1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,560 We're reading verses 1 to 10 today. Karen's going to read that for us. If you're using one of the 2 00:00:04,560 --> 00:00:11,440 Bibles provided on the chairs, you'll find it on page 943. Thanks Karen. 3 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,600 Galatians chapter 2 and I'm starting at verse 1. 4 00:00:25,600 --> 00:00:35,560 Then after 14 years I went up again to Jerusalem, this time with Barnabas. I took Titus along also. 5 00:00:35,560 --> 00:00:42,160 I went in response to a revelation and, meeting privately with those esteemed as leaders, 6 00:00:42,160 --> 00:00:49,160 I presented to them the gospel that I preach among the Gentiles. I wanted to be sure I was 7 00:00:49,160 --> 00:00:56,160 not running and had not been running my race in vain. Yet not even Titus who was with me was 8 00:00:56,160 --> 00:01:03,960 compelled to be circumcised even though he was a Greek. This matter arose because some false 9 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:10,600 believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us 10 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:18,240 slaves. We did not give in to them for a moment so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved 11 00:01:18,240 --> 00:01:25,800 for you. As for those who were held in high esteem, whatever they were makes no difference 12 00:01:25,800 --> 00:01:33,160 to me. God does not show favoritism. They added nothing to my message. On the contrary, 13 00:01:33,160 --> 00:01:39,960 they recognized that I had been entrusted with the task of preaching the gospel to the uncircumcised 14 00:01:39,960 --> 00:01:48,080 just as Peter had been to the circumcised. For God who was at work in Peter as an apostle to the 15 00:01:48,080 --> 00:01:57,000 circumcised was also at work in me as an apostle to the Gentiles. James, Cephas and John, those 16 00:01:57,000 --> 00:02:02,800 esteemed as pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship when they recognized 17 00:02:02,800 --> 00:02:10,400 the grace given to me. They agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. 18 00:02:10,400 --> 00:02:17,720 All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I had been 19 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:33,880 eager to do all along. And this is God's word. All right, well, morning everyone. I just want 20 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:39,920 to pray to begin. So please join me as we pray. Heavenly Father, we give you praise and thanks. 21 00:02:39,920 --> 00:02:46,000 You are the great and awesome Almighty God. You rule this world that you've made and we praise 22 00:02:46,000 --> 00:02:51,160 you Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Thank you that you love us so much. Thank you Father that you 23 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:56,640 sent your only Son. Thank you Jesus that you came down to this world that you'd made to live 24 00:02:56,640 --> 00:03:03,080 perfectly, to reveal yourself to us and then to go to the cross for us. Lord, thank you that you 25 00:03:03,080 --> 00:03:10,560 have risen and that you have ascended, that you reign in power forevermore. We thank you Holy 26 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:17,840 Spirit that you are with us and in us and we pray that you would make us understand your word this 27 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:24,840 morning. Lord, show us the truth in your word that you have for us and Lord use it and we pray that 28 00:03:24,840 --> 00:03:30,640 you would work by your spirit to make us more like Christ. We pray that you would bless us with great 29 00:03:30,640 --> 00:03:38,940 unity and joy in Christ and we pray these things for his glory. Amen. I normally preach from the 30 00:03:38,940 --> 00:03:44,920 ESV and so I've just got one of the Bibles from here but I brought this one which I have that looks 31 00:03:44,920 --> 00:03:50,480 a bit 80s because it's got different people on the front but it's just a New Testament here and 32 00:03:50,480 --> 00:03:57,560 I've got this one here so the NIV. It is wonderful to be here with you and I want to send greetings 33 00:03:57,560 --> 00:04:03,480 from High Wycombe to all the brothers and sisters here. It's a joy to be united in the Gospel of our 34 00:04:03,480 --> 00:04:09,200 Lord Jesus and thank you for having me. It's wonderful to be here with you all. A question for 35 00:04:09,200 --> 00:04:16,400 you this morning. What would you be willing to take a stand for? What would you be willing to 36 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:22,800 take a stand for? What would you be willing to put it all on the line for? What things in your life 37 00:04:22,800 --> 00:04:28,760 or people in your life would you be willing to take a stand for, to endure whatever may come if 38 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:35,960 you take a stand? And today we're going to see the Apostle Paul take a stand for the Gospel. Now I 39 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:42,200 understand you've been working through the book of Galatians and this is a letter from the Apostle 40 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:50,000 Paul but not only Paul, all the brothers in that area who were agreed on what needed to be said to 41 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:56,600 these churches in Galatia in this part of Asia Minor. It was a letter that is a heavy-hitting 42 00:04:56,600 --> 00:05:03,520 letter. I'm sure you would have