Are You Weary in Well Doing

February 11, 2025 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Do Not Give Up Doing Good

Book of Galatians Chapter 6 Verse 1 through 10

We should understand that there is a right way and a wrong way to help our brothers and sisters in Christ or in fact anyone else.

We must stress this point at all times!

We are all still sinners at least as long as we are in these bodies of flesh as Paul has pointed out.

We all suffer the same passions and at times someone of us is always overtaken by sin.

How we approach a fallen brother or sister is of great importance!

It is sometimes a very delicate matter!

That one who has fallen may be sensitive or even embarrassed and easily shamed for giving into their flesh.

It is these things that may not allow this brother or sister to return to the Church.

He or she may even feel like he or she is unwelcome, and we must never allow this to be our intensions.

Unless this person is approved in the right spirit they may never return to the Church.

We must understand that a ministry of restoration, is a ministry of God and should be a ministry of the Church!

This is a ministry that God has called us all to take part in, for any of us could fall at any moment.

*Gal 6:1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.

A wise man said: “A word of Love is more potent than any argument”.

That word “brethren” reminds us that Paul is speaking to saved people.

If we see one of our brothers or sisters in violation of the Law of God, he or she is not immediately our enemy!

They are still our brother or sister in Christ.

We all know how hard it is to fight with this flesh and win every battle.

None of us will win every battle with our flesh!

There may have been some in the Churches of Galatia that had fallen from the “Grace” of God, none of us live perfect lives.

That word “overtaken” gives us the idea that someone had fallen back into sin.

It was not deliberate, it was not planned, it was a mistake they had made.

Paul was not speaking of faults in doctrine, but a mistake through weakness of the flesh.

Jesus said to His disciples: Mat_26:41 Watch and pray, that ye enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.

Sin is like an addiction, and it is hard to break free from any addiction!

We may not know the problems of our brothers and sisters, unless we show them love where they may trust us enough to speak with us.

Why did the Lord Jesus come to this earth?

Jesus came to restore God’s children back to a relationship with our Creator that had been lost by Adam.

Why would we ever refuse to attempt to restore one of our brothers and sisters in Christ, yet many in the Church would say good riddance.

This is not what the Lord Jesus Christ taught when He walked upon this earth.

We all brag about the Scriptures of the Apostle Paul has taught us and he taught a restoration ministry.

The job of restoration is often neglected in the Church.

We tend to pretend that the sin never happened or we tend to react too harshly towards that person.

Those who are Spiritual are those who show the fruit of the Holy Spirit in their lives and in the Church.

Joh 4:24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

It is those who show that Spirit of Gentleness that the Lord Jesus showed to all He met who have the best chance of reaching that backslider.

Then Paul says we need to understand there is a possibility that we could be drawn into that same trap of backsliding, and we need to be prepared.

One such thing would be that we could be so full of pride that we can manage every situation that we ourselves fall, but it includes the same temptation our brother or sister has fallen into.

The Bible says: 2Pe 3:17 Ye therefore, beloved, seeing ye know these things before, beware lest ye also, being led away with the error of the wicked, fall from your own stedfastness.

*Gal 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Remember the law of Jesus Christ is love!

Joh 13:34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
Joh 13:35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

It is love that caused our Lord Jesus to hang on that cross and die for each of us!

Jesus Christ bore the sins of everyone who has ever lived!

Now we cannot bear the sins of anyone, but we can bear the burdens of our brothers and sisters!

We can first forgive each other! We must understand that sin that made this person fall from Grace was a sin that Christ died for.

Again, what did the Lord Jesus teach us?

1Jn 1:6 If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth:
1Jn 1:7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin.
1Jn 1:8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us.
1Jn 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1Jn 1:10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

*Gal 6:3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself.

We should understand to be Christian is to be like Jesus Christ. There is no other reason to be called a Christian or to say you are a Christian except you are trying your best to be like Jesus Christ.

It is Jesus Christ Himself who told us to bear one another’s burdens!

It is Jesus Christ Himself who told us to be forgiving!

It is Jesus Christ Himself who told us to love one another!

To neglect to do these things is to set ourselves above Christ our Savior.

God came down to earth in the flesh to humble Himself and die for our sins, so how can we say we will not humble ourselves to help a brother or sister in need.

No Christian is better than any other Christian.

None of us can stand before God unless we are wearing the “Righteousness of Jesus Christ”!

There is no place in the Church for feeling superior or spiritually better than others.

Mat 23:12 And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

We need to do a self-examination to see for ourselves if we possess the right qualities to help a brother or sister in their time of need or we could make things worse.

*Gal 6:4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.

We need to do a self-examination of our own selves comparing ourselves to Jesus Christ and not to some other member of the Church.

We need to understand our own conduct and our own understanding.

We are to examine and judge our own lives, not the life of that fallen brother or sister.

Again, Jesus says: Mat 7:3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye?
Mat 7:5 Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

If we are to deal with a backslider, we need to make sure we are not hypocrites!

Criticizing and judging others is a sin!

We cannot help anyone unless we have a pure conscience ourselves.

It is a great joy knowing that we are pleasing God by the way we walk in this life.

2Co 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?

*Gal 6:5 For every man shall bear his own burden.

None of us can escape from our own moral responsibility!

We are personally responsible to the Lord for our own behavior and we shall be judged for what we have done.

We know when we meet the Lord in the air it is a judgment for rewards, and it will be to our own shame if we do not receive any rewards for the things we have done in this life.

If we do not periodically examine ourselves, we can never overcome any faults that we have!

If we spend our time observing the failures of others and not the burdens of our own failures, we will never be able to help anyone in their time of need.

Rom 14:12 So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.

2Co 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.

We must understand that every child of God is a student who sits at the feet of the Master learning how to be like Him.

*Gal 6:6 Let him that is taught in the word communicate unto him that teacheth in all good things.

We can go up and down the hallways of our education building and we will find good teachers, but I do not claim to be one of them.

I know if I listen to the Holy Spirit, I can try to get His message across in this classroom and this is what I try to do.

Between myself and my class we should aways be able to discuss the things that I teach.

Here in this Scripture, we see the Holy Spirit speaking directly to the learner who is also a believer.

This passage speaks more to the Pastor than it does to the classroom teacher.

These same things apply to both.

If you want to be good to the teacher:

1) Be present when the teacher teaches.
2) Be attentive and learn what the teacher teaches.
3) Share in discussion of what the teacher teaches.
4) Pass on what the teacher teaches.
5) Participate in the ministry of that teacher.
6) Support the teacher.
7) Encourage others to learn.

Again, this passage is referring to the Pastor of the Church who must also be a good teacher.

Thank goodness for our own Pastor here at Gethsemane.

Teaching is a vital part of the New Testament Church.

Members of the early Church devoted themselves to the teaching of the Aposltes.

Act 2:42 And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.

The Apostles taught the doctrine of our resurrected Christ.

Act 4:2 Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

They taught as they had opportunity.

Act 5:21 And when they heard that, they entered into the temple early in the morning, and taught. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

Act 5:25 Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the temple, and teaching the people.

Notice being locked up in prison did not stop the Apostles.

At that time the city of Jerusalem was saturated with the teaching of Jesus Christ and His atonement.

Act 5:27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council: and the high priest asked them,
Act 5:28 Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.
Act 5:29 Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men.
Act 5:30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree.
Act 5:31 Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.
Act 5:32 And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

The heart of the message of the Apostles was that our Lord Jesus was indeed the Messiah.

Act 17:2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures,
Act 17:3 Opening and alleging, that Christ must needs have suffered, and risen again from the dead; and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is Christ.

It is teaching the truth of Jesus Christ that will bring the Church to maturity.

Act 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

The goal of the Gospel is to make us all look more like Jesus Christ.

Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:

This teaching is to be taught until the Lord returns.

2Ti 2:2 And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also.

We are not to forget the Scripture but continuously teach the Gospel.

Heb 5:12 For when for the time ye ought to be teachers, ye have need that one teach you again which be the first principles of the oracles of God; and are become such as have need of milk, and not of strong meat.

This the purpose of our classrooms to teach Jesus!

God knows the truth of every Pastor and every teacher.

In fact, God knows the truth of us all!

*Gal 6:7 Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.
Gal 6:8 For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting.
Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.

In the secular world few people are as important as the teacher.

Its the same for the Church.

We should understand that every Pastor should also be a good teacher but few teachers will ever be Pastors.

Teachers in the Church are also very important, especially those who teach the children.

The truth of the Gospel is the most important message in this world!

The Pastor has responsibilities because he is called of God.
The Teacher has responsibilities because he or she is to follow the pastor’s lead in teaching the truth of the Scriptures.
The student also has responsibilities to the teacher and to the Church.

In the Bible believing church the true Pastor, is one who accepts the truth of the Gospel and the Apostle’s Doctrine which is the Doctrine of the Lord Jesus Christ.

The teachers in that church are to follow his lead and teach the truth of the Scriptures.

The student then honors the teacher and the Pastor when they share the ministry of the teacher.

In the churches of Galatia many of the members were being deceived about facing the judgment of God.

They were being led astray by teachers with a false message.

They were failing to share in the ministry of the Apostle Paul and shared the false message of Judaism.

Judaism is a religion; Christianity is based upon a personal relationship with Jesus Christ they cannot be intermingled.

These false teachers were turning their nose up at God who had told them of this New Covenant, but they were rejecting it.

These teachers were rejecting the teaching of the Apostle Paul, so they were not teachers at all.

They were church terrorists plotting the downfall of the Church of Jesus Christ.

When we attack the true Pastor, we are mocking God who called that Pastor into service.

The lesson these men learned at their death is that God is not mocked for whatsoever a man sows that shall he also reap.

God is very clear those that reject the message of God will be rejected by God.

When our Pastor preaches the truth of the Scriptures, and that message is rejected by those who hear it then they will stand before God and answer for that rejection.

If we do not listen to the warnings of the lust of the flesh, then we will reap the lusts of the flesh.

Those who reject the message of the true Pastor will worship as they desire.

They will seek some form of the truth somewhere else.

They will refuse to pray.

They will live as they please.

They will strive against the true Church.

They will reject all the Law of God.

They will seek the things of this world.

When we allow our flesh to lead us rather than the Holy Spirit we will see the wrath of God.

The flesh ages, dies, and then it decays.

If we sow to the flesh then we will age, then die, then face the judgment of God which he spells out so vividly in the Scriptures.

It does not matter what the world says, it only matters what God says!

True teachers teach the Word of God just it is written, and these lessons must be learned by us all.

God will not be mocked and there is no escape from His truths!

Rom 8:5 For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit.
Rom 8:6 For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.
Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

Job 4:8 Even as I have seen, they that plow iniquity, and sow wickedness, reap the same.

If we sow to the Holy Spirit who lives in every believer, we shall reap life everlasting!

if we listen to God’s saving message, the Gospel, the Holy Spirit will implant the Divine nature of God within the heart of each believer.

This is how we know and accept the fruit of the Spirit.

This is how we will live forever with God in the New Heaven and the New Earth.

Joh 3:36 He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life: and he that believeth not the Son shall not see life; but the wrath of God abideth on him.

We know it has been close to two thousand years since the beginning of the Church Age, and we must be patient until the Church Age reaches its fulfillment.

Jas 5:7 Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandman waiteth for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
Jas 5:8 Be ye also patient; stablish your hearts: for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh.

It may seem like an endless task sowing faith and hope, but we must not lose heart!

God is going to reward all those who have such patience!

There is just too much truth in the Scriptures for it all to end in nothingness.

The timing of all these things in is God’s hands but the season of sowing is in our hands.

*Gal 6:10 As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

God has given us this opportunity to earn rewards.

We should not be waiting for opportunities to develop but making them happen.

We should not be waiting on an opportunity to do good, and we should show kindness to all our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Someone in the Church always has a need!

We must stay alert and not be weary if we want to receive a full reward.

We are responsible for our own family first.
We are responsible to our Church family next.
We are responsible for the lost next.

Heb 13:16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Amen

Christians Should Be Walking in the Holy Spirit

February 4, 2025 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Flesh Versus the Spirit

Book of Galatians Chapter 5 Verse 19 through 26

Many people will not like what I say, but when we die, we finally shed this flesh that has hindered our relationship with Jesus Christ.

It is then buried till it returns to the dirt God made us from, or more so today it is burnt in an oven till it is nothing but ashes.

What had Paul said in last week’s lesson?

Gal 5:17 For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would.

I believe our soul says “good riddance” to that sack of flesh at our death.

