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Good evening to everyone. You 
can turn your Bibles with me to the Book of Galatians. Galatians 
1, we're continuing an exposition through the Book of Galatians 
on occasional evenings scattered throughout the future months, 
to be determined, but tonight we're back in Galatians 1. And I'm going to read again from 
verse 1 through verse 10, and then the portion of scripture 
this evening will be verses 6 through 10. So this is Galatians 1, beginning 
at verse 1, the word of God. Paul, an apostle, not from man 
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 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 
Heavenly Father. We thank you for your word. We 
rejoice in the word of truth in and how it discloses salvation 
by the perfect and finished work of our Lord Jesus Christ. We 
thank you for our Savior, for that righteousness that comes 
from you through him, for that forgiveness of sins that we have 
by virtue of his shed blood. And we thank you for amazing 
grace, and we pray as we work through this letter that argues 
for the perfection of the work of Christ, that argues for justification 
by faith alone. We pray that you would help us 
along in this, that you would give us that measure of the spirit 
that our hearts would be opened up to the glories of Christ. 
And we pray in his precious name, amen. Well, just a brief reminder, 
you'll remember last time we introduced the Book of Galatians 
a little bit. We talked about the timing of 
its writing and its connection to the Book of Acts. It was written 
around the year 49 AD, AD 49. probably not after that and perhaps 
just a wee bit before that, but somewhere in and around 48 and 
49. And it was written shortly after Paul had first gone through 
Galatia, the region of Galatia. He goes, they sail from Cyprus 
up through Pamphylia, into the region of Galatia, and they go 
to Antioch and Pisidia, they go to Iconium, they go to Lystra, 
and they go to Derbe, preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus 
Christ, and that a man is not justified by the law of Moses, 
but by faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Having gone up that way, 
they're perhaps hindered from going to northern Galatia, we 
don't know for certain, but they do come back down through And he's amazed obviously at 
the fact that they're turning away so soon from the glorious 
gospel of our blessed God this this language of marveling is 
used sort of positively or negatively in the Bible that is someone 
can be astonished at glorious things or someone can be astonished 
at significantly discouraging things For example, the Lord 
Jesus Christ, in the gospel accounts, the Lord Jesus Christ marvels 
at the faith of a Gentile, a Roman centurion man, who expresses 
such faith that the Lord Jesus Christ could heal his servant. Our Savior, our incarnate Christ 
marvels at the faith of a Roman centurion. In the same breath 
though, or by comparison, the Lord Jesus Christ marvels or 
is astonished or is amazed at the unbelief of his own countrymen 
in Nazareth who reject him and who reject the truth of the kingdom 
of God. of God. And so here Paul marvels, 
and as Edy says, he says something like, rebuke hides under or lurks 
under this marveling. This isn't simply an amazement, 
but it's an amazement that conceals, if you will, a strong measure 
of rebuke. Because Paul, while he does launch 
immediately into the sum and substance of the letter without 
any glowing report at all about the Galatians, nevertheless, 
it is still a very gracious response by the Apostle Paul to these 
Galatians who were being turned away to a perverted gospel. But we have this astonishment, 
this marveling, this amazement on the part of the Apostle Paul. And I think we can see here that 
there's a threefold character to the astonishment. And the 
first of these is that the astonishment relative to time. The language 
here is clear. I marvel that you are turning 
away so soon. So the astonishment relative 
to time he had he had only within you know Within at least a year 
or at least within the last two years depending on the timing 
within the last two years He had gone on his first missionary 
journey first up through the churches in Galatia Proclaiming 
the Lord Jesus Christ and the perfection of his saving work 
He had then come back down through those same regions, checking 
in on those same churches, and seeing how they were doing in 
their confession of the reigning Christ. And so we can see why 
he would be so astonished, so amazed, because I was just there. I had just preached to you the 
glories of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the reports from the book 
of Acts are positive ones. In fact, let's just, Turn back 
there to see this this astonishment relative to time you can turn 
to Acts 13 We can enter into Paul's astonishment 
here his marveling notice first at at Acts 13 beginning at verse 
38 this is the message that he's preaching notice therefore that 
Let it be known to you, brethren, that through this man, that is 
Christ, is preached to you the forgiveness of sins. And by him, 
everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you 
could not be justified by the law of Moses. So he preaches 
the gospel to them. And this will be important as 
we move through the book of Galatians. because Paul clearly preaches 
here that everyone who believes is justified. And by contrast, 
no one is justified by the law of Moses. Well, what were these 
who were perverting the gospel doing? They were saying that 
in order to be truly saved, you must adhere to the law of Moses. So the clarity of the gospel, 
the glory of the gospel against any competitor is clearly given 
here. And then notice the reception 
of this gospel in the context. First at verse 48. Now, when 
the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and glorified the word 
of the Lord. And as many as had been appointed 
to eternal life believed. Notice verse 49. And the word 
of the Lord was being spread throughout all the region, 52, 
and the disciples were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit. Look also at Acts 14 and verse 
23. So when they had appointed elders 
in every church and prayed with fasting, they commended them 
to the Lord Whom they had believed and then finally verse 26 from 
there They sailed to Antioch where they had been commended 
to the grace of God for the work which they had completed Now 
when they had come and gathered the church together They reported 
all that God had done with them and that he had opened the door 
of faith to the Gentiles so they stayed there a long time with 
the disciples and So finding our way then back to the book 
of Galatians, we can enter into the Apostle Paul's mindset here 
and his astonishment that he just returns from his voyage. 