already seen some of the confronting language the Apostle Paul uses 43 00:05:03,520 --> 00:05:11,520 as he talks about the seriousness of there being no other Gospel as the series is entitled. We have 44 00:05:11,520 --> 00:05:17,120 Paul sharing this message that isn't just something Paul's come up with or Paul and a few of his 45 00:05:17,120 --> 00:05:23,800 friends but the message that God has given to him to share with these people and it's affirming the 46 00:05:23,800 --> 00:05:32,520 truth of the Gospel that comes from God and glorifies God. And Paul has warned the Galatians 47 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:39,400 of the danger of counterfeit Gospels. You see counterfeits are worse than worthless. You know 48 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:45,200 if I try and use fake money not only does the fake money not work but they send you to jail. There 49 00:05:45,200 --> 00:05:50,240 are consequences for embracing the counterfeit and that's true with the Gospel. If you embrace a 50 00:05:50,240 --> 00:05:56,360 counterfeit Gospel, a fake false Gospel, not only does it not give what it promises it actually ends 51 00:05:56,360 --> 00:06:05,520 up in the just judgment of God. And so there is an utmost importance to getting the Gospel right and 52 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:13,360 that's what the book of Galatians shows us and teaches us. Paul says in chapter 1 verse 8 that 53 00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:19,960 even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a Gospel contrary to the one we preach to 54 00:06:19,960 --> 00:06:28,680 you let him be accursed or condemned. So this is of utmost importance that the Gospel is right and 55 00:06:28,680 --> 00:06:36,800 we know what it is. And you can see that Paul wasn't on about pleasing man. He was on about 56 00:06:36,800 --> 00:06:43,280 living for the Lord. He didn't mind what people thought of him. He wasn't fearing man. He was 57 00:06:43,280 --> 00:06:50,880 fearing the Lord. He wasn't seeking comfort or pleasure in this life. He was seeking the glory of God. 58 00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:58,040 And people were initially a bit suspicious of Paul and if you know anything about Paul in his 59 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:03,360 former life as a zealous persecutor of the church you could understand why they would be a bit 60 00:07:03,360 --> 00:07:10,480 suspicious of him. He seems like a really badly disguised double agent come in to undo a lot of 61 00:07:10,480 --> 00:07:15,920 the Gospel work. I mean here's this guy who's been trying to round up Christians and kill them. Now 62 00:07:15,920 --> 00:07:22,360 all of a sudden proclaiming the Gospel? What's happening there? People are initially very 63 00:07:22,360 --> 00:07:29,240 suspicious of him and in today's passage we're going to see how Paul is recognized. Firstly he's 64 00:07:29,240 --> 00:07:35,600 recognized as a true apostle. Secondly we're going to see that he preaches the true Gospel and then 65 00:07:35,600 --> 00:07:40,800 we're going to see him take a stand for that Gospel. That Paul is a true apostle. That he 66 00:07:40,800 --> 00:07:47,640 preaches the true Gospel and he takes a stand for that Gospel. Up to now in the book of Galatians 67 00:07:47,640 --> 00:07:53,880 Paul has shown his credentials as an apostle. He's someone who's been called by Jesus Christ 68 00:07:53,880 --> 00:08:00,760 specifically given the commission and the office as an apostle. Jesus appeared to him on the road 69 00:08:00,760 --> 00:08:07,920 to Damascus and radically changed his life and gave him a call to preach the Gospel. I want you 70 00:08:07,920 --> 00:08:13,880 to think about, you may be familiar with business cards. We don't see them as much today but when 71 00:08:13,880 --> 00:08:18,320 people give each other a card to say here's my number, here's my details. I'd like to imagine 72 00:08:18,320 --> 00:08:23,600 what Paul's business card would have looked like before the Lord Jesus intervened in his life. It 73 00:08:23,600 --> 00:08:29,320 might be something like this. Saul of Tarsus, zealous persecutor of the church, show me the way 74 00:08:29,320 --> 00:08:34,480 and I'll show them the way to prison or certain death. Something like that. And then afterwards 75 00:08:34,480 --> 00:08:43,800 Paul, an apostle of Jesus, saved sinner, preacher of God's Gospel, showing people the way to 76 00:08:43,800 --> 00:08:50,680 salvation in Christ even if I get locked up or killed for it. You see that radical change in his 77 00:08:50,680 --> 00:08:56,760 life? He would have needed a whole new set of business cards. He is just completely different. 78 00:08:56,760 --> 00:09:04,480 You see how God turned him around, changed his life completely. He changed him from being someone 79 00:09:04,480 --> 00:09:10,400 who breathed murder and threats against Christians, rounding them up trying to kill them, trying to 80 00:09:10,400 --> 00:09:16,680 wipe the Gospel off the face of the earth to being someone who would go and non-violently proclaim 81 00:09:16,680 --> 00:09:23,000 that message, being willing to endure whatever persecution may come for doing so. Radical, 82 00:09:23,000 --> 00:09:28,720 radical change in his life, spreading the message of Jesus that he once was trying to stamp out. 83 00:09:28,720 --> 00:09:34,920 In various situations in our lives you may come across questions where people ask, you know, 84 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:41,680 is this person legit or are they true to who they claim to be? You might be familiar with people 85 00:09:41,680 --> 00:09:46,960 asking those kinds of questions. People, you know, make a claim and then we kind of have to work out 86 00:09:46,960 --> 00:09:55,160 whether that claim is legitimate, whether it's true. And people who do this, sometimes you might 87 00:09:55,160 --> 00:10:01,560 have people sort of say, my house or my acreage is now a country, you know, and then you know maybe 88 00:10:01,560 --> 00:10:06,080 mint some coins and say we're no longer part of Australia. This is a different country now, you 89 00:10:06,080 --> 00:10:12,040 need a new passport to come in and visit. If I did that in my house and then it would be a bit crazy. 