WEBVTT 00:00:00.650 --> 00:00:03.830 Well, this morning, we're beginning a new series 00:00:03.830 --> 00:00:06.929 of lessons that we're going to find in the book 00:00:06.929 --> 00:00:10.550 of Galatians, which really is not a book. We 00:00:10.550 --> 00:00:12.330 call it a book. You know, it's a part of the 00:00:12.330 --> 00:00:15.429 books of the Bible. It's a letter. This is a 00:00:15.429 --> 00:00:18.429 letter written by the Apostle Paul to the first 00:00:18.429 --> 00:00:23.129 century Christians in Galatia, which in modern 00:00:23.129 --> 00:00:25.289 day terms means nothing to us. So we're going 00:00:25.289 --> 00:00:28.070 to call it what we call it today, Turkey. So 00:00:28.070 --> 00:00:31.730 in Turkey. There is a group of Christians in 00:00:31.730 --> 00:00:34.210 the first century that Paul is writing a letter 00:00:34.210 --> 00:00:37.289 to, and like all of Paul's letters, he writes 00:00:37.289 --> 00:00:40.950 with three primary goals. The three goals are 00:00:40.950 --> 00:00:46.829 to teach, to encourage, and to correct. Today, 00:00:46.909 --> 00:00:50.509 right out of the gate, in chapter 1, verses 1 00:00:50.509 --> 00:00:54.990 through 10, the Apostle Paul starts with primary 00:00:54.990 --> 00:00:59.740 goal number 3, to correct. He's going to start 00:00:59.740 --> 00:01:02.500 with correction. But before we get to the correction, 00:01:02.640 --> 00:01:04.500 I want us to pay a little bit of attention to 00:01:04.500 --> 00:01:08.299 how he begins this correction. So we start in 00:01:08.299 --> 00:01:11.379 Galatians chapter 1, verses 1 through 2, where 00:01:11.379 --> 00:01:14.640 it says, Paul, an apostle, not from men nor through 00:01:14.640 --> 00:01:17.719 man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, 00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:20.980 who raised him from the dead, and all the brothers 00:01:20.980 --> 00:01:24.480 who are with me. See, Paul opens by reminding 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:29.359 them who he is. He is an apostle. Now, you may 00:01:29.359 --> 00:01:32.040 be wondering, what is an apostle? And up until 00:01:32.040 --> 00:01:36.120 about five years ago, I also didn't really know 00:01:36.120 --> 00:01:38.319 what an apostle was. I thought I knew, but I 00:01:38.319 --> 00:01:42.900 didn't. What apostle means is simply one who 00:01:42.900 --> 00:01:46.659 is sent. That's the way we translate it. So it's 00:01:46.659 --> 00:01:49.980 somebody who is sent. And Paul is saying, I'm 00:01:49.980 --> 00:01:52.760 not just sent by anybody. I wasn't sent by a 00:01:52.760 --> 00:01:55.519 man. I wasn't sent by a church. I wasn't sent 00:01:55.519 --> 00:01:57.480 by a company. I wasn't sent by a government. 00:01:57.540 --> 00:02:03.519 I was sent by God. I was sent through Jesus Christ 00:02:03.519 --> 00:02:08.020 and God the Father. And so we have to ask the 00:02:08.020 --> 00:02:12.240 question, why is it important that Paul, before 00:02:12.240 --> 00:02:15.060 he starts correcting, before he says anything 00:02:15.060 --> 00:02:19.240 to the church in... modern -day Turkey, Galatia, 00:02:19.340 --> 00:02:22.159 before he says anything to them, he reminds them 00:02:22.159 --> 00:02:26.759 who he is. Well, it's important because authority 00:02:26.759 --> 00:02:31.759 matters. We've talked about this before if you've 00:02:31.759 --> 00:02:36.180 been here, but I use the illustration of if my 00:02:36.180 --> 00:02:40.120 four -year -old, Easton, tells my two -year -old, 00:02:40.139 --> 00:02:45.319 Peyton, to pick up his toys, do you think two 00:02:45.319 --> 00:02:48.669 -year -old Peyton is going to listen? No. In 00:02:48.669 --> 00:02:50.349 fact, he's probably going to do the opposite. 00:02:50.509 --> 00:02:53.009 He's going to make a bigger mess and hit Easton. 00:02:53.469 --> 00:02:57.310 Now, if I tell two -year -old Peyton to pick 00:02:57.310 --> 00:02:59.610 up his toys, do you think he's going to listen? 00:03:00.550 --> 00:03:05.050 Still no. But we have a better chance of him 00:03:05.050 --> 00:03:09.349 listening because authority matters. Who it is 00:03:09.349 --> 00:03:11.990 that is telling you to do something or asking 00:03:11.990 --> 00:03:15.240 you to do something or say something. And so 00:03:15.240 --> 00:03:19.020 Paul wants it to be very clear that I am an apostle 00:03:19.020 --> 00:03:23.060 sent by God, sent by Christ, who you claim to 00:03:23.060 --> 00:03:26.439 follow as Lord. And I have something to tell 00:03:26.439 --> 00:03:28.960 you. If you're going to challenge people, if 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:30.860 you're going to call them out on their stuff, 00:03:31.060 --> 00:03:32.680 if you're going to tell them that they're doing 00:03:32.680 --> 00:03:34.759 something wrong or tell them that they need to 00:03:34.759 --> 00:03:37.840 do something different, you better have the authority 00:03:37.840 --> 00:03:42.500 to do so. And so Paul introduces himself as more 00:03:42.500 --> 00:03:45.319 than just some preacher. Writing a pointed letter. 