He's resting in Antioch there, a good measure of time with the 
disciples. And he hears this report that 
these Galatians that he had just visited are entertaining a perverted 
gospel, which is no gospel at all. We also have the astonishment 
relative to divine calling. So we have Paul's astonishment 
in light of the proximity to the conversion of the Galatians, 
but notice also the astonishment relative to divine calling. I 
marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you 
in the grace of Christ. So the marveling at this point 
is marveling that these would turn away from the very divine 
calling that they were the blessed and undeserved recipients of. 
That the astonishment in the marveling that they are in essence 
entertaining a message, a perversion of truth that really casts God 
down from his high throne. that steals away from the power 
and the exclusive divine glory in bringing forth dead sinners 
from that deadness to life in Christ. It was a message that 
was stealing these away from the very God of effectual calling. So this astonishment relative 
to divine calling is not only an astonishment because of the 
calling that they are turning from, but also the very one who 
has called them. A turning away from the gospel 
is a turning away from God. A turning away from divine calling 
is a turning away from God. And look what they're turning 
away from. This calling by grace. The apostle Paul, the same apostle, 
uses the language in Ephesians 1 that Christians are the recipients 
of every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. A summary that if we were to 
If we were to examine every angle of that blessed gem of spiritual 
blessings, we would be here a long time, but we've already named 
one effectual calling, amazing grace, that they were brought 
forth, that they were born again, that they were made alive, they 
were dead in their sins, and the God of amazing grace brought 
them forth from that place of abject wickedness. We could think 
of justification, which is at the very heart and center of 
the letter to the Galatians. having not deserved anything 
but condemnation, the one who called them has also declared, 
rendered this absolute and legal declaration that they are not 
guilty by virtue of their union with Christ. That because of 
Christ, the perfection of his life and the perfection of his 
death they can enjoy the peace of justification. That it is 
not by deeds of righteousness which we have done, but much 
rather according to the perfection of the deeds of Christ. Adoption, 
sanctification, the gifts of faith and repentance, the blessed 
hope, the blessed expectation of life evermore with the triune 
God, with our blessed Christ. The spiritual blessings, all 
of those spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ, 
Paul is astonished that they are turning away from so great 
a blessing. And thirdly, with regards to 
this marveling, the astonishment relative to the gospel's content. I marvel that you are turning 
away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to 
a different gospel. He is astonished because they're 
turning from that one who is the sum and substance of gospel 
truth. even Christ Jesus himself. The 
one who came into this world, sinners to save, they're turning 
from that perfect one. It comes to a piercing head at 
verse 21, remember, of Galatians 2, where we read, I do not set 
aside the grace of God, which these heretics were doing. These 
were being stolen away from this grace of God. I do not set aside 
the grace of God, for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ 
died in vain. You're turning away again. This 
is in process. They had not yet turned, but 
they some had, but these believers, true believers were being, were 
being affected. They were being troubled by this 
error. And so he wants to hit them at, 
uh, in the heart of the gospel and say that if you do finally 
turn away, which of course true believers can't, but the warning 
comes and it is heavy. If you do turn away a recipient 
of this letter, you are calling Christ vanity. You are rendering 
his person as inglorious, and you are rendering his work as 
empty. And so Paul is rightly marveling, 
he is rightly astonished. Now, look secondly at the abhorrence. This simply means, it could refer 
to that which is abhorring, or it could refer to one who is 
abhorred by that thing. And notice what we have here 
in the language of verse 7. So this gospel is not another, 
but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel 
of Christ. This is the abhorrence. These 
who want to pervert the gospel of Christ. And this language 
of pervert, it's an interesting word. You've heard of the word. Most of us have heard of the 
word catastrophe We hear that word in a number of different 