90 00:10:12,040 --> 00:10:17,440 And one of the ways that we can see whether those kind of claims are legitimate is whether other 91 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:25,200 legitimate countries in this instance recognise that. So if I said, you know, my house is now no 92 00:10:25,200 --> 00:10:29,760 longer part of Australia, it is its own country. No one, no other country in the world is going to 93 00:10:29,760 --> 00:10:36,760 recognise that. And so you can see that by looking at what a country that is recognised and the other 94 00:10:36,760 --> 00:10:41,000 countries that are recognised think of this claim, you can see whether that's legitimate. I'll give 95 00:10:41,000 --> 00:10:46,040 you another example. If I told you I was part of the British royal family and you went and asked 96 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:51,480 them, they would tell you it's a load of nonsense. It's not true. But if there was someone who really 97 00:10:51,480 --> 00:10:56,080 was part of the British royal family and they said to you they are, you could go and ask them and 98 00:10:56,080 --> 00:11:00,880 they'd be able to track the line down and find, yeah, you know, they're the 64th second cousin or 99 00:11:00,880 --> 00:11:07,800 whatever of the Queen and work that out. And so if they are legitimate, then those who we know to 100 00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:14,160 be legitimate will authenticate that claim. Do you see how that works? So one country recognises the 101 00:11:14,160 --> 00:11:18,280 status of another country. Someone in a royal family recognises the status of someone else in a royal 102 00:11:18,280 --> 00:11:27,400 family. Well today, with the Apostle Paul, we see his claim to be an apostle authenticated by the 103 00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:35,480 Apostles, by the other Apostles. We have the other Apostles who were with Jesus, who were called and 104 00:11:35,480 --> 00:11:46,520 sent by Jesus. They recognise, yes, Paul, you are a true apostle. This guy is one of us. He's saved, 105 00:11:46,520 --> 00:11:54,280 he's called and sent by the same Jesus who saved, called and sent us. And that comes from the other 106 00:11:54,280 --> 00:12:00,160 Apostles. That's huge because here's this former zealous persecutor of the church who was rounding 107 00:12:00,160 --> 00:12:05,040 up the Christians wanting to kill them, wanting to wipe out the message of the gospel of Jesus, 108 00:12:05,040 --> 00:12:12,400 he's being recognised as a true apostle by the other Apostles. The men who walked with Jesus, 109 00:12:12,400 --> 00:12:18,720 the men who spent their lives with him, they'd come out of various backgrounds and they see Paul 110 00:12:18,720 --> 00:12:27,720 as a true apostle. Yes, indeed. And we see that they notice something about him in verse 9. It 111 00:12:27,720 --> 00:12:33,960 says, James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me. 112 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:44,160 They looked at Paul and they saw a saved man. They saw someone that Jesus Christ had rescued out of 113 00:12:44,160 --> 00:12:51,800 his former sinful lifestyle. They recognised the grace that was at work in Paul because it was the 114 00:12:51,800 --> 00:13:01,120 same grace that was at work in them. You can see that in verse 9. No other explanation can truly 115 00:13:01,120 --> 00:13:08,200 satisfy to explain this change in Paul's life. Nothing else would satisfy, nothing could explain 116 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:14,200 this complete turnaround of wanting to kill Christians to being willing to be murdered 117 00:13:14,200 --> 00:13:21,520 as a Christian. The same message that he was trying to get rid of, now he was willing to be 118 00:13:21,520 --> 00:13:29,480 gotten rid of for. The only real satisfactory explanation is that God had worked in him. That 119 00:13:29,480 --> 00:13:36,520 God had indeed given him a new heart, taken away his cold dead heart and given him a heart of flesh. 120 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:42,920 That he put his spirit within him, that he'd given him new life in Christ. And the Apostles 121 00:13:42,920 --> 00:13:49,920 themselves, they reached this conclusion. Yes, Paul, you're a partaker of the same grace that 122 00:13:49,920 --> 00:13:57,320 we are partakers of, called in the same way that we are called. That God really has changed you. 123 00:13:57,320 --> 00:14:05,520 And Paul is bringing a message. This message he's bringing from the position of being an Apostle. 