00:03:46.139 --> 00:03:50.479 He's reminding them that he has God -given authority. 00:03:51.020 --> 00:03:54.639 And that matters. And then he greets the recipients 00:03:54.639 --> 00:03:56.900 of this letter in a very friendly way. So he 00:03:56.900 --> 00:03:59.180 makes sure that everybody's on the same page 00:03:59.180 --> 00:04:03.360 of who he is. And then he says this in verses 00:04:03.360 --> 00:04:07.960 2 -5. To the churches of Galatia, grace to you. 00:04:08.740 --> 00:04:12.680 And peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus 00:04:12.680 --> 00:04:15.659 Christ. who gave himself for our sins to deliver 00:04:15.659 --> 00:04:19.240 us from the present evil age, according to the 00:04:19.240 --> 00:04:22.579 will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory 00:04:22.579 --> 00:04:27.639 forever and ever. Amen. So Paul starts this. 00:04:28.500 --> 00:04:30.379 Like I said, in a very friendly way, but also 00:04:30.379 --> 00:04:33.939 in a very specific way that's important to Paul's 00:04:33.939 --> 00:04:36.519 greeting. He says grace and peace. Now, grace 00:04:36.519 --> 00:04:39.379 and peace has a lot more depth there than what 00:04:39.379 --> 00:04:41.439 we might recognize just reading it on a piece 00:04:41.439 --> 00:04:44.519 of paper. So when he says grace, this is how 00:04:44.519 --> 00:04:47.639 the Greeks would greet one another. So to give 00:04:47.639 --> 00:04:49.339 you a little background, in the first century 00:04:49.339 --> 00:04:52.259 church, you had two groups of people. Greek people, 00:04:52.500 --> 00:04:54.959 otherwise known as Gentiles, and you had Jews. 00:04:56.300 --> 00:04:58.079 First thing to note, these people didn't get 00:04:58.079 --> 00:05:00.740 along before becoming Christians. Before coming 00:05:00.740 --> 00:05:02.819 to know Christ, they did not get along. They, 00:05:02.920 --> 00:05:05.279 in fact, tried to avoid each other if at all 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:08.300 possible. And so what Paul does here is he kind 00:05:08.300 --> 00:05:10.920 of merges their two greetings. So he says grace, 00:05:11.079 --> 00:05:13.220 which is how the Greeks would greet one another. 00:05:13.360 --> 00:05:16.480 And then he says peace or shalom, which is how 00:05:16.480 --> 00:05:18.300 the Jews would greet one another. And he puts 00:05:18.300 --> 00:05:20.379 them together. He pulls these greetings together, 00:05:20.600 --> 00:05:23.800 filling them with gospel meaning, good news meaning 00:05:23.800 --> 00:05:28.689 grace. is God's undeserved favor poured out through 00:05:28.689 --> 00:05:33.129 Jesus. And peace is the wholeness, the reconciliation 00:05:33.129 --> 00:05:36.370 that we now have with God through Jesus. And 00:05:36.370 --> 00:05:39.810 so he puts these things together. And that's 00:05:39.810 --> 00:05:42.569 exactly what the Galatians needed to hear because 00:05:42.569 --> 00:05:47.189 the issue in their church, well, it stemmed from 00:05:47.189 --> 00:05:52.740 false teaching, but it also was division. Now, 00:05:52.740 --> 00:05:55.360 we've never had division in our lives, have we? 00:05:55.540 --> 00:05:58.899 In our friend groups, never been divided. In 00:05:58.899 --> 00:06:01.560 our families, we've never been divided. What 00:06:01.560 --> 00:06:03.079 about in our churches? We ever been divided? 00:06:03.240 --> 00:06:07.459 No, surely not. No. Right. And so they're struggling 00:06:07.459 --> 00:06:09.480 with something that we struggle with, too. Division. 00:06:09.699 --> 00:06:12.439 They're struggling with this Jew versus Gentile. 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:16.040 Specifically here in their context, they're struggling 00:06:16.040 --> 00:06:21.149 with law versus freedom. Or if we wanted to use 00:06:21.149 --> 00:06:25.269 L words, law versus liberty. See, Paul says, 00:06:25.370 --> 00:06:27.649 before I even get into this letter, which is 00:06:27.649 --> 00:06:29.610 a hope -filled letter, so I want to give you 00:06:29.610 --> 00:06:32.689 just that little tidbit before we continue. This 00:06:32.689 --> 00:06:35.550 is a very hope -filled letter. It may sound a 00:06:35.550 --> 00:06:37.310 little depressing at times in today's lesson, 00:06:37.430 --> 00:06:40.110 but it is hope -filled. Before we get into this, 00:06:40.149 --> 00:06:43.329 I need to remind you that the gospel tears down 00:06:43.329 --> 00:06:47.889 walls. The gospel unites. And notice what Paul 00:06:47.889 --> 00:06:50.350 then says about Jesus. He says he gave himself 00:06:50.350 --> 00:06:54.509 for our sins to deliver us from this present 00:06:54.509 --> 00:06:59.709 evil age. That's the gospel in one sentence. 