contexts We can sort of bring the the word down to low things 
and you know save on foods is out of ketchup chips That's a 
catastrophe Or something like that, you know insert your favorite 
food here It's rightly reserved properly for those things that 
are that that end in a great tragedy And the language behind 
it is something good that changes and then ends in a tragedy. That's 
a catastrophe. It has the language of the turning 
of a thing. You know, the beautiful weather 
turns to a storm and it ends in catastrophe. Well, the word 
used here by the Apostle Paul is a metastrophe. So we have 
a catastrophe and we have a metastrophe. And that word we could see here 
the Apostle Paul saying that they want to metastasize the 
gospel of Christ. They want to twist it. They want 
to turn it in such a way that it is in fact its opposite. It 
is such a twisting. It is such a turning that it 
is set in opposition to the very gospel of truth. So this is a 
metastrophe that the New Testament uses this language In fact, the 
Bible doesn't use it a lot the New Testament uses it I think 
one of the only other places is acts 20, excuse me acts 2 
verse 20 where where Peter is preaching inciting the prophet 
Joel and Connecting it to the events that that were obtaining 
at their particular time And he says that God will turn the 
sun to darkness. He will metastasize the sun into 
darkness. The Septuagint, the Greek translation 
of the Hebrew Old Testament, uses the language of God in judgment 
turning the rivers of Egypt into blood and And it's used by the 
prophet Amos to speak of divine judgment. That would be forthcoming 
where he speaks of God turning their feasts into mourning and 
so here it's used with respect to a turning or a twisting a 
perversion of of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And speaking to 
the gravity of this abhorrence, Gill writes, it is no gospel, 
no joyful sound, no good news, and no glad tidings. The doctrine which attributes 
justification to the works of the law or mixes grace and works 
in the business of salvation, which was the doctrine of these 
false teachers, is no gospel. Not truly so, however it may 
be called, nor does it bring any solid peace and joy to distressed 
minds. There is but one pure gospel 
of the grace of God and Christ and his apostles. There is not 
one and another. There is but one faith, one doctrine 
and scheme of faith. The gospel is single and uniform, 
all of a piece, has no yea and nay or contradiction in it. This 
trumpet gives no uncertain sound, nor any dreadful, but a joyful 
one." Blessed words here in this this this language of peace and 
joy the gospel Being proclaimed the which is no gospel not even 
a different one No gospel at all the one being preached by 
these who were perverting the true gospel is no gospel of peace 
and joy It brings no peace and joy to the mind you if you reflect 
upon your sin and If you reflect, Christians here right now, if 
you reflect upon the fact that you were once dead in your trespasses 
and in your sins, and you can reflect this side of grace on 
the sins that you do commit within your remaining corruption, none 
of you can say or none of you can find peace and joy in anything 
other than the finished work of Christ. Would any of us reflect 
and say, you know what? I did good last week. I can hitch 
a little bit of peace and joy to the good deeds that I did 
last week. I can hitch a little bit of my 
Christian joy to the fact that I helped my neighbor. I helped 
my family. I helped set up the tables in 
the fellowship luncheon hall. Thank you for those who did that, 
by the way. It is the Spirit who gives life. The flesh profits 
nothing. If we had a proverb of Christ 
that we could connect to the book of Galatians, it would be 
that one in John 6. It is the Spirit that gives life. It is the flesh that profits 
nothing. We find no peace and no joy in 
the scheme of salvation connected to our flesh, but only connected 
to the finished work of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, 
who took flesh to himself for our redemption. What are the 
implications? Speaking of the gravity of this 
abhorrence, what are the implications of this perverted gospel? Well, 
first, the first implication is that God, then, is not as 
holy as he says he is. If it is true that God can look 
upon a sinner and to some measure approve him based upon his deeds 
wrought by the flesh, then God is not as holy as he says he 
is. Speaking of God, the prophet 
says, you are of pure eyes than to behold evil and cannot look 
on wickedness. What is the only thing that he 
can look on with respect to salvation? It's upon the perfect and the 
finished work of Jesus Christ. To say that God can look upon 