124 00:14:05,520 --> 00:14:14,440 And this message that he's bringing is the true gospel. You see, he's a true Apostle and the message 125 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:20,400 that he's preaching is a true gospel. Now very significantly, the message that Paul is preaching 126 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:27,520 is the same as the message the other Apostles were preaching. He's just told us in chapter 1, 127 00:14:27,520 --> 00:14:33,520 that there is no other gospel and for anyone to embrace another gospel leads to the just 128 00:14:33,520 --> 00:14:40,280 condemnation from God. So if Paul was saying, hey, if he's been recognized as a true Apostle, 129 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:45,200 but he's off preaching a different gospel to what they were preaching, that would be a massive 130 00:14:45,200 --> 00:14:50,680 problem. That's unthinkable. If he's the same as the other Apostles in that he's been saved, 131 00:14:50,680 --> 00:15:00,720 called and sent by Jesus, then he must be preaching the same gospel. Paul has a revelation to go up 132 00:15:00,720 --> 00:15:08,560 to Jerusalem to see the Apostles. And he's going there to make sure that the gospel he's preaching 133 00:15:08,560 --> 00:15:14,720 is the true gospel. He says, hey guys, this is the gospel that I've been preaching. I want to make 134 00:15:14,720 --> 00:15:19,480 sure that I'm not laboring in vain, that I haven't been misleading people or doing anything like that. 135 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:25,920 And they confirm that yes, yes brother, you are preaching the true gospel. He met with the heavy 136 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:36,160 hitters, the pillars as he calls them, James, John and Simon Peter, men who are Apostles of Jesus 137 00:15:36,160 --> 00:15:44,600 Christ and all of these guys found agreement with one another. He went up in verse 2 because of that 138 00:15:44,600 --> 00:15:51,800 revelation and he sets before them privately the gospel that he's been preaching. He's showing them 139 00:15:51,800 --> 00:15:59,200 the good news, the massive news message of salvation in Jesus Christ alone, by grace alone, 140 00:15:59,200 --> 00:16:04,760 through faith alone, in Christ alone, for God's glory alone, according to Scripture alone. And 141 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:11,720 he shares that message and they are saying yes, that is the same message. And even Titus, who in 142 00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:20,760 verse 3 we hear of, he's a Greek and he's not forced to be circumcised. So we see that the 143 00:16:20,760 --> 00:16:26,960 Apostles are saying, yeah, they're all in agreement. They're not saying, oh yeah, actually Titus, 144 00:16:26,960 --> 00:16:32,360 you need to be circumcised. They're not saying, Titus, you come from a Gentile background, you 145 00:16:32,360 --> 00:16:41,360 need to now come under the law and fulfill that. They're not doing that. They're offering Paul the 146 00:16:41,360 --> 00:16:49,160 right hand of fellowship in verse 9. It says, once they perceived the grace given to me, they gave the 147 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:54,440 right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the 148 00:16:54,440 --> 00:17:01,960 circumcised. And that right hand of fellowship is pretty much what it is today. There's a recognition 149 00:17:01,960 --> 00:17:08,300 to it. A few years ago, when many of us weren't shaking hands, I went to a home open with my 150 00:17:08,300 --> 00:17:12,680 parents, they were looking for a new home, and I went to shake the hand of the guy who was there 151 00:17:12,680 --> 00:17:19,200 and he said, oh, how about I acknowledge you this way? And he gave me a fist bump. And as I was 152 00:17:19,200 --> 00:17:25,160 reading this and thinking about this, it reminded me that there is an acknowledgement and a welcome 153 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:32,520 and a hospitality and a recognition of one another when we shake one another's hand. So that, I have 154 00:17:32,520 --> 00:17:37,240 no issue with the guy giving me a fist bump. I'm just using this as an example to remind us that 155 00:17:37,240 --> 00:17:41,760 I'm hitting your microphone again, I'm sorry. My pulpit, I think it comes up from the back, 156 00:17:41,760 --> 00:17:49,440 but I occasionally still bump it. But anyway, the reality is when we shake hands, when we look one 157 00:17:49,440 --> 00:17:54,960 another in the eye, when we recognize one another, there's a fellowship there. There's a true 158 00:17:54,960 --> 00:18:00,920 relationship there. And there's a recognition there. And that's what's happening here. The 159 00:18:00,920 --> 00:18:09,840 Apostles recognizing Paul as one of them, and Barnabas too. And they are seeing him as an 160 00:18:09,840 --> 00:18:17,280 Apostle, a true Apostle, and one who preaches the true gospel. The true gospel, because it's the 161 00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:24,400 same gospel of Jesus Christ that the other Apostles were preaching too. It's the same gospel. It's not 162 00:18:24,400 --> 00:18:29,800 a different gospel. If Paul had come there, and he was, you know, zealous persecutor of the church 163 00:18:29,800 --> 00:18:34,480 formally, and he gets there and he's saying, hey, here's the gospel I've got, and it's different, 164 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:40,680 there is no way these Apostles are going to recognize Paul as a fellow Apostle. And there's 165 00:18:40,680 --> 00:18:47,160 no way they're going to recognize his gospel as the true gospel. But what happens is they see Paul, 166 00:18:47,160 --> 00:18:52,680 they see that he's received the grace of Jesus Christ, and they see that he preaches the grace 167 00:18:52,680 --> 00:18:59,680 of Jesus Christ. They see a man who's been saved, they see a brother in Christ, they see a fellow 168 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:08,520 Apostle who preaches the same gospel. And this gospel is the massive news of salvation in Jesus. 