00:07:00.230 --> 00:07:03.449 That is a very simplified explanation of what 00:07:03.449 --> 00:07:08.129 good news is. It's Jesus came. As a sacrifice 00:07:08.129 --> 00:07:11.550 to deliver us from our sins, to deliver us from 00:07:11.550 --> 00:07:14.730 this present evil age. Think of it like this. 00:07:16.290 --> 00:07:19.449 We actually have some firemen with us. A fireman 00:07:19.449 --> 00:07:22.069 doesn't wait for you to save yourself from a 00:07:22.069 --> 00:07:25.269 burning building, does he? He doesn't, like the 00:07:25.269 --> 00:07:27.610 building's on fire and he kind of pokes his head 00:07:27.610 --> 00:07:31.310 in the door and says, hey, come on out. No, he 00:07:31.310 --> 00:07:33.709 doesn't toss a rope in there and say, pull yourself 00:07:33.709 --> 00:07:37.300 out. The fireman goes into the burning building 00:07:37.300 --> 00:07:41.959 amidst all the danger, amidst all of the chaos, 00:07:42.079 --> 00:07:46.220 in the heat. And he says, I'm going to pick you 00:07:46.220 --> 00:07:48.420 up and I'm going to carry you out of this. And 00:07:48.420 --> 00:07:52.360 that is what Jesus did. He goes into the chaos, 00:07:52.439 --> 00:07:55.939 into the burning building, and he risks it all 00:07:55.939 --> 00:08:00.860 to save us from destruction. And that has always 00:08:00.860 --> 00:08:07.029 been the will of God. The will of God is and 00:08:07.029 --> 00:08:10.490 has always been to rescue his children from the 00:08:10.490 --> 00:08:12.829 burning building we have found ourselves in. 00:08:14.189 --> 00:08:17.149 So I mentioned earlier that Paul has three primary 00:08:17.149 --> 00:08:20.589 goals for this letter. To teach, to encourage, 00:08:20.850 --> 00:08:24.389 and to correct. And right here at the beginning, 00:08:24.569 --> 00:08:29.069 he starts correcting. Verses 6 through 9. Paul 00:08:29.069 --> 00:08:31.569 says, and this is where it gets pretty pointed, 00:08:31.649 --> 00:08:36.240 right? I am astonished that you are so quickly 00:08:36.240 --> 00:08:39.340 deserting him who called you in the grace of 00:08:39.340 --> 00:08:42.240 Christ and are turning to a different gospel. 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:45.440 Not that there is another one. But there are 00:08:45.440 --> 00:08:47.720 some who trouble you and they want to distort 00:08:47.720 --> 00:08:52.539 the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel 00:08:52.539 --> 00:08:55.860 from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary, 00:08:55.940 --> 00:08:59.080 different to the one who preached to you or we 00:08:59.080 --> 00:09:03.240 preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have 00:09:03.240 --> 00:09:07.419 said before, so now I say again, if anyone is 00:09:07.419 --> 00:09:11.960 preaching to you a gospel contrary to the one 00:09:11.960 --> 00:09:17.960 you have received, let him be accursed. Paul 00:09:17.960 --> 00:09:21.460 doesn't mince words here. He is not taking it 00:09:21.460 --> 00:09:28.639 easy on them. He says, I am astonished. Have 00:09:28.639 --> 00:09:31.970 any of you ever heard your parents say? I just 00:09:31.970 --> 00:09:36.570 can't believe you. This morning, before getting 00:09:36.570 --> 00:09:39.610 in the car to come to church, my four -year -old 00:09:39.610 --> 00:09:41.450 decided it'd be a good idea to start hitting 00:09:41.450 --> 00:09:44.830 the wall with a water gun. Just starts hitting 00:09:44.830 --> 00:09:49.529 it. And I looked at him and I'm like, dude, are 00:09:49.529 --> 00:09:54.389 you serious? I can't believe it. That's what 00:09:54.389 --> 00:09:56.710 Paul said. He says, I'm astonished. I cannot 00:09:56.710 --> 00:10:00.850 believe. How quickly you are deserting the gospel 00:10:00.850 --> 00:10:04.049 that we have called you to. This message that 00:10:04.049 --> 00:10:06.450 we've given you. These Christians in Galatia, 00:10:06.490 --> 00:10:09.269 they had already received the true gospel from 00:10:09.269 --> 00:10:11.850 the apostles. They've heard of this grace that 00:10:11.850 --> 00:10:14.149 Jesus has given us. They've heard and received 00:10:14.149 --> 00:10:16.690 this peace that Jesus has brought to us. But 00:10:16.690 --> 00:10:19.690 now they are walking away from it. Not to a better 00:10:19.690 --> 00:10:22.090 gospel. In fact, Paul says there is no other 00:10:22.090 --> 00:10:25.070 gospel. There is no other good news message. 00:10:26.029 --> 00:10:30.730 They are going. To a distorted, a counterfeit 00:10:30.730 --> 00:10:37.529 gospel. They're going to fake gospel. See, there 00:10:37.529 --> 00:10:39.909 were some false teachers that were walking around 00:10:39.909 --> 00:10:44.350 Galatia. And they found their way into the church. 00:10:44.590 --> 00:10:48.350 We might say they infiltrated the church. And 00:10:48.350 --> 00:10:52.509 these false teachers, they made themselves believable. 