the deeds done by a man in his flesh, by the cuttings of circumcision, 
by the mutilations of the knife, by adherence to law, is to bring 
God down from the splendor of his holiness. Secondly, The implication, 
a second implication is that man is then holier than God says 
he is. Or to put it negatively, man 
is not as sinful as God says he is. Again, another prophet, 
Isaiah, but your iniquities have separated you from your God and 
your sins have hidden his face from you so that he will not 
hear. Are we to suppose that by our 
deeds then God will hear? That by our deeds God will see 
and he will consider and he will accept us? Of course not, but 
these false teachers perverting the gospel of Jesus Christ, the 
implications of such a perversion were that. Thirdly, Christ is 
made then to be inglorious. We've already noted this, that 
Christ, in his person, is inglorious, and Christ, then, in his work, 
is valueless, if this gospel, which is not another, is true. 
These are really, talk about metastrophizing, these have turned 
the good news into bad news. Christ is rendered inglorious 
by this perversion of the gospel, his work rendered valueless. And fourthly, with respect to 
the gravity of this abhorrence, the work of Christ is made imperfect, 
and it's useless. Even if we're to say, not an 
outright mixing of law with gospel, Or not not an outright salvation 
by works rather but but that yes You believe in the Lord Jesus 
Christ for the most part and for a good portion of that which 
God values for salvation But you just have to go that little 
last extra mile by the deeds of your flesh in order to merit 
salvation It's great. It's great to believe in the 
Lord Jesus Christ 99.5% of the way that last 5% though you have 
to adhere to the deeds of the law You have to observe the law 
of Moses in order truly to be saved. Even with all of that, 
Christ is rendered inglorious and his work useless. It is justification 
by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, or there 
is no justification before the God of heaven and earth. The 
metastrophe in view, the perversion in view, the changing of good 
news to bad news is, Judaizing that we mentioned last week that 
word was in chapter 2 at verse 14 where we read near the end 
If you being a Jew live in the manner of Gentiles and not as 
Jews Why do you compel Gentiles literally to Judaize to live 
as a Jew? to force the law of Moses, circumcision 
at the core, but also other precepts, no doubt, in order to be saved. 
Gregory of Nazianzus describes what this perversion was by stating, 
why do you mutilate the gospel? Speaking as if he's speaking 
to these Judaizers. Why do you mutilate the gospel? 
Why do you seek to mix what is new and old? Grace and the law, 
the light and the shadow, the perfect, and the imperfect. John 
Gill, the doctrine of justification by his righteousness, which they, 
the Judaizers, sought to change, to throw into a different shape 
and form, to adulterate by mixing it with the works of the law, 
and so, if possible, to destroy it. And just a third and final 
witness, Augustine, the apostle warned the Galatians not to accept 
circumcision. Not because it was a sin to receive 
it, but because they were forced to believe that they could not 
be justified unless they received it. For if they believed that, 
they would perish by holding a distorted view of Christ. And the language goes on here 
with regards to the abhorrence. which is not another, but there 
are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of 
Christ. These perversions of the gospel 
are agitators to the people of God. The peace, the comfort, 
the joy of the gospel is destroyed. Thirdly, we have the anathema. 
The language is doubled in verses eight and nine. It's repeated. 
in verses 8 and 9. So we have this anathema or this 
cursing that the Apostle Paul gives here. He calls these accursed 
who are teaching this perverted gospel. Notice verses 8 and 9. 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." Now, this language 
is very strong. As you've heard Pastor Butler 
mention before, it has to do with God setting aside a thing 
to destruction. You can turn back. We opened 
up with a reading from the book of Joshua. You can turn to Joshua 
6 for a moment. This has to do with the destruction 
of Jericho. As Pastor Butler mentioned, this 
narrative concerning the taking of the land, we have a report 
with regards to the destruction of Jericho, a narrative concerning 
the taking of Jericho. And notice what we have as we 
move sort of to the center of it. Notice, let's see, we'll 
start at verse 15. But it came to pass on the seventh 
day, this is 615, that they rose early about the dawning of the 
day and marched around the city seven times in the same manner. 