169 00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:17,960 No one else can save us. Only Jesus can. And the massive news is that he has come, and he has lived 170 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:25,360 perfectly, that he has died on the cross to take our sin upon himself, to bear the penalty for our 171 00:19:25,360 --> 00:19:31,560 rebellion against God, bearing the wrath of God in our place on the cross, that he put our sin to 172 00:19:31,560 --> 00:19:39,680 death, that he is risen from the grave powerfully, destroying the power of sin, death, and the devil, 173 00:19:39,680 --> 00:19:48,920 and he is ascended on high, and he reigns, and that for all who are in Christ, we now have eternal 174 00:19:48,920 --> 00:19:58,800 life, eternal life and the hope, secure hope of life forever with him, and being made right in him, 175 00:19:58,800 --> 00:20:05,720 not having a righteousness of our own, but a righteousness that comes from Christ himself, 176 00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:13,800 clothed in him. He's the King of Kings. Jesus is the Lord of Lords. He's the only one who can save 177 00:20:13,800 --> 00:20:21,560 us. And this is the true gospel, the gospel that was preached by Jesus, the gospel that we see in 178 00:20:21,560 --> 00:20:28,520 the Old Testament pointing towards the fulfillment, and we see the other apostles preaching, and they 179 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:36,800 see Paul preach it too. And you notice there, they say that, remember the poor. That's what they say, 180 00:20:36,800 --> 00:20:45,080 and Paul says, that's the very thing I was eager to do. This gospel bears fruit, and it leads to 181 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:53,640 change in our lives. That change is not what saves us, that change points to the saving grace of 182 00:20:53,640 --> 00:21:01,800 Christ who has worked in us. And you'll see in some of Paul's letters where he'll ask for collections 183 00:21:01,800 --> 00:21:08,360 for the brothers who are doing it tough. You see a real partnership in the gospel there, and it's 184 00:21:08,360 --> 00:21:13,480 not that they're saying, hey Paul, we think you've got some of the gospel right, but really you need 185 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:17,920 to start embracing circumcision. That's not what they're saying at all. They're not saying, Paul, 186 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:24,240 actually we see it more as a works-based salvation. They're not saying that at all. They're saying 187 00:21:24,240 --> 00:21:31,720 they agree. They agree with the same gospel that is centered on the grace of Christ Jesus. That is 188 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:39,120 the gospel of our salvation. And they're saying that gospel bears fruit, and Paul's saying, I 189 00:21:39,120 --> 00:21:44,920 completely agree. And one of the ways in which that happens is the caring for the needs of brothers 190 00:21:44,920 --> 00:21:53,380 and sisters. Because when Jesus saves us, he saves us into a family, we become a part of the family 191 00:21:53,380 --> 00:22:01,680 of God. We can now call God the almighty creator of heaven and earth, our Father. We become brothers 192 00:22:01,680 --> 00:22:09,240 and sisters. We're adopted in Christ Jesus. We have his Holy Spirit come and live in us. And so 193 00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:20,760 those blessings are unfathomable and wonderful and rich and joyful. And it is his grace, not 194 00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:28,960 our works that leads to us receiving this blessing. That's the true gospel. In today's 195 00:22:28,960 --> 00:22:35,960 passage, we're only coming up to verse 10. And so when Paul takes a stand for the gospel here, 196 00:22:35,960 --> 00:22:41,720 we're going to see how he takes a stand today against false brothers. But in this section, 197 00:22:41,720 --> 00:22:46,680 you'll, as you continue in Galatians, you'll see Paul take a stand not only against false brothers, 198 00:22:46,680 --> 00:22:53,760 but against real brothers who get things wrong. You'll see Paul take a stand for the gospel, 199 00:22:53,760 --> 00:22:58,320 both against false brothers, which we'll look at today, and then against real brothers, 200 00:22:58,320 --> 00:23:05,600 who make mistakes and get things wrong. So we're going to look today at Paul taking a stand for 201 00:23:05,600 --> 00:23:10,000 this true gospel. He's a true apostle. He's preaching the true gospel, and he's taking a 202 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:17,280 stand for that gospel. And he won't back down. The true gospel of salvation by grace alone, 203 00:23:17,280 --> 00:23:24,200 through faith alone, in Christ alone, glorifies God. Doesn't glorify us, because God is the one 204 00:23:24,200 --> 00:23:29,520 who has done it. He's the one who saves us. He's the one who receives all of the glory. 205 00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:38,600 And now there were false brothers at that time, trying to infiltrate the church, to spy out the 206 00:23:38,600 --> 00:23:44,840 freedom that is ours in Christ Jesus. You know, notice it's like espionage sort of language, 207 00:23:44,840 --> 00:23:51,840 like spies, you know. That's the kind of language that's being used here of these false brothers. 