00:10:52.610 --> 00:10:55.929 They made themselves people that Christians would 00:10:55.929 --> 00:10:59.179 listen to. And they start telling the church 00:10:59.179 --> 00:11:02.299 there in Galatia that if you'll just do this, 00:11:02.399 --> 00:11:05.320 you'll be saved. If you'll do this, God will 00:11:05.320 --> 00:11:07.860 have favor upon you. If you'll do this, and if 00:11:07.860 --> 00:11:12.320 you'll say this, and if you'll give this. They 00:11:12.320 --> 00:11:17.799 started adding to the gospel. And adding to scripture 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:21.840 is a very serious thing. And they started taking 00:11:21.840 --> 00:11:25.440 away. From the gospel. And taking away from scripture 00:11:25.440 --> 00:11:29.700 is a very serious thing. What they did was they 00:11:29.700 --> 00:11:33.080 distorted. This gospel that the apostles had 00:11:33.080 --> 00:11:35.980 brought to the Christians there. And so now what 00:11:35.980 --> 00:11:38.659 Paul is saying is. Y 'all are walking away from 00:11:38.659 --> 00:11:44.019 the good news for this garbage. These false teachers. 00:11:44.539 --> 00:11:48.120 Were making laws. They were making rules. They 00:11:48.120 --> 00:11:51.039 were adding burdens. Raising standards where 00:11:51.039 --> 00:11:56.799 God had not. They weren't offering freedom. They 00:11:56.799 --> 00:12:01.899 were offering bondage, religious bondage. And 00:12:01.899 --> 00:12:04.720 here's the truth. Counterfeit gospels, they're 00:12:04.720 --> 00:12:07.860 not new. Even the Israelites had people that 00:12:07.860 --> 00:12:10.059 tried to steer them away from what God had commanded. 00:12:11.379 --> 00:12:14.240 Even before that, you had people trying to pervert 00:12:14.240 --> 00:12:17.000 what was good and pleasing in God's eyes. And 00:12:17.000 --> 00:12:21.500 even still today, we have people distorting the 00:12:21.500 --> 00:12:25.139 gospel. I mean, you see it every day on TV, on 00:12:25.139 --> 00:12:28.840 social media. You get these videos and these 00:12:28.840 --> 00:12:32.120 sermon clips of preachers saying things that 00:12:32.120 --> 00:12:36.360 don't align with the Bible. Doing things and 00:12:36.360 --> 00:12:38.940 saying things and commanding things that don't 00:12:38.940 --> 00:12:41.679 align with Scripture. And so this is not something 00:12:41.679 --> 00:12:44.019 new to the church in Galatia. It's not something 00:12:44.019 --> 00:12:47.299 new to the church here in America in 2025. Just 00:12:47.299 --> 00:12:51.120 think about it. How often do we find ourselves 00:12:51.120 --> 00:12:56.399 following? Other messages. How often do we find 00:12:56.399 --> 00:13:00.340 ourselves subscribing to these Jesus plus gospels? 00:13:00.360 --> 00:13:03.299 And this is what I mean by Jesus plus gospels. 00:13:03.500 --> 00:13:08.720 You have the Jesus plus works gospel. Or the 00:13:08.720 --> 00:13:14.399 Jesus plus success. Jesus plus politics. Jesus 00:13:14.399 --> 00:13:16.600 plus performance. And you can probably think 00:13:16.600 --> 00:13:20.120 of a couple more Jesus plus gospels. And we find 00:13:20.120 --> 00:13:22.899 ourselves falling into this trap of subscribing 00:13:22.899 --> 00:13:26.639 to those or we've allowed those to push us away 00:13:26.639 --> 00:13:29.820 from Jesus. And that's what Paul is correcting 00:13:29.820 --> 00:13:33.919 here in Galatia. There is no Jesus plus. It's 00:13:33.919 --> 00:13:37.919 just Jesus. There is no Jesus, and we have to 00:13:37.919 --> 00:13:39.799 make sure we're careful here too. There is no 00:13:39.799 --> 00:13:44.440 Jesus minus Gospels either. It's just Jesus. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:49.759 See, for me, I often fall victim to the Jesus 00:13:49.759 --> 00:13:53.659 plus perception gospel. I've told some of you 00:13:53.659 --> 00:13:57.679 this before. I was raised by an Asian grandmother. 00:13:57.860 --> 00:13:59.320 And if you know anything about Asian culture, 00:13:59.559 --> 00:14:02.899 perception is everything. Not only that, but 00:14:02.899 --> 00:14:04.980 my grandmother was married to a man in the military. 00:14:05.139 --> 00:14:06.379 And if you know anything about people in the 00:14:06.379 --> 00:14:10.120 military, perception is everything. And so I 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:14.710 got double duty. Asian military household. And 00:14:14.710 --> 00:14:17.649 so you can ask my wife, perception for me matters 00:14:17.649 --> 00:14:21.129 honestly way too much. How you look, how you 00:14:21.129 --> 00:14:23.649 talk, how you present yourself in front of strangers 00:14:23.649 --> 00:14:25.929 and people you know, what your house looks like, 00:14:26.049 --> 00:14:29.710 what's your perception. And so what I do is I 00:14:29.710 --> 00:14:31.950 say, yeah, I know I've got freedom and I know 00:14:31.950 --> 00:14:34.549 I've got grace and peace and mercy in Christ, 00:14:34.669 --> 00:14:40.009 but I still have to look the part. And I still 00:14:40.009 --> 00:14:43.360 have to sound. Right. And so for me, the Jesus 00:14:43.360 --> 00:14:45.960 plus perception gospel is the one that I fall 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:48.100 victim to. And I want you to think about which 00:14:48.100 --> 00:14:52.759 Jesus plus or Jesus minus gospel you fall victim 00:14:52.759 --> 00:14:58.080 to. See, we too often add things on top of Jesus 00:14:58.080 --> 00:15:03.100 to be good enough. Here's the deal. All of these 00:15:03.100 --> 00:15:06.259 things sound convincing. I mean, there's a reason 00:15:06.259 --> 00:15:09.840 you have these preachers that. They fly private 00:15:09.840 --> 00:15:13.639 jets weekly to different things and they have 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:15.980 these big TV broadcasts and they have these massive 00:15:15.980 --> 00:15:18.139 church buildings because they have convinced 00:15:18.139 --> 00:15:22.940 people that if you'll just follow this message, 00:15:23.299 --> 00:15:26.500 you also have all through history had people 00:15:26.500 --> 00:15:29.519 that have pulled people away from Christ altogether 00:15:29.519 --> 00:15:33.389 because they've convinced them. That they have 00:15:33.389 --> 00:15:35.830 it figured out and that they have a new revelation. 