Our flesh is the cause of most of our pain!

The works of the flesh show us just how strong the flesh is!

Sin is first committed in secret, but by and by will work to the surface and advertise itself in shameless publicity.

In the First Century all the Rulers such as Tiberias, Caligula, Nero, Domitian were monsters of vice and cruelty, and they only got away with it because the people they governed were equally corrupt.

We can say the same about the Biden years he was not only corrupt and could not have gotten away with it, if all those around him were not also corrupt.

Our nation will suffer for years because of this just as we do because of this flesh we live in unless we get the help of the Holy Spirit.

*Gal 5:19 Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness,
Gal 5:20 Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies,
Gal 5:21 Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

After we are “born again” into the family of God we are expected to be more like Jesus Christ and Jesus would never have done any of these things written in this Scripture.

Adultery is being sexually unfaithful to a husband or wife. It can also be looking on a man or woman to lust after them.
It does not matter if it is in person, in magazines, in books, on the beaches or anywhere else, it is all adultery if you are married to a wife or husband.

Fornication includes all forms of immorality and sexual acts. Premarital sex, adultery, and it also includes looking upon a man or woman to lust after them, in person, in magazines, in books, or anywhere else. We can be attracted to the opposite sex without lusting after them.

Uncleanness is moral impurity. Doing things that dirty, pollute, and soil life.

Lasciviousness is filthiness, indecency, shamelessness. Unrestrained evil thoughts and behavior. Giving in to lustful desires.
It is those who know no restraint. Those who have sinned so much that they no longer care to hide their wrong. They become slaves to filthy words, induced body movements and immoral handling of people.

Idolatry is the worship of idols, whether mental such as false gods, or made by man’s hands.
It also includes to worship of ideas and devoting time and energy to something other than God.
Now it does not include enjoying the life God has given to us as long as do not put things before our worship of Him.

Witchcraft also known as sorcery, the use of drugs, or of evil spirits to get control over the lives of others or even over your own life. It would include astrology, palm reading, seances, fortune telling, crystals and any other form of witchcraft.

Hatred is enmity, hostility, animosity. It is hatred that lingers for a long time, a hatred that is deep within. We have seen many express this hatred for our new president.

Variance is strife, discord, contention, fighting, struggling, quarreling, wrangling against another person to get something such as a position, or promotion, or property, or recognition, doing whatever it takes to get what he is after.

Emulation is jealousy, desiring to have what someone else has.

Wrath is a burst of anger, indignation, a violent explosive temper with explosive reactions. Boiling emotions but these things do not usually last.

Strife is conflict within yourself, struggling to cope and including a party spirit.

Seditions are division, rebellion, standing against others, splitting off from others.

Heresies is rejecting the fundamental beliefs in God, Jesus Christ, the Scriptures, the Church. Holding on to some teaching which is not true.

Envying goes beyond jealousy. It is wanting the things some other person has and begrudging the fact that they have them. That wants those things taken away from that person and wants that person to suffer because they have lost the things they cherished.

Murders is to kill; to take the life of another person and it includes abortions for the sake of getting rid of that child.

Drunkenness is taking drink or drugs to affect your senses for lust or pleasure. Intoxicated, using drugs seeking to loosen moral restraint for bodily pleasure.

Reveling is carousing around, indulgence, and pleasure, wild parties, drinking parties, indulging in feeding the lust of your flesh. Orgies.

And all such things that are like these things that are named!

God has already judged those persons who do these things or take part in these things that they will not inherit the Kingdom of Heaven less they come to Jesus and repent of those things.

God is righteous and He expects us to live righteous lives to be accepted by Him.

People say they are saved.
Some people even go to a church or some so-called church of false teaching.
They may even talk about Christianity and defend their beliefs.

However, they go out and live their lives like they always have giving in to the flesh.

They forget that being Christian is trying our best to be like Jesus Christ!

Many of them feel that God will forgive them no matter what they do, and he will but there must be repentance.

Many of them think they have already done enough so that God is pleased with them.

Most people believe that God will just accept them no matter how they live their lives.

God is not some Father who allows His children to do as they please.

Grace is not a license for God’s people to do wrong!

God’s New Heaven is made for true believers.

If we cannot do our best to live a pure and righteous life, we will not inherit the Kingdom of God!

Rev 21:27 And there shall in no wise enter into it any thing that defileth, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb’s book of life.

All those who have accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior are then filled with the Spirit of Jesus and will live accordingly.

There should be a great difference in a true Christian from their old life that is in the past.

*Gal 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,
Gal 5:23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law.

As Christians we cannot be perfect as long as we are in these bodies of flesh but having the Holy Spirit living within us we should be more like Him.

He gives us the strength to repent of our old lifestyle and here He gives us this passage.

Notice immediately He says the “fruit” and not the “fruits” of the Spirit.

We should have not just one or more of the traits but all of these traits.

Love: the Greek word used here is “Agape” .
This is brotherly love like that love our Heavenly Father shows to us. It also includes affection.
This love is not distinct but includes all the rest of the things that are mentioned here.

One of the greatest problems in our nation, in our world, and even in our churches, is that there is no natural affection for one another anymore. Hatred is in far too many spots in our lives today.

Rom_1:31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
2Ti_3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

We should have a natural affection within us for all the people of our world and that should include goodwill and benevolence for one another.

Joy: The Greek word used here means cheerfulness, calm delight, gladness, in fact exceedingly glad. This is not a selfish emotion but as the Sun whose rays warm gladden all people.

We must understand that being a Christian is not a set of facts. It is not a list of good deeds.
Being a Christian is a disposition of the heart.

Peace: The Greek word used here is being at true peace with us resting on the knowledge of our future and our true hope in the truth of God.

Longsuffering: Brings us that dreaded word patience.

One of the greatest uses of God’s patience was in the days of Noah that while Noah built the Ark that saved eight people Noah also preached to the world of that day around him for one hundred and twenty years and no one believed the Word of God.
We can also say the same for God today. There is really no other prophecy left that needs to be fulfilled before the “Rapture” of the Church, yet God patiently waits for that last soul to be saved before the return of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ to get His Gentile Bride.

1Pe_3:20 Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.
2Pe_3:9 The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.

If God can be so patient, then how can we not be the same?

Gentleness: all these words describe our Savior, but this word gentleness is so wonderful. When we read the Gospels, we cannot help but see the gentleness that the Lord Jesus showed to all the innocent. He showed true kindness to those He touched with His life while He was upon this earth.

Tit 3:3 For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.
Tit 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,

Faith: Faithfulness does not doubt God!
Faithfulness does not begin with God and then back off!
Faithfulness does not walk with God then give in to the lusts of the flesh!
Faithfulness begins with God and continues with God!

We should ask ourselves are we trustworthy enough to get into God’s New Heaven!

1Pe 4:19 Wherefore let them that suffer according to the will of God commit the keeping of their souls to him in well doing, as unto a faithful Creator.

Meekness: Once we realize just how great is our God then we should have no problem submitting to God and realizing just how tiny we are in comparison. Meekness means we understand the “Providence of God”, His preserving and governing of all things. If we are going through something we do not like, then God has His reasons and we need to learn from each event and come out stronger.

Eph 4:1 I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called,
Eph 4:2 With all lowliness and meekness, with longsuffering, forbearing one another in love;
Eph 4:3 Endeavouring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

Temperance: Every time we see temperance everyone always goes to alcohol which the Lord says do not even look at.

Pro 23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Pro 23:30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Pro 23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

Temperance here means self-mastery over all the indulgences of the flesh, self-control in all respects in this life.

1Co 9:25 And every man that striveth for the mastery is temperate in all things.

If we have read the Bible, we know that there are no written laws against doing any of these things.

Laws are never made for those who obey the laws! Laws are written for those who break the laws. It seems our government is confused about this.

1Ti 1:9 Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
1Ti 1:10 For whoremongers, for them that defile themselves with mankind, for menstealers, for liars, for perjured persons, and if there be any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine;
1Ti 1:11 According to the glorious gospel of the blessed God, which was committed to my trust.

What is the difference between a Christian and those in the world?

*Gal 5:24 And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.

The Lord Jesus Christ took our flesh with its sin and it was nailed to the cross with Him and we are now to wear His righteousness as our flesh.

If we truly belong to Jesus Christ there will be a noticeable change from what we were!

We become the property and the possession of Jesus Christ.

We come to Christ to be delivered from our enslavement from sin, from death, and from judgment.

We want to be saved from our flesh of this corruptible world.

Paul says: Rom_8:13 For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live.

To mortify is put our old flesh and the deeds of that flesh to death the day we accept the Lord Jesus Christ as our Savior.

No Christian should be doing the same old sins they were doing before their salvation.

This is the greatest problem in the church today along with many behind the pulpits who were never called of God.

The seminaries have forgotten the truth of God and are become useless in the work God has given us to do.

Crucifixion is a lingering mode of death, and it may take us all awhile to yield to the Spirit but it does not take long because the Holy Spirit is all powerful.

We are to be dead to sin.
We are to crucify the old man.
We are to abolish the whole body of sin with its passions and its lust!

This death is a condition of our New Birth!

The Holy Spirit lives within each Christian and being a Christian is being like Jesus Christ.

*Gal 5:25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is a person of the Holy Trinity which is our God, so if we live to God let us walk in the Holy Spirit.

2Co 5:15 And that he died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto him which died for them, and rose again.

Rom 14:7 For none of us liveth to himself, and no man dieth to himself.
Rom 14:8 For whether we live, we live unto the Lord; and whether we die, we die unto the Lord: whether we live therefore, or die, we are the Lord’s.
Rom 14:9 For to this end Christ both died, and rose, and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living.

We only have a short time to be usable to God, we need to live as the Holy Spirit directs us to live and He will never direct us back into sin.

*Gal 5:26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.

We all stand on level ground at the cross. God will direct our lives for His purpose the remaining of our days if we are willing to giive Him contrrol.

If God does not call us to something specific, then we already have the Scriptures which gives us our directions.

We should be very careful not to grieve the Holy Spirit.

Envy is not a fruit of the Spirit but is a great sin that will tear us down and make us useless in the work of God.

In everything we do we are to give God the glory!

Amen

Exceeding Great and Precious Promises

January 21, 2025 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Issac or Ishmael

Book of Galatians 4 verses 21 through 31

The way to Heaven is not by any work from us nor by any law; this must be clear to us.

We are also very wrong if we think God needs our help to further the Gospel.

God does not need us at all!

In Luke 19 the Lord Jesus had these words: Luk_19:40 And he answered and said unto them, I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out.

It is we who need our Heavenly Father and He offers us opportunities after He saves us.

Our life becomes our testimony as we live to be more like our Savior.

Jhn_12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

There are two words that we see in our lesson today that we need to understand.

1) Promise.
2) Patience.

First promise: It takes God’s wisdom to understand His promise.

1Co 1:20 Where is the wise? where is the scribe? where is the disputer of this world? hath not God made foolish the wisdom of this world?
1Co 1:21 For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe.
1Co 1:22 For the Jews require a sign, and the Greeks seek after wisdom:
1Co 1:23 But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness;
1Co 1:24 But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, “and the wisdom of God”.

We can have no wisdom without the Spirit of Wisdom which comes by the Holy Spirit and a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ and in this we will have the power to work on patience and other important things.

Eph 1:17 That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
Eph 1:18 The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
Eph 1:19 “And what is the exceeding greatness of his power to us-ward who believe, according to the working of his mighty power”,
Eph 1:20 Which he wrought in Christ, when he raised him from the dead, and set him at his own right hand in the heavenly places,

There is no wisdom of God without a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ which gives us the Spirit of Wisdom which is the Holy Spirit!

Now let’s look at the word patience as it pertains to God.

We already know that God is never late, but He is always on time.

Patience:

Listen to these words from the Apostle Peter:

2Pe 1:4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
2Pe 1:5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
2Pe 1:6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
2Pe 1:7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
2Pe 1:8 For if these things be in you, and abound, “they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ”.

Patience is something we will work on most of our lives because we live in this sinful and wicked world!

God has promised Heaven only to those who believe in His Son and have patience till He returns!

Now let’s look at our lesson today:

*Gal 4:21 Tell me, ye that desire to be under the law, do ye not hear the law?

All those who approach God by the Law or by works of goodness or religion are legalists or religionists.

Every one of them needs to understand what they are doing because they will never reach Heaven this way!

They need to understand the implications of what they are doing!

This is why the Apostle Paul was pouring his heart out to these churches in Galatia.