208 00:23:51,840 --> 00:24:02,440 They're like spies coming in to try and undo the gospel. They are false brothers, pretending 209 00:24:02,440 --> 00:24:09,160 that they're brothers, and they're operating in this sneaky, underhanded way to try and undermine 210 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:16,440 the gospel. They're acting like they're Christians, like they believe in Jesus, but their endgame is 211 00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:23,480 getting people to submit to the Jewish law, and particularly trying to save yourself through the 212 00:24:23,480 --> 00:24:29,600 Jewish law. That's what they're trying to do. They're trying to enslave them to saving themselves, 213 00:24:29,600 --> 00:24:37,200 because we can never save ourselves. And so that's slavery. It's never going to work. It's a horrible 214 00:24:37,200 --> 00:24:47,280 thing to try and do. And it ultimately is just ends up being dishonouring to God, and it leads 215 00:24:47,280 --> 00:24:53,920 into judgment at the end. But as you notice, it sounds like something old Paul would have been all 216 00:24:53,920 --> 00:25:00,320 for, you know, works and all of that. That's exactly what old Paul was standing for, but not 217 00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:08,360 new Paul. Paul, who's been radically changed by Jesus, he has been saved by him. Paul knows that 218 00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:14,880 he wasn't saved by what he did. In Galatians, Paul says that if righteousness, you know, could be by 219 00:25:14,880 --> 00:25:22,240 works of the law, then Christ died for no purpose. But Christ did die for a purpose, and that purpose 220 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:32,800 is to save and rescue us. And eternity is at stake here. In chapter two, in verse five, Paul says of 221 00:25:32,800 --> 00:25:42,520 these false brothers, we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the 222 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:50,480 gospel might be preserved for you. He didn't submit, and those along with him didn't submit to the false 223 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:57,600 brothers and their false gospel, even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be 224 00:25:57,600 --> 00:26:06,080 preserved for you. They were unyielding in their faithfulness to the gospel. They faced attacks, 225 00:26:06,080 --> 00:26:12,960 and they didn't compromise. They didn't give an inch or a centimeter or a millimeter or an 226 00:26:12,960 --> 00:26:22,080 anemone. He didn't give anything. He didn't in any way compromise. He held his ground and stood firm 227 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:30,520 on the gospel, knowing it to be true, and knowing that what these false brothers were preaching was 228 00:26:30,520 --> 00:26:38,960 ultimately a false gospel. A gospel about trying to save yourself. A gospel that tries to glorify 229 00:26:38,960 --> 00:26:46,040 man. A gospel that leads to judgment, because it's not the real gospel. It's a false gospel. It's a 230 00:26:46,040 --> 00:26:53,240 lie. The true gospel glorifies God. It's about who the Lord Jesus is and what He's done for us on the 231 00:26:53,240 --> 00:27:01,520 cross, and about how He has rescued us, and it glorifies Him. We don't deserve any of the glory. 232 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:10,520 It all goes to God. He's the one who saved us. He's the one who rescued us. People in that time, 233 00:27:10,520 --> 00:27:16,840 and we see it today as well, they can often misunderstand or misapply the Old Testament, 234 00:27:16,840 --> 00:27:22,000 and look at commands in the Old Testament, and think this must be God saying you need to do these 235 00:27:22,000 --> 00:27:28,120 things in order to save yourself. But I'll give you an example. In Exodus 20, when God gives the 236 00:27:28,120 --> 00:27:33,520 law there, He said, I'm the Lord your God who brought you up out of the land of Egypt, out of 237 00:27:33,520 --> 00:27:39,600 the house of slavery, and then He says that you shall have no other gods before me or besides me. 238 00:27:39,600 --> 00:27:47,600 So you can see that it's always motivated by the grace of God, and yet people had looked at the 239 00:27:47,600 --> 00:27:54,920 Old Testament, misapplied it, and taken it to mean something that it didn't. The reality is that Paul 240 00:27:54,920 --> 00:28:00,800 knows that the gospel is the most important message ever, and he knew that to compromise on 241 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:06,480 it would lead to judgment. And Paul doesn't want anyone to go to judgment, and we don't either. 242 00:28:06,480 --> 00:28:12,920 In verse 6, he talks about these guys being influential and making no difference to him. 243 00:28:12,920 --> 00:28:20,560 This is verse 6 of my small Bible is folded back, so I'm going to open it in the big one. Yes, 244 00:28:20,560 --> 00:28:27,560 in verse 6, so verse 5 he's spoken about the false brothers, in verse 6 he talks about those 245 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:33,840 who are influential, and he's saying it makes no difference to me, God shows no favoritism. We see 246 00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:41,160 that Paul has confidence in the gospel, and these apostles recognized that he was preaching the same 247 00:28:41,160 --> 00:28:49,560 gospel. The false brothers didn't recognize that gospel. They were preaching lies and deception. 