00:15:35.850 --> 00:15:38.169 And what I'm not doing is trying to attack those 00:15:38.169 --> 00:15:40.490 things. What I'm trying to do is draw us back 00:15:40.490 --> 00:15:48.289 to just Jesus. Because Jesus himself is good 00:15:48.289 --> 00:15:52.610 enough. And if we ever stop believing that Jesus 00:15:52.610 --> 00:15:56.889 is good enough, we have fallen victim to a Jesus 00:15:56.889 --> 00:16:04.179 plus gospel. And they're counterfeit. Think about 00:16:04.179 --> 00:16:08.059 counterfeit money. I said these counterfeit gospels, 00:16:08.080 --> 00:16:09.899 they can be pretty convincing. And counterfeit 00:16:09.899 --> 00:16:12.340 money can too. To the untrained eye, if you looked 00:16:12.340 --> 00:16:14.240 at a counterfeit dollar bill, you may not know 00:16:14.240 --> 00:16:16.840 the difference. Assuming it's a good counterfeit. 00:16:18.059 --> 00:16:21.879 To the trained eye, even if you just glance at 00:16:21.879 --> 00:16:24.460 this counterfeit dollar bill, you may not pick 00:16:24.460 --> 00:16:28.080 up on it. It wouldn't be until you took the trained 00:16:28.080 --> 00:16:32.360 eye. of an expert in money and said, can you 00:16:32.360 --> 00:16:35.200 look closely at this counterfeit, would they 00:16:35.200 --> 00:16:40.379 be able to realize this is fake? See, the problem 00:16:40.379 --> 00:16:43.539 with counterfeits, while they look convincing, 00:16:43.820 --> 00:16:48.620 while they can fool me and you, is they never 00:16:48.620 --> 00:16:53.759 really get the job done. I want you to imagine 00:16:53.759 --> 00:16:57.460 you get your paycheck for the week and you go 00:16:57.460 --> 00:16:59.759 to the bank and... People don't do this anymore, 00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:01.759 but you go to the bank and you cash out your 00:17:01.759 --> 00:17:06.140 paycheck. You get cash. And the bank gives you 00:17:06.140 --> 00:17:10.279 this cash. And then you go and you take it to 00:17:10.279 --> 00:17:14.200 Walmart. And you put it in the machine at the 00:17:14.200 --> 00:17:17.680 self -checkout. Do you think the machine is going 00:17:17.680 --> 00:17:21.700 to take counterfeit dollar bills? No. Because 00:17:21.700 --> 00:17:23.519 the machine is a computer, and a computer is 00:17:23.519 --> 00:17:27.779 a lot smarter than humans. The machine will pick 00:17:27.779 --> 00:17:32.319 up that that's a counterfeit. And so now, you've 00:17:32.319 --> 00:17:35.559 got a wallet full of counterfeit money that you 00:17:35.559 --> 00:17:39.500 can't buy anything with. And that's kind of what 00:17:39.500 --> 00:17:42.140 happens when we fall victim to these counterfeit 00:17:42.140 --> 00:17:49.079 gospels. You can't buy anything with it. You 00:17:49.079 --> 00:17:52.880 can't get anywhere with it. And it was mentioned 00:17:52.880 --> 00:17:55.759 earlier that we're all... Trying to get to a 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:58.759 better life. Life here on this earth, we want 00:17:58.759 --> 00:18:01.799 it to be better. And life in the afterlife, we 00:18:01.799 --> 00:18:05.920 want it to be better. And if all I've got in 00:18:05.920 --> 00:18:10.240 my spiritual wallet is counterfeit gospel, am 00:18:10.240 --> 00:18:14.579 I going to be able to get into heaven? No. If 00:18:14.579 --> 00:18:17.339 all I've got in my life is counterfeit gospel, 00:18:17.700 --> 00:18:20.299 am I going to have the better life here on earth? 00:18:20.940 --> 00:18:24.519 No. Because I'm always going to be trying to 00:18:24.519 --> 00:18:27.000 chase the work. Or I'm going to be trying to 00:18:27.000 --> 00:18:28.660 chase the success. Or I'm going to be trying 00:18:28.660 --> 00:18:31.319 to chase the right political alignment. Or I'm 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:33.759 going to be trying to chase the right performance. 00:18:34.059 --> 00:18:36.000 And I'm never going to measure up because there's 00:18:36.000 --> 00:18:38.759 always going to be more. Because in a Jesus plus 00:18:38.759 --> 00:18:43.420 gospel, the plus never stops. And I'm always 00:18:43.420 --> 00:18:47.640 going to be chasing. You see, with the counterfeit 00:18:47.640 --> 00:18:49.859 money, you can't save it in a bank for your future. 