This is also an example for us to not just push away those of legalism, nor those who are religious, maybe we need to show them the “love of Christ” that is within us.

This will not be easy!

We are never better than any of them, we are just better off, and they need to understand why.

Paul’s final attempt to win these souls he went back to the Scriptures.

The first five books of the Old Testament were considered the sacred law to all Jews and Paul used these same passages to show these churches the error in their way of thinking.

This is also a great example for us as we tell the lost about the truth of Jesus Christ.

We must try to tell those who are lost how to escape the bondage they do not realize they are under.

*Gal 4:22 For it is written, that Abraham had two sons, the one by a bondmaid, the other by a freewoman.
Gal 4:23 But he who was of the bondwoman was born after the flesh; but he of the freewoman was by promise.

If we have read the Bible, we all know this passage of the Old Testament.

Abraham, who is the father of all those who believe in the promises of God!

It is by the same faith that Abraham had that we can be saved!

We must just believe what God says and understand that God keeps His promises.

Abraham had two sons at this time though he later had others after the death of his wife Sarah.

The Jews understand that they are descendants of Sarah. This is still in effect today.

Abraham had two sons before Sarah died.

One was born of Sarah who was Issac.

This was a great miracle of God because Sarah had been barren all of her years and far past the time when she could conceive, until the birth of Isaac.

God had promised Abraham a son by his wife Sarah and Sarah just could not believe what God said, or she wanted to be sure that God’s promise to Abraham was true.

The greatest lesson we can learn here is that God does not need our help to keep His promises!

It is still a sin to go against the Word of God and trying to help God is a sin!

God does not need our help; God simply wants us to believe in Him as did Abraham.

Isaac was the Son of Promise, but there was another son who came before Isaac and his name was Ishmael.

Sarah had become discouraged from being barren and she had a slave girl who was bought or given to them by a Pharaoh of Egypt.

Sarah had no patience and thought God needed her help and sent Hagar this young slave into her husband Abraham, and she conceived, and Ishmael was born to this bondwoman.

This is the basis of Paul’s message to these Galatians.

Paul reminded us of all of this:

Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.
Rom 4:18 Who against hope “believed in hope”, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken, So shall thy seed be.
Rom 4:19 And being not weak in faith, he considered not his own body now dead, when he was about an hundred years old, neither yet the deadness of Sara’s womb:
Rom 4:20 He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God;
Rom 4:21 “And being fully persuaded that, what he had promised, he was able also to perform”.
Rom 4:22 And therefore it was imputed to him for righteousness.
Rom 4:23 Now it was not written for his sake alone, that it was imputed to him;
Rom 4:24 But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed, if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead;
Rom 4:25 Who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification.

Isaac was born after the order and the process of nature to fulfill the promise of God, just as our Lord Jesus Christ after the promised seed was planted.

Sarah had a miracle birth, and our Lord Jesus had a miracle birth both of by the “Promise of God”.

Ishmael was still a precious child as much as any child until influenced by his mother and rejected by Sarah.

None of these things were the fault of Ishmael, and we know God made a promise to Hagar concerning Ishmael.

Ishmael was conceived in sin when Abraham listened to his wife and went against God’s Law.

Exo_20:14 Thou shalt not commit adultery.

This thing has broken up more marriages than anything else in this world.

Again, we cannot help God keep His promises, and this is the basis of a works doctrine.

*Gal 4:24 Which things are an allegory: for these are the two covenants; the one from the mount Sinai, which gendereth to bondage, which is Agar.
Gal 4:25 For this Agar is mount Sinai in Arabia, and answereth to Jerusalem which now is, and is in bondage with her children.
Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:27 For it is written, Rejoice, thou barren that bearest not; break forth and cry, thou that travailest not: “for the desolate hath many more children than she which hath an husband”.Gal 4:26 But Jerusalem which is above is free, which is the mother of us all.
Gal 4:28 Now we, brethren, as Isaac was, are the children of promise.

We should understand that these things the Apostle Paul is teaching are teaching in allegory and there are not many such places in the Bible where this happens.

The Lord Jesus used typology in some of His teachings but not allegory.

To allegorize is to say what is either designed or fitted to convey a meaning other than the literal one, or words adapted to another meaning.

As believers, we accept the Word of God as the literal truth so we must be very careful if we try to do an allegory with the Scriptures

It is best to leave these things to true Bible Scholars who know when to use them.

We cannot ever change the truth of God to mean something else!

The Apostle Paul was a Bible Scholar and He was speaking to mostly Jews who were once confirmed in Judaism and were trying to accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and had received some false teaching from Judaizers who were trying to derail the Church.

It is far better if we use typology rather than allegories!

Paul was saying that in these two women Hagar and Sarah we can see the Two Covenants.

The Covenant of Law and the Covenant of Grace.

Some preachers might use the word dispensations.

The one from Mount Sinai, which is the Law and applies to Hagar, and the other from Mount Sion which is the Covenant from Heavenly Jerusalem, bearing the children of liberty and this is Sarah.

Mount Sinai is where Moses saw the burning bush and received his call to lead the Israelites out from the bondage of Egypt and represents the covenant of the Laws of Moses that were intended to lead all of Israel to the Lord Jesus Christ, the Messiah, but the Jews refused to take that step.

Mat 23:37 O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not!

Mount Sion is a reference to Heavenly Jerusalem.

Heb 12:22 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels,
Heb 12:23 To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
Heb 12:24 And to Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh better things than that of Abel.

It is the New Jerusalem that is our home, the home of those whose chains of bondage are broken by Jesus Christ and are now the children of God!

It is the New Jerusalem which is that Eternal Spiritual City that God promised to all who approach Him by “faith”.

God’s “Grace” and the promise of our Heavenly Home are both free to those who have faith in the work of Jesus Christ for our salvation.

Jerusalem on earth is a place of turmoil and laws and has never been at peace and will only see peace for a while when the Lord Jesus returns

We have no work to do to get into our Heavenly Home but only believe in the Word of God!

This is why the Covenant of Grace is such a wonderful thing that comes from our Heavenly Father through the Lord Jesus Christ!

Isaac was a child of promise and every believer in the Lord Jesus is also a child of promise!

God made a way for mankind to inherit the Promised Land, and this true Promised Land is not upon this earth.

Rom 4:13 For the promise, that he should be the heir of the world, was not to Abraham, or to his seed, through the law, but through the righteousness of faith.
Rom 4:14 For if they which are of the law be heirs, faith is made void, and the promise made of none effect:

Heb 11:13 These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth.
Heb 11:14 For they that say such things declare plainly that they seek a country.
Heb 11:15 And truly, if they had been mindful of that country from whence they came out, they might have had opportunity to have returned.
Heb 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

*Gal 4:29 But as then he that was born after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so it is now.

In the Book of Genesis chapter 21, we can read the story of how Ishmael had been mocking Isaac for some reason, and Sarah the mother of Isaac saw him.

Sarah told Abraham it was time to send that bondwoman away with her son.

Persecution is not specifically mentioned but any insult is considered to be persecution.

Legalism persecutes and enslaves believers.

We are mocked throughout this world because we accept the Word of God as the truth and believe God’s promises.

Ishmael ridiculed, mocked, and persecuted Isaac.

When we try to approach God in the flesh, with our own energy and our own effort, we are rejecting the Grace of God as the means of righteousness.

We cannot build credit with God!
We cannot try to get recognition from God!
We cannot work to get God’s approval!
We do not have it in our power to gain acceptance and praise of God beyond “faith”!

All persons in the flesh refuse to accept this fact and they will never make it to New Jerusalem.

We are in that Age of Persecution today!

2Ti 3:12 Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.
2Ti 3:13 But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived.
2Ti 3:14 But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them;

What did God tell Abraham?

Gen 21:12 And God said unto Abraham, Let it not be grievous in thy sight because of the lad, and because of thy bondwoman; in all that Sarah hath said unto thee, hearken unto her voice; for in Isaac shall thy seed be called.

*Gal 4:30 Nevertheless what saith the scripture? Cast out the bondwoman and her son: for the son of the bondwoman shall not be heir with the son of the freewoman.

We can see that legalism was cast out and can have no inheritance with God!

I believe that most of us in the Church know but not many Jews, that Judaism and Christianity are utterly and forever irreconcilable.

The Jews must accept Jesus Christ in faith just as any other non-believer!

The Law and the Gospel are two entirely different concepts!

God will never accept anyone who approaches Him by law or by works!

No matter how much good and how many good works we present to God on the Day of Judgment God will ask, “What about my Son Jesus” and they will be cast from God’s presence.

What has God done for our salvation?

God loved us enough to send His own Son to die for us, in our place.

A simple prayer would be: Father you are my Savior and Lord. I believe with all my heart that your Christ did die for me and I surrender all I am into His keeping. I know that it is your Righteousness and your death that paid for my sins. In Jesus’ name Amen.

God’s promise: Tit 3:4 But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,
Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Tit 3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

And the results:

*Gal 4:31 So then, brethren, we are not children of the bondwoman, but of the free.

The Lord Jesus Christ has freed every believer from the curse of the Law, which ends in death, and eternal separation from the God who made us all.

Amen

Christianity

December 13, 2024 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Paul’s Participation in the Jerusalem Council

Book Galatians Chapter 2 Verses 1 through 10

From Chapter 1 we learned that the Apostle Paul’s preaching of Salvation by the “Grace of God” had met much criticism, but this criticism was mainly from the Jewish religion.

This criticism had reached a point where it was determined that the Church leaders would come together to make a final decision on this matter.

It had been the Jews known as Judaizers, who had called for this council hoping the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem would side with them.

Though there were many Church councils over the years, the first Jerusalem Council was the most important.

What we find is that our old friends the Pharisees are stirring up trouble again.

In reality, there was a large number of Pharisees who accepted Jesus as the true Messiah after His death and resurrection.

In fact, this would be a natural result for an honest-thinking Pharisee.

Most of the Pharisees were looking for the Messiah to come.

The Pharisees knew the Scriptures better than the average Jew.

When the Apostles proved that Jesus was the Messiah from the Scriptures, the Pharisee was bound to see the evidence.

If a Pharisee had an honest and open heart he would be convicted by the Holy Spirit as much as any other Lost Soul.

However, the Pharisees would tend to see Jesus as the fulfillment of Judaism, not a replacement of it.
The Pharisees would see Jesus as an addition to the Law of Moses, not replacing it.
The Pharisees would see Jesus as adding belief to their rituals, not replacing them.
The Pharisee would see Jesus adding Baptism to the ordinances, not replacing the ordinance.

Because the Pharisees had extensive training and had made a lifetime commitment to the keeping of the Law, oral and traditional, they would be very slow to give up the Law.

They would be very slow to rely on the Righteousness of Jesus the Messiah and not the righteousness of the Law.

But we do see where some of them made a complete break with Judaism.

It is these things that caused the First Council of the Church.

Act 15:5 But there rose up certain of the sect of the Pharisees which believed, saying, That it was needful to circumcise them, and to command them to keep the law of Moses.
Act 15:6 And the apostles and elders came together for to consider of this matter.

We will immediately be able to see that the question at the Council in Jerusalem had grown much greater than circumcision from the Church at Antioch.

The question at Jerusalem became “does a man have to keep the whole law to be saved” and accepted into the Church?

We would be wrong to believe these questions have disappeared today!

1) Can a person earn favor with God? Or do they receive the favor of God?
2) Are they acceptable to God because they keep the Law? Or are they saved by confessing that they have broken the law and are dependent entirely upon the Lord Jesus Christ?
3) Do we work to make ourselves righteous or do we cast ourselves upon the righteousness of Jesus?
4) Do we pray to the Lord saying Lord I come on my own righteousness, or I come on your righteousness?
5) Do we pray Lord I come with my own package of works, or I come seeking your mercy and grace?
6) Do we pray to the Lord I came to be praised for my own works, or do we praise the Lord because He did all the work?
7) Are we to receive glory because we have done good, or is the glory to be lifted to Jesus for who He is and what He has done?
8) Is the Lord Jesus God, who came down from Heaven to save us or not?

Martin Luther broke with Catholic Doctrine on some of these same issues!

Rom 1:17 For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith.

Do we believe what the Bible says or not?

Luther came to realize that works have no part in our salvation.

It is a fact that there are no works to do to receive the Grace of God but there are some works that should happen after salvation.

Jas 2:20 But wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith without works is dead?

We need to study every question that is asked about salvation in order to properly lead someone to the Lord!

*Gal 2:1 Then fourteen years after I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, and took Titus with me also.