On that day only they marched around the city seven times. 
And the seventh time it happened, when the priests blew the trumpets, 
that Joshua said to the people, shout for the Lord has given 
you the city. Now the city shall be anathematized, 
it and all who are in it. to the Lord. We could read it 
that way. Now the city shall be doomed 
by the Lord to destruction, it and all who are in it. This language 
of being doomed to destruction, the Apostle Paul picks up in 
Galatians 1 8 and 9 and it's no mistake the Apostle Paul was 
familiar with the Old Testament at Joshua Joshua 6 is really 
the nation of Israel under Joshua being obedient to the stuff of 
Deuteronomy 13 where God commands those who would preach another 
message to be cast off to be doomed to destruction and to 
be accursed, and so the Apostle Paul, rightly picking up that 
same Old Testament language, says that even if we, that is, 
even if the Apostle Paul, or the brethren who are with him, 
or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than 
what we have preached to you, let him be accursed, let him 
be anathema, let him be doomed to destruction. Christians in 
the early church picked this up, and they used the same language. 
The Christians at Nicaea, the theologians, the bishops at Nicaea 
wrote this. This is contra-Arianism, as Pastor 
Butler mentioned that this morning. Those who deny the deity of the 
Lord Jesus Christ, one flavor being modern-day Jehovah's Witnesses, 
The Council of Nicaea wrote this, but those who say there was a 
time when the son was not, and he was not before he was made, 
and he was made out of nothing, or he is of another substance 
or essence, or the son of God is created or changeable or alterable, 
they are condemned by the Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church 
and anathematized. They are doomed to destruction. They are accursed. The Third 
Council of Constantinople, and I want to say here, this is why 
Christology, the doctrine of Christ, is so important to the 
heart and soul of Christianity and to the heart and soul of 
the Christian. The Third Council of Constantinople 
is countering the idea that Christ had only one will and one power. that somehow in the incarnation 
both deity and humanity were admixed such that there was only 
one will and one power. They said, we proclaim in him, 
that is Christ, two natural volitions and two natural operations, indivisibly, 
inconvertibly, inseparably, unconfusedly. We similarly anathematize those 
who divide or confuse the natures or who accept only one natural 
will. or one natural operation. Now 
all of that big language to come back to this is that with the 
Apostle Paul, the Christian church does and should take seriously 
the truth of Christ. The very truth of the person 
and work of the Lord Jesus Christ is at stake when these enemies 
of the gospel seek to proclaim their wicked perversions. The 
force of the Declaration is seen in this language of doomed to 
destruction or anathematized or accursed. Gill writes, the 
doctrine of justification by his righteousness, which they, 
the heretics, sought to change, to throw into a different shape 
and form, to adulterate by mixing it with the works of the law, 
and so, if possible, to destroy it. We see here, as this is repeated, 
the surpassing importance of the truth. The Apostle Paul throws 
himself and his brethren and the angels under this curse if 
they are, though that would be impossible, but if they were 
to preach any other gospel than what was preached. This language 
in verse 9 is, we have said before, so now I say again. That could 
mean that he had just said it in verse 8. We do have that that 
is the case. He did just say it in verse 8 
But this language could also carry the weight of we were just 
there a year ago You know, we were just there within the last 
two years as we have said before So now I say again this message 
was preached before This message of the purity of the gospel through 
Jesus Christ alone was preached to you before this language of 
justification solely and alone by the Lord Jesus Christ and 
nothing else was preached to you before. Negatively speaking, 
if anyone preaches any other gospel, let him be accursed. So now he doubles up and he doubles, 
he repeats the cursing, the anathematizing. If anyone preaches any other 
gospel to you than what we have preached, let him be accursed. 