00:18:49.920 --> 00:18:53.029 You can't. Pay your rent with it. You can't buy 00:18:53.029 --> 00:18:56.990 groceries with it. And in the same way, the counterfeit 00:18:56.990 --> 00:19:01.210 gospels that are being thrown around in the church 00:19:01.210 --> 00:19:03.609 in Galatia and the church today, they cannot 00:19:03.609 --> 00:19:08.549 save our souls. See, this is what Paul says in 00:19:08.549 --> 00:19:11.829 verses 8 through 9. And he says it with some 00:19:11.829 --> 00:19:15.769 real intensity. He says, even if we, we being 00:19:15.769 --> 00:19:19.400 the apostles. Even if we or an angel from heaven 00:19:19.400 --> 00:19:24.019 should preach to you a gospel contrary to the 00:19:24.019 --> 00:19:28.940 one we preached to you already. Let him be, strong 00:19:28.940 --> 00:19:33.799 word here, accursed. As we've said before, so 00:19:33.799 --> 00:19:36.980 now I say again. Paul says, let me make myself 00:19:36.980 --> 00:19:40.500 abundantly clear. If anyone is preaching to you 00:19:40.500 --> 00:19:43.420 a gospel contrary to the one you have received. 00:19:44.029 --> 00:19:48.490 Let him be accursed. That is such strong language. 00:19:49.750 --> 00:19:51.970 If I got up here and talked to you guys like 00:19:51.970 --> 00:19:54.150 that, half of you would walk out and I'd have 00:19:54.150 --> 00:19:56.009 a meeting with the shepherds later on this week 00:19:56.009 --> 00:19:59.470 about how I need to calm it down. But Paul's 00:19:59.470 --> 00:20:03.849 got the authority to do so. He repeats it to 00:20:03.849 --> 00:20:08.369 drive home the point. And here's the thing. This 00:20:08.369 --> 00:20:13.009 may sound harsh. But if you see Paul's heart, 00:20:13.709 --> 00:20:17.210 Behind this, it lightens the blow just a little 00:20:17.210 --> 00:20:22.049 bit. And I'll put it to you this way. This morning 00:20:22.049 --> 00:20:24.349 when I got on to Easton for hitting the wall 00:20:24.349 --> 00:20:28.490 with a water gun, because who does that? I got 00:20:28.490 --> 00:20:33.509 on to him, and I put him in timeout. He sits 00:20:33.509 --> 00:20:35.549 in timeout, and this was like the best he's ever 00:20:35.549 --> 00:20:37.329 done sitting in timeout. I was really proud of 00:20:37.329 --> 00:20:39.329 him. So maybe this is why I was a little bit 00:20:39.329 --> 00:20:41.009 easier on him afterwards. But I go and I talk 00:20:41.009 --> 00:20:44.480 to him after. And I explain to him why what he 00:20:44.480 --> 00:20:48.220 did was wrong. But while I'm doing it, I try 00:20:48.220 --> 00:20:51.759 to use a tone that is a little bit calmer than 00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:55.079 maybe normal. And not only do I use a calmer 00:20:55.079 --> 00:20:57.680 tone, but I don't just explain to him what's 00:20:57.680 --> 00:21:01.140 wrong. I then explain to him why we need to do 00:21:01.140 --> 00:21:05.960 the right thing. And hopefully, one day when 00:21:05.960 --> 00:21:08.440 Easton looks back on the way that I corrected 00:21:08.440 --> 00:21:10.460 him and the way that I punished him when he did 00:21:10.460 --> 00:21:15.819 wrong, And you as a parent, if you have children, 00:21:15.940 --> 00:21:17.720 and maybe you have children that have grown up 00:21:17.720 --> 00:21:20.599 and they've moved on, I can imagine your hope 00:21:20.599 --> 00:21:24.000 too is that when they think back on how you raised 00:21:24.000 --> 00:21:26.720 them, how you corrected them, and how you punished 00:21:26.720 --> 00:21:29.220 them at times, what they remember is your heart, 00:21:29.359 --> 00:21:32.400 right? And so when we think about Paul's heart, 00:21:32.559 --> 00:21:36.119 we have to think, what is Paul's point in being 00:21:36.119 --> 00:21:39.599 so harsh here? Well, the truth is, Paul is... 00:21:39.819 --> 00:21:43.039 Fighting for everyone to know the freedom that 00:21:43.039 --> 00:21:46.480 Christ wants us to have. Paul is fighting so 00:21:46.480 --> 00:21:48.660 that everyone will know the grace and the peace 00:21:48.660 --> 00:21:51.559 that Jesus is bringing. Paul is fighting to make 00:21:51.559 --> 00:21:55.220 sure everyone knows that heaven is available. 00:21:55.640 --> 00:22:00.220 Mercy is available. Forgiveness is available. 00:22:01.319 --> 00:22:05.000 And that's very important to Paul. And so you 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:08.380 can imagine when he sees that people are messing 00:22:08.380 --> 00:22:10.759 up, that people are distorting and distracting 00:22:10.759 --> 00:22:14.380 that message of grace and peace, it would upset 00:22:14.380 --> 00:22:20.160 him. I get upset myself when people in the church 00:22:20.160 --> 00:22:23.880 do things that push people in the church out 00:22:23.880 --> 00:22:27.779 of the church. That bothers me. I was talking 00:22:27.779 --> 00:22:31.259 to a friend here today that was in ministry for 00:22:31.259 --> 00:22:34.299 a while. And he mentioned some reasons why he 00:22:34.299 --> 00:22:37.559 is no longer in ministry. And one of those reasons 00:22:37.559 --> 00:22:41.759 was the way the church treated people. And the 00:22:41.759 --> 00:22:46.059 problem is, far too often, people come into a 00:22:46.059 --> 00:22:49.640 good thing and make it bad. And Paul sees that 00:22:49.640 --> 00:22:51.819 happening here to the church in Galatia. And 00:22:51.819 --> 00:22:54.660 he says, stop. Listening to those people that 00:22:54.660 --> 00:22:58.259 are ruining a good thing. We have a good thing. 