At the end of last week’s lesson, Paul had returned to his hometown of Tarsus and then to Antioch Syria where the first Church outside of Jerusalem had been established.

Now in the first verse of Chapter Two, Paul is returning to Jerusalem for the first council of the Church and fourteen years have passed.

This first council at Jerusalem could easily have stopped the Church before it ever got started.

The Apostle Paul was faithful to give a full account of the Gospel he had preached among the Gentiles, who were still known as Heathen to the Jews, indicating a lower class of people.

Paul preached that Christianity must be free from all mixture of Judaism.

This would have seemed ungrateful to some because even the Lord Jesus was a Jew.

Joh 4:21 Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father.
Joh 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: “we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews”.

Notice Jesus claims to be a Jew just like the disciples who were with Him.

We should understand that Christianity is the New Testament, the New Covenant, God has made with all the people of Earth.

We should also notice that Paul was very careful and going to extra pains, to list his contacts with the Church in Jerusalem.

It had to be understood that the Doctrine of Salvation that Paul preached had come from Jesus Christ and not from the leaders of the Church of Jerusalem.

It was for the benefit of the Jews that these precautions were made and not so much for the benefit of the Gentiles.

Paul was not going to change the way he preached so easily.

Likewise, the Jews were not going to accept the Gentiles so easily.

We must also understand the other Apostles had to recognize that the calling of the Apostle Paul had met the basic qualifications for being an Apostle being called by Christ Himself.

Paul’s calling and his service had now proven itself for fourteen years.

Paul did not enter Jerusalem to answer his critics.
Nothing that happened in Jerusalem would change the calling of Paul, because Paul was God-called and not man-called.

1Co 15:3 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
1Co 15:4 And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:
1Co 15:5 And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve:
1Co 15:6 After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.
1Co 15:7 After that, he was seen of James; then of all the apostles.
1Co 15:8 And last of all he was seen of me also, as of one born out of due time.

*Gal 2:2 And I went up by revelation, and communicated unto them that gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but privately to them which were of reputation, lest by any means I should run, or had run, in vain.

Paul’s intent was for him to defend his work in the Gospel.

If the other Apostles disagreed with Paul, it would not have changed Paul’s calling.
God intended for the Church to survive at all costs.

What had Jesus told to Peter?

Mat_16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

I think it is almost every message that our Pastor says he will not back down, and we had better be prepared to stand with him.

No preacher is to run in vain!

Every evangelist, Pastor, preacher, and missionary, must preach the “Gospel” and only the “Gospel” and he must build upon that ministry as the truth and it is.

We are not to allow ritual, rule, ceremony, or law to be added to the Gospel!

People are saved and people grow only by the Gospel, the “Good News” of God’s love for the world, His creation!

Joh 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
Joh 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
Joh 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

*Gal 2:3 But neither Titus, who was with me, being a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised:
Gal 2:4 And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, that they might bring us into bondage:
Gal 2:5 To whom we gave place by subjection, no, not for an hour; that the truth of the gospel might continue with you.

We must never be intimidated into giving up the truth of the Gospel as our own government has been trying to do lately!

There are as many so-called preachers who have only enough truth to be called a man of God when they are lost as Job’s Turkey and causing damage to the Church and they don’t care, they just buy themselves another Jet plane or they write another book but we can be sure they will answer to God.

There is only one Gospel and there will never be a modern version because God never changes!

The Lord Jesus Christ will never come back to this Earth, (His Creation) to face another cross!

The Apostle Paul’s version of the Gospel is still the Gospel that saves!

There is only one “Gospel” and there will never be another “Gospel” that is the “Good News” for mankind!

The ‘Gospel” of the “Grace” of God and “Grace Alone” that Paul preached did arouse many of the Jews.

Every practicing Jew was circumcised when they were eight days old and they leaned heavily on the Law of Moses all the days of their lives.

When they accepted the truth of Jesus Christ, they still refused to reject Judaism.

In their minds the Lord Jesus only changed a few things and Judaism was still the key to life with Jehovah.

They proclaimed that every Christian would first have to become a practicing Jew.

Only after becoming a Jew could, they then accept the teachings of Christ and be baptized.

Paul rejected this and Paul was right even though Paul was a practicing Jew.

The Church would have failed before it got started if this had been true.

The Jews were shocked that Paul taught such a thing.

These Jews were called Judaizers.

It was determined by these Judaizers that Paul could not have gotten his message from Jehovah, and they were wrong.

If anything is added to the Gospel, then it is no longer the Gospel.

If anything is taken away from the Gospel, then it is no longer the Gospel.

Jehovah was very serious about this!

Rev 22:18 For I testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that are written in this book:
Rev 22:19 And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.

Paul took with him Barnabas and Titus who were fellow workers with him in the Gospel.

Barnabas was a Jew who had been converted in Jerusalem.

Titus was a Heathen Gentile, and he was not about to become a Jew.

Titus had never been inside the Jewish Temple, and he had no desire to enter into it.

Titus had not been circumcised!

Titus had not committed himself to the Law of Moses nor the rituals of Judaism.

Titus was a perfect example of salvation by “Grace Alone”.

Titus had answered the calling of Christ to become a Preacher.

Judaizers are just “Legalists”.

Legalists are those people who add to the salvation plan of God.

Christianity is not now and never will be a blend of Judaism and the teachings of Christ.

Christianity is not now and never will be a blend of the Muslim and the Koran, and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

Christianity is not now and never will be a blend of Hinduism and the teachings of Jesus Christ.

In fact, Christianity can only be the “Good News” of Jesus Christ and nothing but salvation by the free gift, of the “GRACE” of God.

Though many Jews even today are impressed with Jesus Christ, they will not give up their religion for Him and therefore they cannot be saved.

This was the first great battle for the existence of the Church!

This is the message of Christianity!

Legalism still exists today along with many of the teachings of a false Gospel, which is not the Gospel.

*Gal 2:6 But of these who seemed to be somewhat, (whatsoever they were, it maketh no matter to me: God accepteth no man’s person:) for they who seemed to be somewhat in conference added nothing to me:
Gal 2:7 But contrariwise, when they saw that the gospel of the uncircumcision was committed unto me, as the gospel of the circumcision was unto Peter;
Gal 2:8 (For he that wrought effectually in Peter to the apostleship of the circumcision, the same was mighty in me toward the Gentiles:)

The Christian Preacher and teacher must defend the “Gospel” before any and all persons or they are not who they say they are.

We as Christians must ask ourselves:

1) Are we seeking the approval of church leaders over the approval of God?
2) Are we seeking the call of the Church or the call of God?
3) Are we seeking favor of the church or answering the call of God?
4) Are we seeking to build a reputation or seeking to serve God who called us?

How many of us add our own ideas, our own rituals, our own rules instead of the Pure Gospel?

God treats all of us alike!

God has no favorites, He loves you as much as He loved the Apostle Paul!

Everyone in Heaven are there because they are saved by the same Gospel that Paul preached!

Every true Preacher, Pastor, Evangelists, or Missionary are called by the same Lord!

*Gal 2:9 And when James, Cephas, and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given unto me, they gave to me and Barnabas the right hands of fellowship; that we should go unto the heathen, and they unto the circumcision.
Gal 2:10 Only they would that we should remember the poor; the same which I also was forward to do.

If we take notice, we will see that the leaders of the Church in Jerusalem did not agree with those Judaizers nor could they, as the Judaizers had hoped they would.

On the contrary they stood with the Apostle Paul!

They saw firsthand that Paul had indeed been called of Christ Jesus to preach the Gospel.

They saw that Paul had been called to preach the truth just like every other man called of God.

They saw that Paul had been called to preach to the Gentiles.

This means that everyone called of God, are called with a specific purpose in mind.

Every person called of God is called to preach to the poor just they are called to preach to the rich still having the same message.

Paul promised to try to help the Church in Jerusalem because every Christian who felt the same as Paul would be excommunicated.

James the step-brother of the Lord Jesus was the lead Pastor at the Church at Jerusalem.

James and Jude both the step-brothers of our Lord did also write a book of the New Testament being lead by the Spirit of Jesus their step-brother.

Are we going to have faith in God or are we going to trust what man can do for us?

Amen

The Gospel Truth

December 6, 2024 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Origin of the Gospel

Book of Galatians Chapter 1 verses 11 through 24

The Word “Gospel” is the English word used to translate the Greek word for “good news”.

The Greek word for the English word “Gospel” is “evangelical”, so the writers of this “good news” are best known as Evangelists.

In reality, the word Gospel means the proclamation of pardon, mercy, and peace in and through the Lord Jesus Christ.

If the word “Gospel” is used in any other way, it is a false gospel.

All those men who are partakers of its saving Grace, who are commissioned to preach it, are to be considered beautiful.

Isa 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!

In the New Testament “Gospel” has two shades of meaning.

1) The actual message of Jesus Christ.

Mar 1:14 Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God,
Mar 1:15 And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel.

2) It is the story told about Jesus after His death and His resurrection, in the Scripture we are studying today.

Gal 1:11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
Gal 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the embodiment of the Gospel!

Without the Lord Jesus Christ, there can be no Gospel, period.

To certify is to declare that the Gospel is the truth of God’s Son and, therefore the truth of God!

The Gospel is not in agreement with the ways of man, nor the values of man!

The Gospel is on a much higher plane!

In verse 10 from last week, Paul proclaimed: “Am I seeking the favor of men or God”. “Do I seek to please men or to please God” being “God the Son Jesus Christ”, “God’s Messiah”.

Verse eleven continues, with people saying that Paul did not follow the Lord Jesus when He was alive on this earth, so how could he possibly know any Gospel?

They say Paul was teaching a man-made Gospel taught by a misguided man, speaking of Paul.

Paul the Apostle Preached what was given to him by Jesus Christ Himself!

The word “revelation” means a truth that is shared by God with man, a truth that man never knew.

The “Gospel” Paul preached was given to him by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.

The Gospel is God’s wisdom not the wisdom of this world and we can include the time we live in today.

The world’s wisdom includes many approaches to finding the truth and the meaning of life and the many approaches to finding the problems of evil and death, but these things have eluded the world and are unable to be found.

The world’s wisdom is full of lies and theories.

The wisdom of the world says there is no God. He does not exist.

Way back in time, as far back as the mind can go, something, some element, some molecule, some atom, some gas has brought forth all the things we see today.

To some, the wisdom of the world says God may exist, but after creating all the things we see, has moved on to do other things having no concern for the things He made.

The wisdom of this world says that God may exist, but He used evolution to create all the things we see which is still a fantasy.

These are just some of the things we go up against as Christians, when we reach out to those who are lost!

1Co 3:19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, He taketh the wise in their own craftiness.
1Co 3:20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.

The Gospel is not a human thing, it did not originate with man as many say.
The Gospel is not the “good news” from some men as they say.
The Gospel is not to be preached as a message handed down from one generation to the next.

The Gospel is to be preached as the single fact that Jesus Christ did reveal Himself with the truth of His life, the truth of His death, and the truth of His resurrection.

These Galatians had asked themselves: did Paul preach the truth of Jesus Christ or not?

1Co 2:7 But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory:
1Co 2:8 Which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

1Th 2:4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

There are not as many who believe that all the things of this world happened by accident as the world confesses and it is time they stood up and listened to the truth before it is too late.

Paul did not ever try to hide his past life!

Our past life is not remembered in Heaven, but we will be reminded of it by our enemies, and it would not hurt for us to look back and see how far the Gospel has removed us from our past life. We are new creatures because of the Gospel.

Gal 1:13 For ye have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews’ religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it:
Gal 1:14 And profited in the Jews’ religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.

If we look at Paul’s life before He met the Lord Jesus upon the Damascus Road, we will see the terrible things he did to the Church.

We could say it was nothing short of a miracle that could account for the change that had taken place in the life of Paul.

Paul wrote: Php 3:7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Php 3:8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Php 3:9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:

The Apostle Paul had a radical change of life!

When we read the Scriptures, this is clearly seen!

Paul had launched his attack on the Church at the death of Stephen.

Paul had been a supreme example of self-righteousness.

Paul became an example of the true Christian.

Paul had blazed a path for Christian persecution.

Paul now blazed a path for the salvation of the Lost.

The Lord Jesus set Paul apart and called him by His “Grace”.

Paul began to believe that God had called him even before his birth.

Gal 1:15 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb, and called me by his grace,
Gal 1:16 To reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:

Paul began to believe that he was now doing what God had intended for him to do from his birth forward and he was.