And hopefully none of us see this as, ah, it's kind of strong 
language. You know, the apostle Paul, man, 
he should have lightened up a little bit. What's at stake here, remember? The glory of God. What's at stake 
here, remember? The glory of Christ and the perfection 
of His finished work. What's at stake here? The exaltation 
of man that He can, by the deeds of His flesh, merit everlasting 
life? There are so many things at stake 
here. When the truth is at stake, the 
very integrity and nature of God is at stake, the perfection 
of Christ is at stake in the glory of amazing grace. We want 
to close then with the allegiance. Paul's aim here is not to seek 
the favor of men, but to serve Christ. Notice the language here. For do I now persuade men or 
God? This is verse 10. 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. This persuading and 
pleasing, probably it does most likely hold two different meanings 
here. Persuading men would be the altering of the truth to 
make it more acceptable, more palatable, or to make it appeal 
to the flesh. And so directly in the crosshairs 
of the apostle Paul are those who were perverting this gospel, 
these Judaizers who were perverting the gospel and adding the law 
of Moses in order to be accepted before God, adding deeds of the 
flesh in order to be accepted before God. These are those who 
are seeking to persuade men. They are those who are altering 
the truth in order to make it more acceptable, more palatable, 
Appeal to the flesh and and let's be honest here. That's truly 
what it is when you know when people in our own time when when 
unbelievers when when non-christians Oppose the gospel and when they 
say thing even those who would perhaps fly the banner of Christianity 
when they say well, it can't be that easy that easy You're 
saved solely and alone by Jesus Christ. This clarion call of 
the gospel, believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be 
saved. That's it. The simplicity of the gospel 
is hated by the gospel haters. It's hated by the God haters. 
It's hated by those outside of Christ. Because they love the 
flesh. They love the deeds of the flesh. 
There has to be something in me that avails with God. There has to be something about 
me, about what I do and don't do that avails with God. God 
comes, Christ comes, the nature of man comes, and the gospel 
comes, and it says, there is nothing you can do. Christ has 
done it all. There is nothing for you to do. The God of amazing grace condescends 
and saves sinners for his glory. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ 
and you shall be saved comes with the weight of the glory 
of God. It comes with the weight of the finished work of Christ. 
It comes with the glorious weight of amazing grace and the promise 
that all who believe will have everlasting life and a justification 
not their own, a righteousness not their own, but that which 
is imputed to them and received by faith alone. This persuading 
men, then again, is altering the truth to make it more palatable. 
This pleasing of men is the process or desire to seek human approval 
over gods. 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. Notice this language 
here just briefly and we'll close within a matter of minutes, but 
notice this language for if I still pleased men The Apostle Paul 
will after this launch into an extended autobiographical account 
of his former conduct followed by his conduct after having been 
brought forth by amazing grace. But this language of, for if 
I still pleased men, touches upon the fact that this is what 
he was doing prior to being saved. He sought to please men rather 
than God. For if I still pleased men. So 
when he was this Hebrew of the Hebrews, when he was this one 
of the tribe of Benjamin, when, you know, concerning the law, 
he was righteous and blameless before God. When, you know, concerning 
the righteousness which comes from the law, he was blameless. 
Concerning zeal, he's persecuting the church. He was a Hebrew of 
the Hebrews, and in so doing, he was not though pleasing God, 
But he was pleasing men for if I still pleased men I would not 
be a bondservant of Christ but now being brought into the the 
The blessed religion of the Lord Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus 
and being commissioned as an apostle to go to the Gentiles 
to proclaim Justification by faith alone in the glories of 
Christ. He sure was a bondservant of 
Christ Imagine and that just imagine this marveling of the 
Apostle Paul for a moment Remember that it was before churches in 
Galatia that he stood with those bruises and beatings and brand 
marks of the Lord Jesus Christ. He hobbles to Derby a stoned 
man. He hobbles to that church in 
Galatia, a man who you could see had received opposition and 
persecution. Were those the evidences of having 
sought to please men? No, those were the marks of one 
who was commissioned to please God, who by the sovereign God 
was put into the army of God in order to bring forth many 
sons to glory, Him not bringing them forth truly, Christ through 
His ministry bringing them forth by the proclaimed message joined 
by the Spirit of power. He comes to them and he hobbles 
to them and imagine imagine the marveling Probably not the Apostle 
Paul because because he's he's holier-than-most He probably 
didn't say man, you know, he did, you know, he didn't scratch 
off Did you guys not see how it was and how I was beaten up 
for the cause of Christ and truth? And then he scratched it off 
and no send this to the churches in Galatia. That's that that's 
probably not what happened, but You know think about it about 
all that Paul had gone through for the gospel of Christ and 
for these to say that he's pleasing men, that his apostleship is 
after men and not God? And to this marveling too, with 
respect to the nature of it and the timing of it, let's bring 
this down for a moment just to perhaps see the weightiness of 
Paul's marveling that they're turning away to another gospel. Imagine you, you come into a 
lot of money, and Abbotsford, Aldergrove, Langley, Surrey, 
they're starving. They don't have anything to eat. 
