 
concerning the Lord Jesus Christ, who entered into this world, 
and He lived in obedience to His Father's law. He never argued. 
He never complained. He never had rebellion in His 
heart. He never fostered unbelief. He always did the will of His 
Father. He said, My meat is to do the will of Him who sent Me. 
For you see, we need a righteousness. Somebody's got to obey God, brethren. 
He says to obey is better than sacrifice. While we need a sacrifice, 
there needs to be obedience also. So we call the active obedience 
of Jesus. He obeys on our behalf. His law-keeping 
by imputation becomes our law-keeping. His righteousness according to 
2 Corinthians 5.21 and Romans 5.19 is given to us. Because 
we need it. We don't have it. We're undone. 
We're sinful. We're wretched. We're dirty. 
We're foul. We're polluted. And not only 
did we need that righteousness, we need the removal of our sin. 
We need cleansing. We need remission. We need forgiveness. And Jesus satisfies that at the 
cross. Theologians call that the passive 
obedience. It doesn't mean He was passive 
and uninvolved. He willingly laid down His life 
for the sheep. The distinction is between His 
life and His death. And it's through that vicarious, 
which means substitutionary work on Calvary, we receive the pardon 
of all our sin. He then rose from the dead. He 
was declared to be the Son of God with power, according to 
Romans 1.4. He now sits enthroned at the 
Father's right hand, where He must reign till all of His enemies 
are made His footstool. The Bible tells us that He will 
come again to judge the living and the dead. And the Bible also 
tells us right now, you believe the Gospel concerning Jesus Christ 
and you will be saved. You will be transferred from 
the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of the Son of His 
love. It's not by your doing. It's 
not by your works. It's not by your merits. It's 
by looking, by the grace of God, to the Lord Jesus Christ. receives. It's a passive instrument to 
receive what Jesus Christ has accomplished objectively in time 
and history. So, if you don't know the Lord 
Jesus today, Don't go out and try to get better. Don't go out 
and try to do more. Believe the gospel and you will 
be saved. Let us pray. Father, we thank 
you for your Holy Scripture, and I pray that you would give 
us the mindset and the heart of the Apostle Paul. Father, 
we thank you for this brother's exposition of the gospel of free 
grace, and we pray that this gospel would be proclaimed throughout 
the earth. and that a great multitude would 
believe and be saved. We know that You are sovereign, 
that You are glorious, that Your Word does not return unto You 
void. We pray that on this Lord's Day 
it would run swiftly and be glorified. We ask that you would just help 
us to think clearly, help us to be students of Holy Scripture, 
and help us to see the gravity of the curse associated with 
departure from your truth. Grant us grace, Lord God Most 
High, to receive these things and to joyfully believe them. 
We ask in Jesus' name, Amen.