Every Christian should realize that we are now in the will God had for us from the beginning of our lives, just as He did the prophet Jeremiah.

Jeremiah became a prophet of God, and we become witnesses for the Lord Jesus Christ.

All those who have been called to separation from this evil world understand what Paul is saying here.

God has a plan for all of us and that plan began at our birth, but most of us were like Paul, we did not realize it until we met Jesus.

Php 3:13 Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,
Php 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul reminded others of the same.

2Ti 1:9 Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,
2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

The source of our change was the purpose of God!
The means of our change was His calling by the Holy Spirit.
The result of that change is that we might teach Jesus Christ to the Lost.

For Paul, his job was to reach the Gentile world that God had included and not just the Jews!

Thank you, Lord God for I was once a heathen, but now one of your children.

I was never worthy of your “Grace”!

The job of the Apostle Paul was to be a vessel to reveal Jesus Christ!

We must understand that we are not called just to come to know Jesus Christ, we are also called to make Christ known to others.

We must bear witness to what Jesus Christ has done in our lives.

God has given us all the Gospel to study and to preach.

The world needs to hear the message of Jesus Christ not the message of wicked men.

It is every day now that we can still hear the crying and the moaning because a wicked president has been defeated.

America should be ready to hear the message of Jesus Christ.

Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

2Co 4:5 For we preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord; and ourselves your servants for Jesus’ sake.
2Co 4:6 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.

Only Jesus Christ has the message that the world is seeking the answer to!

How to live forever!

Far too many people wake up in Hell who spent their lives and their finances, searching for the means of eternal life having rejected the Gospel, the “Good News” of our Savior.

Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

Paul was called by the Lord Jesus and then taught by the Lord Jesus Christ how to teach the world about Him.

Gal 1:17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto Damascus.
Gal 1:18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode with him fifteen days.
Gal 1:19 But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the Lord’s brother.

The spread of the Gospel was beginning to produce real fruit and much of the world did not like it.

Just like today, Satan cannot stand to see the Truth of God, the Gospel, to take fruit in our world and he will do everything he can to stop it.

I have never heard so many lies as they are told today about the true Church.

If those who hinder the spread of the truth of God did not have our biased news sources under their wings, they could not cause the havoc that they do.

I cannot understand why this world is so afraid of Jesus Christ!

Now I am nothing compared to the Apostle Paul, but what was he guilty of?

Paul was attacked from every side and the only thing he had done was to tell the truth to a world that cannot stand the truth about a man named Jesus who spent just a few years going about doing good.

Paul’s real guilt was that he had become a Christian and had forsaken Judaism though Paul still kept the Laws of Moses.

What were they afraid of?

The Lord Jesus did not just declare to be God, He was and is God in a world where many have multiple gods and the most evil have riches which is their god.

How can the world be mad about Jesus when the entire world has their gods whom they worship?

I tell you why, it is because the world is afraid of the truth and those who get richer every day. After all, there are great riches in wickedness and immorality.

They went after Paul because Paul proclaimed the power of the Gospel and was a living example of a Christian.

God said: (Isa_55:11) So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.

The world is afraid that there might be a real God!

You see the Bible from the true Received Text, is filled with the actual words of God!

Paul was not lying because Jehovah God cannot lie!

Heb_6:18 That by two immutable things, in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold upon the hope set before us:

In fact, the only thing that is impossible for Jehovah God to do is to tell a lie!

Paul knew this and every child of God had better know this and the lost world will find out that the Word of God is all truth.

Now if this frightens you, then all you need to do is to have a personal conversation with Jesus.

Some call Him God, but I call Him Savior, and I call Him Friend, and I call Him Father just as the Apostle Paul did!

Paul continues:

Gal 1:21 Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia;
Gal 1:22 And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ:

We look at and hear of all the things that are going on in Syria today and we can say that for a period of time, there was some great churches in Syria.

I might not should say it, but Syria went to pots since the Muslims have maintained rule.

Paul had to leave because there were so many who threatened Paul’s life.

They brought Paul down to Caesarea and then to Tarsus which was Paul’s home town and he had many friends and family there.

It is this Tarsus where Barnabas had found Paul to get Him back into the functions of the Church at Antioch, Syria.

Act 11:25 Then departed Barnabas to Tarsus, for to seek Saul:
Act 11:26 And when he had found him, he brought him unto Antioch. And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.

It is around this time that a great famine came to the world, the parts ruled by the Romans, during the time of Claudius Caesar.

This is exactly what happens when there is war!

The militaries of Rome caused great destruction in the fields and those who fought against them could not tend to their fields to raise crops.

Those men who cause war are foolish!

Only those who build the armaments and make the bullets and war machinery get rich.

Those who hold great riches usually finance both sides the, enemy, and those who fight by necessity, and their riches grow immensely.

Paul took advantage of his time in Tarsus and the surrounding areas.

This is what Jesus told all of us to do: Luk 8:39 Return to thine own house, and shew how great things God hath done unto thee. And he went his way, and published throughout the whole city how great things Jesus had done unto him.

Paul was treated with respect in his hometown, and they listened to what great things the Lord had done in Paul’s life.

Gal 1:23 But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed.
Gal 1:24 And they glorified God in me.

There will always be those who will see the change that a relationship with Jesus Christ can bring.

Those who know the best are usually our family and some of them will listen to our testimony.

Maybe some of our childhood friends will listen to our testimony.

We can be certain that those in and around Jerusalem had heard of the changes in the life of Paul, who was still Saul to them, until they heard his story.

In most cases, those who love us will glorify God who can make such great changes in people.

The Lord Jesus commanded every Christian to do this; Mat 5:16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.

We will do this if we show the love God has shown to us through His Son Jesus!

Amen

The Power of God’s Grace

November 26, 2024 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

Danger of a Different Gospel

Book of Galatians Chapter 1

The people native to Galatia were emotional, impulsive, and changeable people.

They were fickle, impetuous, arguing, loud, boastful, and immoral people.

They had a love for the strange, the curiosities, and the unknown.

They were attached to a false religion that was a worship of nature, and these types of people are all over the world today, nature lovers.

Galatia was an area that had a heavy population of Jews who were staunch in the religion of Judaism.

There were also many Greeks who had a strong Hellenistic influence.

Hellenists were normal people who spoke the Greek language.

Some Jews were also called Hellenists because they had settled in foreign countries and had adopted the prevalent form of Greek civilization.

Act 6:1 And in those days, when the number of the disciples was multiplied, there arose a murmuring of the Grecians against the Hebrews, because their widows were neglected in the daily ministration.

Another verse says.

Act 9:29 And he spake boldly in the name of the Lord Jesus, and disputed against the Grecians: but they went about to slay him.

These were Jews who had become Greeks in their beliefs.

We can also find them at the first Church in Antioch.

Act 11:20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.

Some of these were also true Greeks who had become proselytes of Judaism.

We can see that Paul knew beforehand that planting a Church in Galatia would be no easy task.

It is only the Gospel that has such power of conversion because it is the truth!

The message of the Book of Galatians will pierce the heart of any generation.

The message of the Book of Galatians will also stir Christians to action if we understand its message.

*Gal 1:1 Paul, an apostle, (not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

Notice Paul immediately establishes that he is an Apostle of Jesus Christ and God the Father who had raised the Lord Jesus from the dead by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Paul introduces Galatia to the triune God.

What was Paul’s commission?

John 20:21 Then said Jesus to them again, Peace be unto you: as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you.

What is the Great Commission?

Mar 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
Mar 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

The phrase “and is baptized” simply means “making a public profession of faith”.

We can add this commission as Paul saw it.

2Ti 4:1 I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom;
2Ti 4:2 Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine.
2Ti 4:3 For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears;
2Ti 4:4 And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables.
2Ti 4:5 But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.
And Paul continued.
2Ti 4:7 I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:

This message of Paul extends to every man called by God to preach.

Next Paul tells us who gave him his commission:

(not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead;)

Paul states that no man gave him this commission but the Lord Jesus Christ Himself after God the Father had raised Him from the dead.

There would have been no need to preach a Gospel if God the Father had not raised Jesus from the dead!

We serve a living Savior!
Our God is alive because He is the Almighty Living God.

What did God tell Moses?

Exo 34:5 And the LORD descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the LORD.
Exo 34:6 And the LORD passed by before him, and proclaimed, The LORD, The LORD God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth,
Exo 34:7 Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

This is the God who we serve!

But notice if ignore this God that Moses saw, then we more than likely send our children, our grandchildren, and our great-grandchildren to Hell also.

If that man standing behind the pulpit of any church does not have the same calling as the Apostle Paul, then he does not deserve to be called pastor, preacher, evangelist, or any name associated with the calling of Jesus Christ!

These Galatians needed to understand this as well as those who were once Jews.

Some are called by the Holy Spirit to be Preachers, Pastors, Evangelists, and Missionaries for sure, but every child of God also has a commission given to us by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Act 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.

Mar 5:19 Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.

Col 1:27 To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:
Col 1:28 Whom we preach, warning every man, and teaching every man in all wisdom; that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus:
Col 1:29 Whereunto I also labour, striving according to his working, which worketh in me mightily.

There should not be any doubt that we are all called to be witnesses for the Lord our Savior, Jesus Christ, God’s Messiah.

It was a painful moment when Paul first became aware that some counterfeit preachers, who were Judaizers, questioned the validity of his calling, but Paul was strong in the Lord and full of the Holy Spirit.

How can a counterfeit preacher judge anybody’s calling, but they do because they belong to the true counterfeit Satan?

It was they who had no calling at all except for Satan’s calling.

*Gal 1:2 And all the brethren which are with me, unto the churches of Galatia:

The Preacher of God must be recognized as the Lord’s man by all Christian believers!

Paul was not alone; he had some Christian believers with him who agreed with everything Paul preached.

Timothy and Titus were probably part of those with Paul and there were others.

Paul knew that there was safety in numbers.

Paul never forgot that He was a member of the Church.

Paul spoke out to the Churches of Galatia with not a word of praise or privilege.

All the other Churches, even the Corinthians received a kinder salutation because they had not “erred concerning the faith” as had these Galatians.

The word Church was used for:

1) A body of believers, “the entire congregation of Christian people dispersed throughout the world”.

Paul was not the only one who was spreading the Gospel at this time, Paul was the one who was writing the Bible as the Holy Spirit led Him.

Mat 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon “this rock” I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

2) The word Church could also mean a particular congregation under the same ministry of God’s Word.

1Co 16:1 Now concerning the collection for the saints, as I have given order to the churches of Galatia, even so do ye.

3) The word Church is also used for those who assemble in one Church to worship the Lord Jesus Christ.

1Co 14:28 But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church; and let him speak to himself, and to God.

It should also be very clear that all around the world some gather together to worship some god, but not the Lord Jesus Christ, they are not part of the Church, and neither should they be called a Church.

The news sources have a field day when every building they see where people gather is called a church when this is not true.

If we are not the brothers and sisters of the Lord Jesus Christ, then we are not part of the Church!

If we are not in unity with the Word of God, we are not part of the Church!

True brothers and sisters in Christ have a deep rich bond and relationship when that bond is with Jesus Christ.

We should be clear when we attack the preacher who preaches the truth of Jesus Christ, and then we have given up our privileges in the Church.

It is the Word of God, the entire Word of God, from a legitimate translation of the original Scriptures, that the Church is based upon and there are no additions, and it cannot be modernized because if God gave a new Word today it would be a replica of the Word, He has already given to us.

There are no errors in the true Word of God!

The Word of God is true in every generation and the Word of God will be here when most all the world is gone.

The Word of God is alive.

1Pe 2:9 But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light:
1Pe 2:10 Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.

A true Christian will defend every other Christian and come to the aid of brothers and sisters when they are attacked when they are declaring the truth of God.

And then came Grace.

*Gal 1:3 Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,

To be sure there would be no Church and no believers without there being first the Grace of God!

Act_20:24 But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

2Co_13:14 The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Ghost, be with you all. Amen.

This verse perfectly describes the true Christian!

It is Grace that is the gift of God!

Eph_2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:

Tit_2:11 For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men,

It is the Lord Jesus Christ who is the person who came by Grace, He is the living picture of God’s grace!

It is because of the Grace of God that we can find peace in this world!

Eph 2:5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
Eph 2:6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:

Act 15:11 But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.

There should be no doubt that we are saved by the “Grace of God”!

That grace comes to us in the form of the Lord Jesus Christ!

*Gal 1:4 Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father:
Gal 1:5 To whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Here is another place where we can see the will of God!