00:22:58.460 --> 00:23:01.019 And that is the grace that Jesus brings. The 00:23:01.019 --> 00:23:03.880 peace that Jesus brings. The hope and forgiveness 00:23:03.880 --> 00:23:08.940 that Jesus brings. So don't listen to those people 00:23:08.940 --> 00:23:11.440 that are messing it up. Because here's the truth. 00:23:11.539 --> 00:23:14.440 A counterfeit gospel doesn't just distract people 00:23:14.440 --> 00:23:20.339 from Jesus. It detains people. And it destroys. 00:23:22.279 --> 00:23:25.259 See, the truth is in America today, and it's 00:23:25.259 --> 00:23:27.240 not just America, it's all across the globe, 00:23:27.279 --> 00:23:29.559 but we have this problem. There are young people 00:23:29.559 --> 00:23:32.839 that walk out of a church and will never come 00:23:32.839 --> 00:23:40.660 back because of all the Jesus plus. And they're 00:23:40.660 --> 00:23:44.779 not going to come back until they see that the 00:23:44.779 --> 00:23:47.339 church has gotten back to just being about Jesus. 00:23:49.000 --> 00:23:50.960 And I'll tell you one thing that I have been 00:23:50.960 --> 00:23:54.059 so, so impressed by in my short time being here 00:23:54.059 --> 00:23:56.279 in Blairsville. This is a church that is just 00:23:56.279 --> 00:24:01.660 about Jesus. This is not a Jesus plus group. 00:24:01.880 --> 00:24:06.799 This is a Jesus people. And that's the message 00:24:06.799 --> 00:24:09.279 that Paul wants everybody to know. And what he 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:12.720 is fighting here is for people to see that it's 00:24:12.720 --> 00:24:17.259 just about Jesus. Because the Jesus plus, it 00:24:17.259 --> 00:24:22.519 puts chains. On people. Or it crushes people. 00:24:23.440 --> 00:24:26.440 And Paul says it's just about Jesus. See Paul 00:24:26.440 --> 00:24:29.359 has been sent by God. To bring a message of freedom 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:32.920 in Christ. A message of life. A message of rescue. 00:24:33.200 --> 00:24:35.019 And here's some good news in the midst of all 00:24:35.019 --> 00:24:37.200 of this. Because I told you this is a hope filled 00:24:37.200 --> 00:24:43.039 letter. When it comes to the gospel. You never 00:24:43.039 --> 00:24:45.819 have to wonder. If what you're holding is the 00:24:45.819 --> 00:24:50.490 real deal. God has made it very clear what the 00:24:50.490 --> 00:24:54.589 truth is. And that is that Jesus died for us. 00:24:56.170 --> 00:24:58.730 And all He's asking for us to do is to live for 00:24:58.730 --> 00:25:02.190 Him. So when others come and they try to add 00:25:02.190 --> 00:25:04.829 to or they try to take away from that amazing 00:25:04.829 --> 00:25:08.009 grace -filled and peace -bringing message, Paul 00:25:08.009 --> 00:25:11.359 takes it very seriously. He takes that very seriously 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:13.380 and he makes it clear that he doesn't care what 00:25:13.380 --> 00:25:15.259 it makes anybody think of him. He doesn't care 00:25:15.259 --> 00:25:17.619 what it makes him look like. Here's what he says 00:25:17.619 --> 00:25:20.019 in verse 10. For am I now seeking the approval 00:25:20.019 --> 00:25:26.980 of man or of God? Or am I trying to please man? 00:25:28.000 --> 00:25:30.700 See, if I were still trying to please man, I 00:25:30.700 --> 00:25:34.579 would not be a servant of Christ. See, Paul says 00:25:34.579 --> 00:25:38.220 I'm not chasing approval. I'm chasing faithfulness. 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:43.500 And church, that is our call too. We're not here 00:25:43.500 --> 00:25:46.160 for approval. You're not here for my approval. 00:25:47.420 --> 00:25:50.119 I'm not here for your approval. I'm here for 00:25:50.119 --> 00:25:53.839 his. And I hope the same is true for you. See, 00:25:53.880 --> 00:25:57.319 we live in a world full of counterfeit gospels 00:25:57.319 --> 00:26:00.119 and distorted messages. But there is only one 00:26:00.119 --> 00:26:05.279 true gospel. And that is that freedom comes from 00:26:05.279 --> 00:26:12.880 Christ alone. No more. No less. And I've been 00:26:12.880 --> 00:26:15.759 using this diagram to represent the gospel for 00:26:15.759 --> 00:26:16.819 the last couple weeks. And I'm going to keep 00:26:16.819 --> 00:26:19.299 using it because it's a simple way to understand 00:26:19.299 --> 00:26:22.839 it. You see the world. And that is the creation. 00:26:24.079 --> 00:26:27.700 This beautiful thing, this masterpiece that God 00:26:27.700 --> 00:26:31.279 formed in the beginning. But we messed it up. 00:26:31.299 --> 00:26:33.900 Humans messed it up. And so we subjected ourselves 00:26:33.900 --> 00:26:37.200 to death. Death being defined as separation. 