248 00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:55,880 Brothers and sisters, we have every reason to have confidence in the gospel of Jesus Christ. 249 00:28:55,880 --> 00:29:01,080 It's the gospel that doesn't come from man. I mean, if you think for a second, if I was going 250 00:29:01,080 --> 00:29:06,520 to come up with a gospel, if you were going to come up with a gospel just in your human sinful 251 00:29:06,520 --> 00:29:10,440 thinking before God influences your life, we would think of something that gives us the glory, 252 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:15,080 wouldn't we? We would think of something that makes it about us, that makes it about man and 253 00:29:15,080 --> 00:29:20,040 our success and our rising to the top and all that. That's what happened in the Old Testament, 254 00:29:20,040 --> 00:29:24,280 the other Bible for instance. We would make it about us and our glory and try to make a name 255 00:29:24,280 --> 00:29:30,440 for ourselves, but that's not the true gospel. The true gospel is about God and His glory and 256 00:29:30,440 --> 00:29:37,240 His name being the name above every name, the Lord Jesus, and seeing Him save us. And so we see that 257 00:29:37,240 --> 00:29:43,720 at a fundamental level, this is the message that comes from God and is true. It's not a message 258 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:51,240 that is made up by sinful humans. It's a message that comes from God and is true. If you look into 259 00:29:51,240 --> 00:29:55,400 how many people have had a look into the resurrection of Jesus Christ, you'll see that 260 00:29:55,400 --> 00:30:00,440 many people who go in, look into the resurrection of Jesus to try and disprove it, in the end become 261 00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:05,480 Christians because they reached the conclusion that He really did rise from the dead. We have 262 00:30:05,480 --> 00:30:15,800 every reason for confidence in Jesus and what He's done. The next thing that I want to point out 263 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:23,160 is that we need to take a stand for the gospel. You see, Paul saw these false brothers, he saw 264 00:30:23,160 --> 00:30:30,520 these guys saying, we're here to help the Galatians reach fullness or whatever, and their idea of that 265 00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:36,680 was to try and enslave them to saving themselves. And Paul is saying, no, no, no, no, I'm taking a 266 00:30:36,680 --> 00:30:44,760 stand. I'm not giving any ground. I am holding fast to the gospel, whatever may come. And you'll see 267 00:30:44,760 --> 00:30:50,680 him do that, not only with these false brothers, but in the next section as well, against real 268 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:59,480 brothers who get it wrong. And we need to do the same. We need to hold fast to the gospel and not 269 00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:08,280 give any ground. If there's one thing worth taking a stand for in this life, ever, it is the gospel 270 00:31:08,280 --> 00:31:17,720 of Jesus Christ. He, Jesus, He's the one who's done everything for us, and He's the one worthy of us 271 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:27,000 taking a stand for. And whether it's online, maybe you like to listen to a preacher, if you've got a 272 00:31:27,000 --> 00:31:31,960 favorite preacher, if they compromise on the gospel, we need to take a stand for the gospel 273 00:31:31,960 --> 00:31:37,320 and not listen to lies. Whether it's people who kind of come into church and try and work their 274 00:31:37,320 --> 00:31:44,040 way in to take us off track of the gospel, we need to take a stand for the gospel. We need to not give 275 00:31:44,040 --> 00:31:52,200 any ground. We need to hold fast to Jesus who has saved us, not try to save ourselves, not try to 276 00:31:52,200 --> 00:31:58,120 think that we contribute something to our salvation, not try to think that we somehow do part of the 277 00:31:58,120 --> 00:32:06,840 work. No, Jesus paid it all on the cross. He has sufficiently and completely dealt with our sin so 278 00:32:06,840 --> 00:32:12,840 that we can stand before God righteous in His sight, not because of anything we've done, 279 00:32:13,400 --> 00:32:20,920 but because of what He's done in us and what He's done for us on the cross and in His resurrection. 280 00:32:20,920 --> 00:32:26,360 I don't know what that would look like exactly for you. Maybe you've got friends or people you 281 00:32:26,360 --> 00:32:31,800 know who are standing for something else, who are not standing for the gospel. Maybe you know of 282 00:32:31,800 --> 00:32:38,040 people who say they're a Christian, but they're trying to kind of add in works to what they're 283 00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:43,480 saying it means to be a Christian. And maybe for you it will look like just actually saying 284 00:32:43,480 --> 00:32:49,560 something when that comes up. How many of us have heard someone say, yeah, you know, there's a whole 285 00:32:49,560 --> 00:32:53,960 lot of religions out there, but really when you all boil it down, it just comes to being a good 286 00:32:53,960 --> 00:32:59,640 person. Just be a nice person and you know, maybe God will let you into heaven when you die. That's 287 00:32:59,640 --> 00:33:04,440 what it's all about. I mean, how many of us have heard that? I heard that all the time. And it's 288 00:33:04,440 --> 00:33:09,720 just not true. We don't need to just, you know, try and pretend that we're a nice person and all 289 00:33:09,720 --> 00:33:18,200 the rest of it. God sees our hearts. God sees the corruption in our hearts and He is a just judge. 