It is the Will of God that we be delivered from this present evil world.

It is the will of God that we are delivered from sin, and this was done by the sacrifice of the Son of God, the Lord Jesus, God’s Messiah.

We cannot talk about being pardoned without mentioning the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
We cannot talk about justification without mentioning the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
We cannot talk about the acceptance of God without mentioning the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
We cannot talk about eternal life without mentioning the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
We cannot talk about salvation without mentioning the atoning death of Jesus Christ.
We cannot talk about God’s “Grace” without mentioning the atoning death of Jesus Christ!

Our salvation depends upon the voluntary act of Jesus, our blessed Lord, to “reconcile” His Heavenly Father to us and to be a sacrifice, not only for our guilt but also for all the actual sins of all mankind.

Oh, What a Savior!

The Father gave a Son. The Son gave Himself!

The Lord Jesus did not merely denounce our sins, this would have been a mockery, Moses and all the Prophets had already done this.

His death was for our sins!

This was the Job of Paul and every preacher since Paul, to explain the difference!

Many have failed to make this clear.

The Lord Jesus had the power to die for our sins and He had the power to resurrect from that death.

The Lord Jesus gave Himself for us because we needed to be washed in his blood!

Rom 3:24 Being justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus:
Rom 3:25 Whom God hath set forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God;

To God be the Glory forever and ever. Amen

When the world looks up to that glorious nighttime sky, most of them take no notice of it because they believe it happened by accident, but if you really look, you have to see the Glory of God.

God the Father does little things all the time and He always has, but they go unnoticed, but when God the Father does something big, He wants all the world to take notice.

God wanted all the world to see the truth of His Son Jesus!

Our Heavenly Father did these things that He might deliver us from sin and this present evil world!

The world was evil in the days of Jesus, and it has gotten very much worse today, but for those who believe in the truth of God, our sins have been paid for we are sin-free.

Paul said all these things to cause these churches at Galatia to remember that they were saved by the Gospel of Jesus Christ and that there is no other gospel, period.

*Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
Gal 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

When we need to be praising God, we see America going against the Word of God because people have forgotten the truth of God which says we are to “love one another”.

What is wrong with America?

2Ti 3:3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,
2Ti 3:4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;
2Ti 3:5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

Before we get to verse six, we see that Paul has presented the truth of the Gospel in the previous verses.

We just cannot afford to allow false teachers into the Church!

There is no other Gospel than the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ!

When any church departs from the faith, they are no longer a church, they are just a group of people gathering together for no means except to fall into Satan’s trap!

After learning the truth of the gospel by the grace of God, Judaizers had come and given them a false gospel which was not the Gospel.

God loves us so much that He has provided a way for us to become righteous and acceptable to Him and this is the only way.

There will never be another way to get to Heaven than going through the Lord Jesus Christ and there are still thousands of people who think there is another way.

This is the only way God has shown His love to us where it is meaningful.

We cannot be justified in any other way than by the grace of God than comes by the Lord Jesus Christ

God will still love us when He sends us to Hell, but He has to judge sin!

Martin Luther said, “From Christ who called you in grace”.

Grace is the Lord’s free and unmerited favor and goodness, as opposed to all notions of salvation by moral or ceremonial righteousness.

The person who turns away from the Gospel is not turning away from a set of beliefs or principles, nor a church.

That person has turned away from God who sent His love to that person.

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.
John 3:17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved.
John 3:18 He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.

We cannot throw away this scripture and then say we are saved!

*Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.
Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

Sometimes that false teacher only has to add a little addition or leave out a little truth and it becomes a false Gospel.

It is the same as some teacher intentionally subtracting a truth of the Gospel.

Col 2:8 Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after Christ.

I think this is the teaching that is going on in many so-called churches today.

It is evident what God feels about these teachers, they will be accursed.

Accursed means separated from the will of God who they are separated from, and suffering even more than the Lost on “Judgment Day”!

You have to ask yourself why anyone would do such a thing, and the only answer is the Devil.

2Co_11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.

Anyone preaching a false Gospel is one of Satan’s demons or Satan himself.

We must understand that the “Gospel” is more important than the Apostle Paul even though the Apostle Paul was probably the greatest Christian who has ever lived.

The “Gospel” is greater than all the angels in Heaven. Even if an angel came from Heaven and preached another Gospel, we would have to reject him.

The “Gospel” is greater than any man who has walked upon this earth and any man who does so in the future.
The truth of the “Gospel” is settled and cannot be changed here or in Heaven!

The preachers of any false gospel are doubly cursed. This means they will be sent to the hottest part of Hell!

*Gal 1:10 For do I now persuade men or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

The Judaizers came into the churches of Galatia suggesting that Paul preached only one side of the Gospel and there was room for their false preaching, which was the Laws of Moses.

This is the same thing going on today where the false church is told that there is more than one way to get to Heaven.

Paul taught that there is no Gospel other than what they had heard from him, which is the truth.

There can only be one truth!

These are the same questions we ask ourselves today!

We should ask ourselves; “What has been the effect of the Gospel on my life”?

“Have I been redeemed” out of this world, a world that will pass away, into a place that is supposed to be the grandest of all places?

Do I live according to the will of my Heavenly Father?

Paul asked himself if he was to satisfy men or to satisfy God.

Paul came to the conclusion that if he indeed pleased men who had not heard the Gospel then he would not be a servant of Jesus Christ.

We can learn so much from the actions of the Apostle Paul!

John and Peter came to the same conclusion.

Act 4:19 But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.
Act 4:20 For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

1Th 2:4 But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts.

It is the same with our own Pastor Preacher Sam.

It is His job to preach the truth of the Gospel even if we do not like the message!

We must understand that the Gospel has some hard truths.

The Lord Jesus asks us to put our faith in a man we have never seen who claims to be God when the world at that time killed because they said He was a fake.

Jesus asks us to believe in a place that we cannot even imagine the glory of.

Paul wrote to the Corinthians;

1Co 13:9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part.
1Co 13:10 But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.
1Co 13:11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.
1Co 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.
1Co 13:13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

Which is a love greater than just being affectionate, it is closer God’s love

I do not believe Paul was a self-made man of God,
I do not believe that Paul used the Gospel as a way for an income.

I do believe Paul sought to please God and not man.
I do believe Paul proclaimed the true Gospel.
I do believe that Paul had a radical change of life.

Our goal must be to be more like Jesus, and this begins just as soon as we accept Him as our Savior.

Php_3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

What is the Gospel truth?

1Pe 1:18 Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;
1Pe 1:19 But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:
1Pe 1:20 Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifest in these last times for you,
1Pe 1:21 Who by him do believe in God, that raised him up from the dead, and gave him glory; that your faith and hope might be in God.

So, it boils down to faith!

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

Paul admitted that once he was a man-pleaser, a time when he sought the approval of man for his actions.

Paul now said because the Gospel had changed him, he no longer sought the approval of man but the approval of God.

Paul said honor, position, and wealth were no longer important to him.

Paul now wanted one thing and one thing only: the favor and the approval of God!

2Co_5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

Amen

The Gift of The Holy Spirit

March 29, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Gift Of The Spirit

Galatians 3:1-9

Even today there is much confusion about the gift of the Holy Spirit. There are many in in the Church that see the Holy Spirit “as only an influence” flowing from our Father in Heaven.

This cannot be true because the Holy Spirit is a person and not some imaginary influence!

The teaching of the Book of Galatians is the fact that each of us can only be justified by “Faith”!

The first step in salvation is to trust the Word of God!

Every man, woman, and child, is to live a moral life according to the Word of God but this is not the means of being “Justified” before an already righteous God.

There is no one that has ever lived, beside Jesus Christ, who has been good enough, or kept enough of God’s Laws to become perfect and acceptable before God.

Our God is perfect and there is absolutely nothing that we can do of ourselves to make us perfect in the eyes of God!

If we are to be perfect then it must be a gift that only God can give to each of us!

The deity of the Holy Spirit is bound up in the Doctrine of the Holy Trinity, The Father, The Son and The Holy Spirit.

To deny the existence of just one of them is deny the existence of them all!

Then how is it that we can please God?

Heb 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

What is the proof of “Justification”? The actual indwelling of the Holy Spirit!

Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.
Rom 8:9 But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, “if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you”. Now “if any man have not the Spirit of Christ”, he is none of his.
Rom 8:10 And if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; but the Spirit is life because of righteousness.
Rom 8:11 But if “the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you”, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies “by his Spirit that dwelleth in you”.

All the members of the Holy Trinity are mention in this passage:

1) The Spirit of God dwells in you.
2) The Spirit of Christ dwells in you.
3) The Spirit of Him, (the Father) that raised up Jesus from the dead, dwells in you.

To deny any part of the Holy Trinity is to deny “Justification” as an act of God.
To deny any part of the Holy Trinity is to deny “Salvation”.
To deny any part of the Holy Trinity is to deny “Eternal Life”.

Eternal Life is an attribute of the Holy Trinity and the purpose of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit!

Tit 3:5 Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;
Tit 3:6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour;
Tit 3:7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life.

Now we can be foolish like these Galatians had become, or we can accept the truth of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Until we have had an actual “Spiritual” experience with Jesus Christ our hope for salvation will be built upon the false doctrine of works!

So what is “Spiritual” ignorance?

*****Gal 3:1 O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

What are the facts? Anyone who has the the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within them, should quickly see that it is impossible to be justified by any sort of works or rituals!

Therefore false doctrine will make every believer of that false doctrine to act foolish!

The word foolish in this verse means sensual.

Sensual means pertaining to the senses. The six senses attributed to the human being are these.

Seeing, hearing, tasting, smelling, touching, and perception.

God says when we only depend on our senses in this life we are foolish.

1Co 2:14 But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.

Rom 8:7 Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be.
Rom 8:8 So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God.

It is impossible to please God when we only depend on our senses, because it takes “Faith”!

We will never make sense of the Word of God without “Spiritual discernment” and we will always be subject to false doctrine!

False doctrine is deceiving because it may sound reasonable or even logical.

It will seem reasonable to keep religious rituals to obtain salvation.
It will seem reasonable to think we must do good works to obtain salvation.
It may seem logical that we must keep the law in order to please God, but we can only please God after we have accepted His Son by Faith.

The fact is that all these things go against the “Gospel Message”!

In fact it is illogical to believe that a righteous God would accept any of us under any circumstances!

In order to trust in a false doctrine of works, then we must just toss out the truth of the Word of God!

If we spend our life trying to be acceptable to God then we are doomed to failure!

We can do only one thing to be acceptable to God, we must trust in the work of the Lord Jesus Christ!

Joh 14:6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
Joh 14:7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

False doctrine will always lead us away from Jesus Christ!

The Apostle Paul had preached the death, the burial, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ with such accuracy, that it was if they had been eyewitnesses of all these things.

These things were much more than a historical fact!

These things were done in the power of God and could not be disproved!

What are the facts? These false things still happen today because the world still rejects the truth of Jesus Christ!

Eph 4:14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;
Eph 4:15 But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
Eph 4:16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.

When Jesus Christ is not the Head of the Church, then the Church will act according to human senses and will fall prey to all the false things that are taught in this world today.

The Church cannot be as effective today because Christians are not committed to the “Gospel” of Jesus Christ and non-believers are searching for their answers elsewhere!

The Church no longer has the power of the Holy Spirit because the Church has forgotten how to receive the Holy Spirit!

*****Gal 3:2 This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

It’s called Faith!

It is a fact that your are not a Christian until you become a Temple for the Holy Spirit!

Eph 1:13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
Eph 1:14 Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

Even the Angels do not receive such a gift as the Holy Spirit!

1Pe 1:10 Of which salvation the prophets have enquired and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace that should come unto you:
1Pe 1:11 Searching what, or what manner of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow.
1Pe 1:12 Unto whom it was revealed, that not unto themselves, but unto us they did minister the things, which are now reported unto you by them that have preached the gospel unto you with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven; which things the angels desire to look into.

The question we should ask our own selves is just when did we receive the Holy Spirit.

This is the question the Apostle Paul was asking these Galatians.

Was it by keeping some law or by believing the truth of Jesus Christ?

Every true believer understands this question!

Every true believer understands that it is by “Faith” in the “Faithful Son of God”, Jesus Christ, that is the only means of receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And we can say Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost and the Holy Spirit are One and the Same!

The gift of the Holy Spirit comes when “Faith” gives a response to the preaching of the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ” which is the “Gospel of Grace”!

We must believe the “Good News” that Jesus Christ came to this Earth and died in payment for our sins!