00:26:37.880 --> 00:26:41.859 from God, who is the giver of life. But, as has 00:26:41.859 --> 00:26:44.759 been God's plan from the beginning, He promises 00:26:44.759 --> 00:26:49.039 restoration. That's the rainbow icon. And the 00:26:49.039 --> 00:26:52.259 promise is fulfilled when Jesus comes down to 00:26:52.259 --> 00:26:56.339 the earth. He goes up on a cross. He is put in 00:26:56.339 --> 00:26:58.839 a tomb that is now empty. The stone has been 00:26:58.839 --> 00:27:03.279 rolled out of the way. He ascends to heaven with 00:27:03.279 --> 00:27:07.279 the promise that He is coming back. And he is 00:27:07.279 --> 00:27:10.920 going to restore all of this to what it was supposed 00:27:10.920 --> 00:27:15.359 to be in the beginning. A beautiful home for 00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:21.259 man with God. That's the gospel. That's all it 00:27:21.259 --> 00:27:25.799 is. That is the beautiful, hope -filled message 00:27:25.799 --> 00:27:30.720 of the gospel that Paul is fighting for. See, 00:27:30.779 --> 00:27:33.160 Paul's urgency shows just how serious this is. 00:27:33.180 --> 00:27:35.319 I said it a few weeks ago that this is a matter 00:27:35.319 --> 00:27:39.599 of life or death for every person. Understanding 00:27:39.599 --> 00:27:42.380 and knowing this gospel message is a matter of 00:27:42.380 --> 00:27:45.700 life or death. And Paul is saying, I need you 00:27:45.700 --> 00:27:48.539 to understand that it is just Jesus because Jesus 00:27:48.539 --> 00:27:51.279 wants you to be free. He wants you to be with 00:27:51.279 --> 00:27:55.559 Him for eternity. That is why the gospel is so 00:27:55.559 --> 00:28:02.259 simple. And it is so good. I'll say it again, 00:28:02.339 --> 00:28:06.440 the gospel. Gospel meaning the good news. It's 00:28:06.440 --> 00:28:11.720 so simple. And it is so good. And that's all 00:28:11.720 --> 00:28:15.380 we need. I don't need gospel plus. I don't need 00:28:15.380 --> 00:28:17.819 Jesus plus. I don't need gospel minus or Jesus 00:28:17.819 --> 00:28:23.359 minus. I just need the gospel. I just need Jesus. 00:28:23.759 --> 00:28:26.640 So when you see a building like ours that has 00:28:26.640 --> 00:28:31.039 the words Church of Christ, don't think, Church 00:28:31.039 --> 00:28:36.519 of Christ Plus, it's just Christ. We're just 00:28:36.519 --> 00:28:39.740 here following Christ. We're just here serving 00:28:39.740 --> 00:28:42.779 Christ. And what Paul says is that's all you 00:28:42.779 --> 00:28:48.559 need. And that is grace filled. And it is peace 00:28:48.559 --> 00:28:53.019 bringing. If you will just follow Jesus. So to 00:28:53.019 --> 00:28:56.579 the believers in the room, the message is sharp, 00:28:56.619 --> 00:29:00.559 but it's simple. Stop chasing. Counterfeits. 00:29:01.740 --> 00:29:08.700 Stop giving out counterfeits. And just live in 00:29:08.700 --> 00:29:13.480 the finished work of Christ. And to the person 00:29:13.480 --> 00:29:18.920 seeking, that freedom, this simple but good gospel, 00:29:19.099 --> 00:29:23.680 that freedom can be yours. That home with God 00:29:23.680 --> 00:29:29.779 for eternity can be yours. That life. That full 00:29:29.779 --> 00:29:32.819 life can be yours, not by your accomplishment, 00:29:33.160 --> 00:29:39.519 not by your gifts, not by your giving or your 00:29:39.519 --> 00:29:43.200 success, but by God's grace. And if you want 00:29:43.200 --> 00:29:46.640 to accept and receive that gift, the way to do 00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:50.099 that is also pretty simple. If you want to be 00:29:50.099 --> 00:29:52.880 freed from the chains that hold you, if you want 00:29:52.880 --> 00:29:55.559 to experience the peace that only Christ brings 00:29:55.559 --> 00:29:59.210 through His grace, We want to walk with you here. 00:30:00.650 --> 00:30:03.869 We want you to experience that. We want you to 00:30:03.869 --> 00:30:06.970 accept and embrace that life that God wants for 00:30:06.970 --> 00:30:08.690 you. We'll pray with you. We'll study with you. 00:30:08.750 --> 00:30:10.769 And if you're ready to do it today, we've got 00:30:10.769 --> 00:30:13.730 water ready. We will baptize you for the forgiveness 00:30:13.730 --> 00:30:16.289 of sins, the gift of the Holy Spirit, and abundant 00:30:16.289 --> 00:30:23.410 life. Wherever you sit this morning, whatever 00:30:23.410 --> 00:30:27.109 place you're in, just don't leave here today. 00:30:28.039 --> 00:30:31.660 without responding in some way to the good and 00:30:31.660 --> 00:30:36.480 complete news that Jesus has brought freedom. 00:30:38.039 --> 00:30:40.599 Don't leave wearing the same chains that you 00:30:40.599 --> 00:30:44.039 walked in with. Don't leave with the same burden 00:30:44.039 --> 00:30:46.220 and weight on your shoulder that you walked in 00:30:46.220 --> 00:30:49.000 with. If you need to lay something down at the 00:30:49.000 --> 00:30:51.119 feet of Jesus, or if you need to lay your life 00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:54.180 down at the feet of Jesus, we are inviting you 00:30:54.180 --> 00:30:56.640 to do that today as we stand and as we sing.