They don't have any food. They're dying. And you buy a bunch of choice 
meat, you buy a bunch of choice vegetables, you buy a bunch of 
choice fruits and grains and nuts, and you drive through Abbotsford, 
and Aldergrove and Langley and Surrey and you feed them with 
these blessed things this this meat and and this fruit and these 
vegetables and these grains and nuts and you stop Something happens 
can't go to Vancouver. So you come back through these 
cities Vancouver's fine. They're not they're not starving 
you come back through these cities and you check in to see how they're 
doing They're enjoying their steaks. They're enjoying their 
bacon-wrapped asparagus They're in they're enjoying their broccoli 
and their cauliflower their grains their fruits and their nuts and 
this is great You come you come back to Chilliwack and you rest 
for a while and you rejoice in the goodness of God but then 
these letters come in a year later and and you're hearing 
that they're they're eating pig slop with the pigs in the backyard 
and they're not enjoying the food that is still available 
for them in their dining rooms and in their living rooms and 
What an astonishment that would be. I was just there. We gave you the blessed things 
to feast upon. And now you're feasting upon 
the garbage, which is no food at all. Paul has this great measure 
of allegiance to the God of his profession. because he is also 
the God of this glorious gospel. And he wants these Galatians 
to not be stolen away unto perversions of the gospel of Christ, but 
he wants to hold Christ up before them and to show them that if 
you follow after these Judaizers, you are casting this Christ into 
the mud of ingloriousness. You're casting this Christ from 
the fullness of glory to the vanity of salvation. by the deeds of the flesh. So 
brethren, in closing, by application, we're to be villagent in protecting 
the purity of the gospel and to respond with Pauline urgency 
when it's compromised. As we'll look more when we get 
to Galatians chapter 2, particularly around verses 16 through 21, 
we'll make a note of not only historical but also also contemporary 
departures from the doctrine of justification by faith alone 
and We need to be such as who realize that this wasn't a first 
century issue This is an issue that has abided in the church 
wherever the the hydra of the devil has sought to oppose Christ's 
people Also, we are to be prepared to stand firmly against distortions 
of the gospel even if it brings conflict Very often it is the 
case that the church in conflict is all the more strengthened 
to defend her Christ and the truth. Whatever may come, we 
are to be prepared to stand firmly against such perversions of the 
gospel. And lastly, we are bondservants 
of Christ above all else and are to be about God's approval 
and not man's. As we believe in the gospel of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, we're not believing in man's gospel, 
but God's gospel. We're on the side of the triune 
God of heaven and earth, the glorious Christ, not the inglorious 
Christ, but the glorious Christ of saving perfection. who brings 
a multitude of sinners to glory. So saints, rejoice this evening 
in your Christ and in the true gospel of saving grace, and sinner, 
believe this gospel. Don't follow after the so-called 
perverse gospel of unbelief that reigns in this day, and don't 
follow after any pseudo-Christian perversion of the true gospel. We're saved by grace alone, through 
faith alone, in Christ alone, to the praise of the triune God. 
Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you 
for your truth. We rejoice in your word to us. We praise you for what you've 
given to us in Jesus Christ, our Savior. We thank you for 
the perfection of his work, and we thank you for the truth as 
you have declared it to us. And we do pray that you'd help 
us in this lower world to feed upon the blessed truths of the 
gospel. to rejoice in the truth, to sing the praises of our God, 
and to reflect with great reflection upon Christ our Savior. Do go 
with us as we go into the remainder of this day and into the forthcoming 
week. We thank you for this Sabbath. We pray that you'd help us throughout 
the week to reflect upon you and to conduct ourselves in a 
manner worthy of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And it's in his 
name we pray. Amen. We'll have a brief time 
of prayer. When the piano's finished, you're 
dismissed.