290 00:33:18,200 --> 00:33:24,280 And so if we were going to rely on ourselves, the thought of standing before the holy almighty God, 291 00:33:24,280 --> 00:33:30,360 who is the just judge, who's standing by yourself, that is a horrifying and terrifying prospect. 292 00:33:31,880 --> 00:33:40,040 But if you are in Christ Jesus, you have every reason for confidence because He has already 293 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:46,840 paid the penalty for your sin. He has already rescued you from what you deserve, from all of 294 00:33:46,840 --> 00:33:53,880 your sin, from everything in our natural self that is against God. He's paid for it. He's rescued you 295 00:33:53,880 --> 00:34:01,240 from it. He's made you into a new creation in Him. And so now you can live a joyful life in Him, 296 00:34:01,800 --> 00:34:06,520 not trying to save yourself, not enslaved to this kind of, I'm just going to try and work my way 297 00:34:06,520 --> 00:34:13,560 into God's good books. No, your name's in the book of life because of Jesus Christ. So you can have 298 00:34:13,560 --> 00:34:21,240 every confidence in Him and you can take a stand for the gospel and you can take that stand because 299 00:34:21,240 --> 00:34:29,560 you know Jesus died for you. And you know that to even give the tiniest measurement possible over 300 00:34:29,560 --> 00:34:36,600 to say that it's part us and part Him, completely dishonours God and robs Him of His glory. No, 301 00:34:36,600 --> 00:34:43,640 it's not that God did His bit and we're doing our bit. No, it's God has saved us. Jesus has rescued 302 00:34:43,640 --> 00:34:50,120 us. He's the one who paid it all. And so next time you hear someone say something like that, 303 00:34:50,840 --> 00:34:58,440 in loving kindness and tenderness, hold out the truth of the gospel. And when you find people who 304 00:34:58,440 --> 00:35:06,040 come in and try and, whether it's people on the inside or who are kind of trying to infiltrate 305 00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:12,760 the church, whether it's leaders, whoever it is, hold fast to the gospel. Don't be led astray. You 306 00:35:12,760 --> 00:35:19,720 know, Paul says even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one 307 00:35:19,720 --> 00:35:26,120 we preach to you, let him be accursed or condemned. So even if an angel appeared right now and we all 308 00:35:26,120 --> 00:35:33,560 knew it was an angel telling us a false gospel, we must not listen to it. Hold fast to the truth of 309 00:35:33,560 --> 00:35:41,080 the gospel. Stand firm in the freedom Christ has won for you and don't give an inch. Don't give an 310 00:35:41,080 --> 00:35:48,920 iota. Don't give anything. Do not compromise because any compromise opposes the gospel. 311 00:35:49,640 --> 00:35:55,640 Let's turn away from all self-righteousness, poor contempt on all of our pride, all of our attempts 312 00:35:55,640 --> 00:36:04,840 at pleasing men with man's false gospels. And let's rest on Christ alone for he is our only hope 313 00:36:04,840 --> 00:36:16,040 in life and death. Will you pray with me, please? Lord Jesus, we come to you today. You are God and 314 00:36:16,040 --> 00:36:27,160 you are glorious. And we Lord, we fail in so many ways. Lord, we have all sinned and fallen short 315 00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:37,080 of your glory. Have mercy on us, we pray. We turn from our sin to you Jesus. We trust in you. We ask 316 00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:45,320 for your mercy and grace and we thank you that you have made us into new creations for all who 317 00:36:45,320 --> 00:36:50,680 believe in you. That you have clothed us in your righteousness. That you've taken on our sin. That 318 00:36:50,680 --> 00:36:56,200 you've paid for it all. Thank you that this is the true gospel that Paul who is a true apostle 319 00:36:56,200 --> 00:37:02,040 preached as the other apostles preach. And Lord help us to take a stand for this true gospel. 320 00:37:03,080 --> 00:37:08,120 Whether it's with our neighbors, whether it's with people that we know who claim to be Christians, 321 00:37:08,120 --> 00:37:16,920 whether it's leaders, whoever it is Lord, help us to firmly and faithfully rest on Christ and take 322 00:37:16,920 --> 00:37:22,120 a stand for the gospel. Lord grant that we would not be people who compromise. Grant that grace 323 00:37:22,120 --> 00:37:27,960 Christian church here in Armidale Lord would be a faithful witness to you. That this church would be 324 00:37:27,960 --> 00:37:35,080 a place where the gospel is not compromised on. Where the truth of salvation by grace alone, 325 00:37:35,080 --> 00:37:41,000 through faith alone in Christ alone that glorifies you alone Lord. That that would be held forth 326 00:37:41,000 --> 00:37:51,480 faithfully. That there would be no false teaching. That there would be truth coming forth from this 327 00:37:51,480 --> 00:37:55,880 place. We pray that it would be a light in this area and we pray Lord that you would be pleased 328 00:37:56,520 --> 00:38:04,200 to bring people in who at the present are trusting in false gospels. But upon hearing your gospel 329 00:38:04,200 --> 00:38:10,760 and by the work of your spirit would come to trust you and have life in Jesus and in his name. 330 00:38:10,760 --> 00:38:33,720 Lord we thank you. Thank you for your grace. We praise you in Jesus name. Amen.