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.

Astonishment at the Defection

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

Opening Prayer

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.

Introduction

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

Astonishment Relative to Time

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

Astonishment Relative to Divine Calling

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

Astonishment Relative to Gospel Content

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.

The Abhorrence of Gospel Perversion

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.

Implications of a Perverted Gospel

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.

The Anathema Upon False Gospel Preachers

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.

The Doubled Curse and Its Weight

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.

The Allegiance: Serving Christ, Not Men

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.

Application

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.

Closing Prayer

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.

Scripture References

• Deuteronomy 13
• Joshua 6:15-17
• John 6:63
• Acts 2:20; 13:38-39; 13:48-49; 13:52; 14:23; 14:26-27
• Galatians 1:1-10; 2:14; 2:21
• Ephesians 1:3