Each believer understands that he is not righteous but our Father in Heaven counts us righteous through the righteousness of His Son.

Rom 10:14 How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?
Rom 10:15 And how shall they preach, except they be sent? as it is written, How beautiful are the feet of them that preach the gospel of peace, and bring glad tidings of good things!
Rom 10:16 But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
Rom 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.

Then and only then will the Holy Spirit come to live in the heart of the believer.

This is how we are saved today and this is how these Galatians were saved!

The Holy Spirit is the gift of God!

The Holy Spirit is given, the Holy Spirit cannot be earned!

Joh 14:16 And I will pray the Father, and “he shall give you another Comforter”, that he may abide with you for ever;
Joh 14:17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.

The facts are, that God need to look no further than the heart to see if we are what we say we are!

We can only receive the Holy Spirit by our Faith!

And we can only have Spiritual growth by the that same Faith!

*****Gal 3:3 Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?

We cannot begin our Christian life without the Holy Spirit and we cannot become spiritually mature by focusing on our own flesh or our own works, good or bad!

No one can begin their journey with God until they truly believe on the Lord Jesus Christ!

Joh 3:3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

No one can continue their journey with the Lord unless they are renewed daily by the Holy Spirit!

This is why true Christians will not renounce their beliefs for some unrealistic, imaginary, and false religion!

The Holy Spirit knows only one direction and He will always lead us to Jesus Christ!

Joh 15:26 But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, “he shall testify of me”:

It is the work of the Holy Spirit to bring us into a greater knowledge of our God.

2Co 10:5 Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
2Co 10:6 And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.

Without the Holy Spirit we cannot conform to the image of Jesus Christ.

Rom 8:29 For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.

Without conforming to the image of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, we cannot be accepted by God.

Php 3:20 For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ:
Php 3:21 Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself.

Our conversation should be of Heaven because we have become citizens of Heaven and just Ambassadors here on Earth.

2Co 5:19 To wit, that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the word of reconciliation.
2Co 5:20 Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ’s stead, be ye reconciled to God.
2Co 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

Once being accepted into the family of God, then will come ridicule and abuse from this world we live in!

*****Gal 3:4 Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain.

Anyone that believes Christians have an easy life are fools. This world we live in hates Christians!

Joh 15:18 If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you.
Joh 15:19 If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.
Joh 15:20 Remember the word that I said unto you, The servant is not greater than his lord. If they have persecuted me, they will also persecute you; if they have kept my saying, they will keep yours also.

These same Galatians had also suffered persecution just because they had accepted the Lord Jesus Christ:

In Iconium.

Act 14:1 And it came to pass in Iconium, that they went both together into the synagogue of the Jews, and so spake, that a great multitude both of the Jews and also of the Greeks believed.
Act 14:2 But the unbelieving Jews stirred up the Gentiles, and made their minds evil affected against the brethren.

In Lystra.

Act 14:19 And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people, and, having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead.

In Derbe.

Act 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.

It is a fact that we are going to suffer just because we say we are Christians and if we just give up or just give in, we will have suffered in vain!

What are the facts?

1) We will be separated from this world.
2) We will have to deny ourself.
3) We will need to take up our own cross daily, which is dying to our own will and our old ways.
4) We must give of ourselves to the work of the Lord.

Jesus said:

Mat 5:11 Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake.
Mat 5:12 Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.

It will be very hard to rejoice during persecution but the rewards are far better than any life we have now!

Those that preach a prosperity gospel stray from the truth!

It is only by “Faith” that God will work in our lives!

*****Gal 3:5 He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

First, a Spiritual gift is not the same as a natural talent. There could be some relationship but a natural talent is an ability that a person may have had and developed from the time of their birth.

But a Spiritual gift is given supernaturally by God at the very moment the Holy Spirit indwells the believer!

Many of these Galatians had actually witnessed a miracle of healing by the Apostle Paul.

Act 14:8 And there sat a certain man at Lystra, impotent in his feet, being a cripple from his mother’s womb, who never had walked:
Act 14:9 The same heard Paul speak: who stedfastly beholding him, and perceiving that he had faith to be healed,
Act 14:10 Said with a loud voice, Stand upright on thy feet. And he leaped and walked.

This miracle did not come about by some law. In fact these Galatians immediately knew this miracle took place by the actions of a god.

Act 14:12 And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; and Paul, Mercurius, because he was the chief speaker.

They had not yet met Jehovah God.

Act 14:14 Which when the apostles, Barnabas and Paul, heard of, they rent their clothes, and ran in among the people, crying out,
Act 14:15 And saying, Sirs, why do ye these things? We also are men of like passions with you, and preach unto you that ye should turn from these vanities unto the living God, which made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all things that are therein:

It was not any of these Galatians who has caused this miracle to take place.

It was not any law that had caused this miracle to happen.

These Galatians had just heard the ministry of the Gospel from the Apostle Paul and “by their own faith”, they had believed and by their “Faith” they had been saved.

God worked miracles among them because of their “Faith”.

Without “Faith” there would have been no miracles!

Even Jesus did not many miracles around unbelievers:

Mat 13:57 And they were offended in him. But Jesus said unto them, A prophet is not without honour, save in his own country, and in his own house.
Mat 13:58 And “he did not many mighty works there because of their unbelief”.

Without the Holy Spirit there would have been no miracles at all!

1Co 12:4 Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.

1Co 12:11 But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.

And there could be no gifts of the Holy Spirit without the “Grace of God”!

Rom 12:6 Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us, whether prophecy, let us prophesy according to the proportion of faith;
Rom 12:7 Or ministry, let us wait on our ministering: or he that teacheth, on teaching;
Rom 12:8 Or he that exhorteth, on exhortation: he that giveth, let him do it with simplicity; he that ruleth, with diligence; he that sheweth mercy, with cheerfulness.

The Apostle Paul clearly understood that he had no power beyond what the Holy Spirit allowed him to have!

2Co 12:12 Truly the signs of an apostle were wrought among you in all patience, in signs, and wonders, and mighty deeds.

These Galatians had heard the “Gospel Message”.

They had witnessed the Power of God by His Holy Spirit.

They had believed in the power of “Faith” in Christ Jesus.

And none of these things had taken place because of some written laws.

By “Faith”, and by the gift of the Holy Spirit, God had provided their needs!

How does God lay the foundation for each group of believers?

God will always do these things:

Eph 4:11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
Eph 4:12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:
Eph 4:13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

There are no laws that can cause these things to happen!

God’s Power Comes By Faith!

*****Gal 3:6 Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Gal 3:7 Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.

We can be sure that Abraham held a unique position for the Jewish people. In fact Abraham is revered not only by the Jews by most all the the Arab nations.

This may not hold true for Iran because most of Iran is of Persian descent.

Abraham was hand selected by God to be His witness to all the nations that existed in his day!

Gen 12:1 Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father’s house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
Gen 12:2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
Gen 12:3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

**What was God’s promise to Abraham?

1) Abraham would become the father of a new nation, that would be Israel.

2) All nations on this Earth would be blessed by his seed, and that seed would be Jesus Christ.

Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness!

Heb 11:8 By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went.

Abraham took God at His Word and trusted God!

**What is the truth?

1) Abraham did not keep some law to please God!

The Laws of Moses would not be written for another 430 years.

2) Abraham and “his seed” were the only ones to whom God gave these promises!

Gal 3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.
Gal 3:29 And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.

3) Only a promise was given to Abraham. No other information was given to him!

God just said to Abraham “Go”. God did not even give Abraham any directions.

4) Only one condition was attached to the promises given to Abraham.

Abraham had to believe God!

There were no works involved!

There were no laws involved!

5) What did Abraham do?

Gen 12:4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

If Abraham had not believed God, he would never have left his home and all his family.

“Faith” came first!

God did not count Abraham righteous for anything that he had done.

God did not count Abraham righteous because of who he was.

God did count Abraham righteous simply because he believed what God had said!

It is only by “Faith” that we can be called the children of Abraham, it has nothing to do with our own bloodline, we must be in Christ Jesus’ bloodline!

It is only by “Faith” that God’s promises are fulfilled!

Heb 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: “for he hath prepared for them a city”.

2Pe 3:13 Nevertheless “we, according to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth”, wherein dwelleth righteousness.

God will only justify us by our own Faith!

*****Gal 3:8 And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed.
Gal 3:9 So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham.

The Apostle Paul realized that the Word of God was to be taken as the actual “Voice of God” as it is!

Most of the World laughs at these things but that does not make them any less true!

When we go as far back as the Book of Genesis we can see that God has always had only one message, the “Gospel of Faith”!

God has always had only one way of “justification”, and that is by Faith!

And it was by the “Faith of Abraham” that the promise was made.

And that Promise was that “In Thee Shall All Nations Be Blessed”!

What did Abraham do?

1) Abraham separated himself from the world.

What does God teach the Church?

2Co 6:17 Wherefore come out from among them, and be ye separate, saith the Lord, and touch not the unclean thing; and I will receive you,
2Co 6:18 And will be a Father unto you, and ye shall be my sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty.

2) Abraham gave his life totally to God.

What does God teach the Church?

Joh 14:23 Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him.

3) Therefore God accepted Abraham and judged Abraham to be righteous.

What does God teach the Church?

Rom 4:16 Therefore it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed; not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham; who is the father of us all,
Rom 4:17 (As it is written, I have made thee a father of many nations,) before him whom he believed, even God, who quickeneth the dead, and calleth those things which be not as though they were.

Abraham believed God and God took Abraham’s belief and counted it as righteousness!

This was an act of God and Abraham’s one item of work, his one contribution to his righteousness, was his “Faith”!

This is all our example because mankind can only be saved by “Faith”!

On what was Abraham to base his “Faith”?

God promised Abraham an earthly son and a great nation.

Isaac was born to Abraham, his only son by Sarah, and Isaac was the bloodline of the Jewish nation.

Rom 9:7 Neither, because they are the seed of Abraham, are they all children: but, In Isaac shall thy seed be called.

BUT, the fact remains that God’s promise did not point to a great nation or a great crowd of people but to a single person and that person is Jesus Christ!

It was the Lord Jesus Christ that was the fulfillment of the promise to Abraham!

Eph 1:9 Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
Eph 1:10 That in the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in him:

And that great nation would be a great nation of believers by “Faith” in the promises of God!

Eph 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:

So then all which are of “Faith” can be blessed with a faithful Abraham!

Heb 11:39 And these all, having obtained a good report through faith, received not the promise:
Heb 11:40 God having provided some better thing for us, that they without us should not be made perfect.

Even Abraham is still waiting on all of us to be perfected together in the New Heaven!

If we are not willing to have the “Faith” of Abraham, how can we even think we can be saved?

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

The Gospel Message Is Unique

March 1, 2015 / Bobby Mayfield / Leave a comment

The Uniqueness Of The Gospel

Book of Galatians 1:6-12

The word unique means a thing unparalleled, or one of a kind. A thing that has no equal, and is unmatched in it’s kind and in it’s excellence.

Uniqueness is the quality of being unique!

What is pluralism? Pluralism is a worldview that says one’s religion is not the sole and exclusive source of truth, and thus the acknowledgement that at least some truths and true values exist in other religions.

What is humanism? Humanism is a worldview that emphasizes reason, scientific inquiry, and human fulfillment in the natural world and rejects the importance of a belief in God.

Humanism is the world of the Atheist. The Atheist say that there is no God or that there is no such thing as a Supreme being.

Humanism is the world of the Agnostic. The Agnostic says we live in a world that cannot know that a God exist. Their belief is based on an assumption that for something to exist it must be scientifically verifiable. Since God cannot be proven by known science, then God cannot be discussed as an option for life.

Evolution is based on Humanism which says that there is no God and then they seek to explain away Creation by the design of our Supernatural God by using false science. Science by definition is based on facts and Evolutionists have no facts to prove their false science!

The Bible describes all these people as lost!

Eph 2:12 That at that time ye were without Christ, being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise, having no hope, “and without God in the world”:

These are Gentiles that do not know God!

1Th 4:5 Not in the lust of concupiscence, “even as the Gentiles which know not God”:

As Christians we know that we may all have fit into these categories at one time.

Paul informed these Galatians that even if you do not believe in God you are still serving a false god!

Gal 4:8 Howbeit then, when ye knew not God, “ye did service unto them which by nature are no gods”.

Polytheism says that there are many gods.

Pantheism says that everything can be a God and God can be everything. God is all and all is God!

Deism is a belief that there may be a God but He cannot be personal and He will not relate to mankind and mankind cannot relate to Him. Deist may acknowledge a god but they deny a sovereign God of any religion!

God says:

Pro 16:25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

So, how does God respond to all these things? King David was inspired by the Holy Spirit to give us the answer.

Psa 19:1 To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David. The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.
Psa 19:2 Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.
Psa 19:3 There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.
Psa 19:4 Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,
Psa 19:5 Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.
Psa 19:6 His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

The greatest lie that is told today is, that there is truth in all religions and it does not matter which religion you choose to believe, as long as you believe something good.

It is taught that there are many roads to Heaven and the only choice you need to make is to get on one of those many roads.

This is pleasant sounding and this false thing is used by many governments and many false religions in order to try to appease it’s people but this is all a lie!

This is totally false and no false thing can be of the truth!

In the words of Jesus, He said now is the time for the truth!

Joh 4:23 But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.

And Jesus also said it is only the truth that can make you free!

Joh 8:32 And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall “make” you free.

And Jesus said that it is the Word of God that is true!

Joh 17:17 Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.

If the Word of God is true then all others are false according to the Word of God!

And the Apostle Paul added:

2Co 13:8 For we can do nothing against the truth, but for the truth.

What is the truth?

1Ti 2:5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;
1Ti 2:6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

What is the truth?

There is absolutely nothing in these two verses that cannot be easily understood!

When we are bombarded everyday by the teachings of this world, we can sometimes drift from the truth of the Word of God but there is only one “Gospel”.

There is only one source of “Good News” for this world we live in!

And there is only one Judgment!

When we stand before God and we will all stand before God, “and every knee will bow before our Holy God”, we will have to give an account of our relationship to the truth of God!

It is our eternal living soul that hangs in the balance!

Mar 8:36 For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?
Mar 8:37 Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?

So lets begin:

*****Gal 1:6 I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:

In many of Paul’s letters it would be at the time of his introduction that he would brag about the faith of the believers, but not this day.

Not only was the apostleship of Paul at stake, the life of the early church was at stake and the precious souls that the Lord Jesus Christ had died for, were all at stake!

It is God’s “Gospel”, that must be obeyed, preached, taught, and it alone!

Even before God’s first breath of creation God knew the outcome, so God’s plan all along was to save us by Jesus Christ!

Paul was astonished at how easily these “Babes in Christ” had been so quickly led astray by false doctrine.

We sometimes forget that Satan does not like to loose to the Lord and he will immediately attack those that have recently trusted in the Lord.

Satan cannot rob them of their salvation but he can make them useless servants of the Lord!

That word “another” means “another of a different kind”.

That means any “Gospel” that is not centered on the “Gospel of Grace” and that “Grace” can come only by Jesus Christ!

Jesus Christ died so that we could be delivered from sin and death and then by this same means have an eternal home with God in the New Heaven and on the New Earth!

What are the facts? When any person surrenders to the truth of Jesus Christ and truly believes that Christ took their sins upon Himself and then died for them, God counts them as sinless as His Son was sinless.

It does not get much simpler than that!

It is not this world that we have to please, it is only our Father in Heaven that we have to please and this is His plan of salvation!

God does not need my help to save me and God does not need my help to keep me saved, God just needs me to believe and trust in the work of His dear Son. That’s why it is called “Faith”!

How do we become acceptable to God? There is only one way!

We must look to the Lamb of God!

Joh 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world”.

What was Paul’s message?

It is the “Gospel of Jesus Christ” that must be protected from all those that would pervert the Word of God!

Men of a false gospel had come into the newly formed churches of Galatia and had preached their false doctrine and this brought confusion to people who did not have a Bible but only the “Gospel” as preached by the Apostle Paul and those who traveled with him.

As we follow the “Gospel of Grace” we must be very aware that there will always be those who just cannot accept the simplicity of salvation by Jesus Christ.

It is this verse 6 that gives us the purpose that Paul wrote this Holy Ghost inspired Book to the Galatians.

We already know that the other Apostles were preaching the same “Gospel” as Paul because there is no other “Gospel” by which we can be saved!

*****Gal 1:7 Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.

In verse 6 the Greek word “heteros” was translated into our English word “another” which meant another of a different kind.

Now in verse 7 we see the Greek word “allos” is translated into our English word “another” but it has a slightly different meaning of “another of the same kind”.

In other words the so-called gospel of these false teachers and preachers did not just have minor variations that can be seen throughout Christianity but the message that they had was altogether opposite of the “Gospel of Grace” which is a “gospel of works”.

The Apostle Paul was giving a strict warning to these Galatian Christians and we must also give a strict warning today!

God had these words in the Book of Revelation.

We have been warned not to alter or pervert the Word of God in any way!

Any person that turns away from the “Gospel of Grace” is turning away from God Himself!

You see it is not some preacher or teacher that leads us into salvation, it is God Himself who sends us His Holy Spirit to bring us under conviction and then leads us to Jesus Christ.

When we turn away from God’s message we are rejecting the “Love of God”!

We must remain grounded in the “Love of God”!

Eph 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love,
Eph 3:18 May be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth, and length, and depth, and height;
Eph 3:19 And to know the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God.

There is no other place to turn when the “Gospel of Grace” is rejected!

We should be more like Peter. Peter was just a fisherman but even Peter realized that there is no other place to turn but to Christ Jesus!

Joh 6:65 And he said, Therefore said I unto you, that no man can come unto me, except it were given unto him of my Father.
Joh 6:66 From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him.
Joh 6:67 Then said Jesus unto the twelve, Will ye also go away?
Joh 6:68 Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.

It is only the Lord Jesus Christ who spoke the Words of eternal life!

It is only the message of Jesus Christ that can get us into God’s New Heaven!

There may be many who teach and preach in this world “but there is only one message of truth”!

Jesus said:

Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits.

And the Apostle Paul cautioned all believers as we see in the Book of Hebrews:

Heb 13:9 Be not carried about with divers and strange doctrines. For it is a good thing that the heart be established with grace; not with meats, which have not profited them that have been occupied therein.

And we must caution each other, and teach each other and all our children and all our friends to avoid any message other than the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Gospel of Grace”, for anything else is just a lie of Satan!

*****Gal 1:8 But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

***What are the facts? We have a God who because He is God, absolutely cannot contradict Himself!

That word “accursed” means to excommunicated, doomed, damned, cast into Hell!

We can see that God is very serious about the truth of the “Gospel”!

Without the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Gospel of Grace” no person can be saved from the wages of death! No person could be reconciled to God! No person could have eternal and everlasting “life”!

The Apostle Paul may have been the most committed servant of God that has ever lived, but if Paul had deviated even one time from the message of the “Gospel of Grace”, he would have been accursed and he knew this!

Paul said no matter how much you care for me, if I return to you preaching some other gospel than the “Gospel of Grace”, I will be condemned to Hell!

The “Gospel” is much greater than the Apostle Paul!

***The “Gospel” is much greater than any Angel!

Though an Angel come from Heaven but preached not the “Gospel of Grace” even that Angel would be doomed to an eternal and everlasting Hell.

We already know that God will actually send an Angel from Heaven, after the “Rapture” of the Church and during the seven year Tribulation Period but that Angel will preach the same “Gospel” as the Apostle Paul.

Rev 14:6 And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,
Rev 14:7 Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to him; for the hour of his judgment is come: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.

There is only one “Everlasting Gospel”!

We can see that the”Gospel of Grace” also includes the truth of Creation by the Design of God as well as the “Death, the Burial, and the Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ”!

Col 1:15 Who is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
Col 1:16 For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
Col 1:17 And he is before all things, and by him all things consist.

It is also during the Tribulation Period that the false prophet will come forth with his message of a false gospel as he does today.

2Co 11:13 For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
2Co 11:14 And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
2Co 11:15 Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.

We just cannot allow ourselves to get caught up in the false message that is taught today in our world!

We must the Word of God literal!

There is still only one way for salvation!

Eph 2:8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.

And this warning is worth repeating, over and over again!

*****Gal 1:9 As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed.

If the “Gospel” is greater than God’s hand selected Apostles, and greater than God’s most powerful Angels, then the Gospel is far greater than any man and anything that man says!

Any preacher or teacher that preaches or teaches a “Gospel” other than the “Gospel of Grace” will be doubly cursed!

I can think of some mighty big names that I will not mention who have changed their message to be inclusive of many routes to Heaven and have accepted humanism and have accepted evolution or some part of evolution and these scriptures tell us of their terrible ending.

Jesus told His disciples:

Mat 7:15 Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.
Mat 7:16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

Mat 7:19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

We should not judge the growth of our Church by it’s size or by it’s numbers. We should judge the growth of our Church by the fruit of the believers, that is produced from the truth of the “Gospel of Grace” the “Gospel of God”!

The “Gospel of God” is a life or death message and therefore the most important message that can be taught in this world we live in!

*****Gal 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.

Not only was Paul accused of being a false Apostle.

Not only was Paul accused of preaching and teaching a false gospel.

Paul was also accused of being a people pleaser.

Paul was accused of using his ministry only for his own livelihood.

Paul was accused of living a life of deception.

Paul was accused of using the “Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ” to satisfy his own personal greed!

How did Paul respond to these accusations?

That word “now” tells us that Paul said there was a time he was guilty of all these things.

Paul was saying, there was a time when he was so zealous of God that he tried to please men instead of God.

This was when Paul served the High Priest and the Sanhedrin Court.

Paul was saying, there was a time when was seeking his own glory and profited greatly in the Jewish religion.

Paul was saying, yes at one time he was a man-pleaser but that time “was not now”!

And Paul fired back: Am I “now” seeking to please men? No!

Am I “now” seeking to please God? Yes!

Paul said: “for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ”

What is the one thing that God has given to every human being that sometimes gets us in the most trouble?

THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE!

Paul had made his choice to serve the Lord Jesus Christ!

We cannot serve the Lord Jesus Christ and at the same time serve any man!

The act of choice means we have to decide between one or the other!

Jesus Christ had these words for each of us.

Joh 12:26 If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour.

We must become a slave to the Lord Jesus Christ!

God’s “Grace” is free and unconditional but we must still make a “Choice” and that “choice” must be to serve the Lord Jesus Christ and not mankind.

There were still those that said Paul could not be a true Apostle of the Lord so Paul added these words.

*****Gal 1:11 But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.
Gal 1:12 For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ.

It is certainly true that Paul had not followed the Lord Jesus when He was upon this Earth.

The same can be said for each of us also!

Paul’s critics said that Paul’s “gospel” was then man-made.

Still in our day the lamest excuse that is most offered is when the lost say the Bible was written by men and therefore just man’s words.

The Apostle Paul uses that word “certify”.

Paul said “I want you to clearly understand the Gospel I preach is not of me or any other man”

That word “Gospel” means “good news”, not “good works”, not “good advice”.

The “Gospel” is the “good news” of the person and the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, with the forgiveness and the salvation that only He can provide!

The “Gospel” is not some improved information about some Divine Laws which must be kept in order to be reconciled with God!

The Word of God is not man-made!

2Ti 3:16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:
2Ti 3:17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

***The “Gospel” was not handed down to Paul, like some tradition.

2Ti 1:10 But is now made manifest by the appearing of our Saviour Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light through the gospel:

**The “Gospel” was not learned by Paul, from some educational institute.

**The “Gospel” was not taught to Paul by some other man.

Eph 3:3 How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words,
Eph 3:4 Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)
Eph 3:5 Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit;
Eph 3:6 That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
Eph 3:7 Whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power.
Eph 3:8 Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ;
Eph 3:9 And to make all men see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in God, who created all things by Jesus Christ:

The “Gospel” that Paul preached came by direct revelation from Jesus Christ!

The “Gospel” that Paul preached is not some basis for a new religion!

The “Gospel” of the Lord Jesus Christ as preached and taught by the Apostle Paul is the only basis for salvation in this dark dreary world we live in!

Tit 1:2 In hope of eternal life, which God, that cannot lie, promised before the world began;
Tit 1:3 But hath in due times manifested his word through preaching, which is committed unto me according to the commandment of God our Saviour;

If Jesus Christ is not revealed in our lives than we are not saved and are still bound for a burning Hell!

If you do not know for sure, then it is time to make a choice!

Questions?

Let’s Pray!

LESSONS IN GOD'S WORD

Taking time to read the Bible

The Book of Galatians

Are You Weary in Well Doing

Christians Should Be Walking in the Holy Spirit

Exceeding Great and Precious Promises

Christianity

The Gospel Truth

The Power of God’s Grace

The Gift of The Holy Spirit

The Gospel Message Is Unique

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