Galatians 1:1-19

Well, it's awful, isn't it, when you hear stories of con artists, salesmen, scammers, cold callers, people who prey on the vulnerable and pose as somebody they're not.

! You've got to watch out for that, haven't you? And if that is the case with your bank details, or your online identity, or your passwords and property, how much more important

is it in spiritual things and in your soul? You might know the history a little bit of the book of Galatians, you can read about it in Acts, chapters 13 and 14,

Acts 13 · chapter mention

and Paul, the apostle, he's on his missionary journeys, isn't he? And he tours this region of towns called Galatia. He sets up some churches there, he sets them up and then moves on,

but within a short time in these churches some problems arise. And we're going to look through the whole letter to the Galatians as a kind of new series over the next few weeks,

and we'll see more about what was the matter. But basically, in a nutshell, they have been conned. Spiritual scammers have been sniffing around the front door of the church,

and they've got into the church. Do you see, he says in verse 6, doesn't he, that they've been led to a different gospel from the one that Paul initially gave to them.

And so he's writing this letter to deal with that issue. And in this intro section, I want you to see with me three things.

Firstly, the gravity of the situation that they are in. The gravity of the situation.

As you pick up the letter to the Galatians in the New Testament, some people think that Paul, he's being quite cold, and he's being quite nasty.

He seems quite prickly, as you read through it. He's pretty touchy.

And it's quite unusual. The tone in the letter is quite unusual. It's not the Paul that we're used to listening to.

There's not much politeness. There are no airs and graces. There's not his usual words of gratitude and thanksgiving for the Christians in Galatia,

like there is in Ephesians or Philippians or even in Corinthians.

The tone is really tense. It's serious. It's pained. He cuts to the chase in verse 6, doesn't he?

I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ.

Later in chapter 3, he calls the Galatians fools.

But don't mistake that tone for coldness.

Because some situations require a harder tone of voice, don't they?

Imagine a child running into the road. You're not going to politely ask them to stop, are you?

You're going to shout, stop! And grab them.

His harshness in the letter reflects the gravity of the situation that they are in.

Because, if you look at verse 7, he says,

There are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Our baby, he's called Kit.

And he's three weeks old and he loves drinking his mother's milk.

He's really good at feeding.

But imagine that Emma and I, we go away for the night and we get a babysitter in.

We get one of you lot to come and look after him for the evening.

And we get the milk all set up in the kitchen, lined up, ready for you to feed him.

And it's all sterilised and it's pure.

And it's ready to go.

And all you've got to do is deliver it.

As is.

But when we get home, you say to us,

Thanks for the milk, it was really good.

But I wanted to liven it up a bit.

So I thought I'd add some iron brew to the milk.

Is that alright?

It just needed that fizz factor.

So I've added some Coca-Cola as well.

I've enhanced it.

Just a little bit.

Just a few drops.

Well, we'd be mortified, wouldn't we?

You haven't enhanced it at all.

You've ruined it.

You've changed the milk and you've damaged the child.

And that is what has happened to the Galatians.

Notice how he describes the fake message that they have been duped by.

Verse 8 and verse 9.

He says twice, doesn't it?

It is a gospel that is now contrary.

A gospel contrary to the one that we preached.

Just a little tweak.

Just a little addition.

But it's now totally in opposition to what Paul taught them.

For Paul, that the genuine gospel message of Christianity,

delivered by him originally,

the real McCoy, the good news of Jesus Christ,

is so good and so pure

that if it's tampered with in any way at all,

it is utterly ruined.

And it's utterly contrary to the truth.

It's not just mainly truth, is it?

With a bit of untruth added in.

The whole thing becomes contaminated.

And so you can't tweak the Christian message

for a different audience.

You cannot fine-tune it or perfect it.

It's already perfect.

It's actually beyond the realm of criticism.

And you can't do that without absolutely ruining it.

Without damaging people with it.

It's actually more like putting a bit of bleach

in the baby's milk bottle, isn't it?

For Paul.

And so he's livid.

He is worried.

Very worried about the gravity of the situation.

Of them turning to a modified gospel.

So that's the gravity of the situation.

But secondly, look with me at the guile of the con artists.

The guile, the trickery of the con artists.

He calls them troublemakers, doesn't he, in verse 7.

As we go through the letter over the next few weeks,

we'll see that the particular things that they were adding

to the gospel that Paul gave were to do with the function of God's law.

To get right with God.

Do you know that the message of the Bible has always been

that being right with God

and being in a relationship with him

is a gift that is given and not earned.

You and I can never belong to God

because we obey him.

But we do obey him

because we belong to God

through faith in Jesus Christ alone.

As a gift.

But the troublemakers,

what they're doing is that they're flipping that around.

Yes, there was faith in Jesus Christ

but they wanted to add a little bit more.

Just a little bit of fizz.

It was Jesus plus something else.

And certain religious ceremonial activities

were added in, like circumcision, we'll see.

To be right with God.

And it was very subtle.

Very clever.

The guile of the troublemakers.

It was very attractive.

And we know that

because of the way that Paul describes their message.

And look at that key verse in verse 6 again.

It's really interesting.

What he calls their message,

he calls it a different gospel.

A different gospel.

He says,

I'm going to use that fantastic word

that is loaded with great meaning

to describe what they are doing

but I'm going to use that word

to highlight how clever they are.

It's likely that the troublemakers

were calling themselves Christians.

They preached gospel.

It looked legit.

It looked gospel-like.

They had gospel meetings

and gospel-driven churches.

They led gospel ministries.

Published gospel tracts.

They sang gospel songs.

Read gospel books.

That's the name they used for them anyway.

And the use of that word

that Paul is using there,

he's being a bit sarcastic, isn't he?

Because in verse 7 he says,

well, not that there is another gospel.

But the point is that

what they are doing,

it looks Christian.

It uses gospel language.

Maybe they talked about Jesus Christ

and his church

and the cross

and the resurrection.

All the right words might be there.

If you go to one of their meetings,

there won't be a poster

outside the church door saying,

welcome to the meeting

with visiting heretic,

the reverend such and such,

leader of false gospel ministry.

You're just not going to see it.

And actually what made them more dangerous

was it seemed like

they were advancing the gospel.

It was as if they were being more holy.

It was Jesus plus.

It seemed like they were more faithful.

They were enhancing the gospel message

that Paul gave.

That you've got faith in Christ.

But we want to go one step further.

And we want you to come with us

and do this little ceremony

or this little law.

Paul's got a message, yes,

and we love him for it.

But we've been around

a lot longer than Paul.

And we want you to go further with Jesus.

And it is, isn't it,

how the best con artists work

by making the bad stuff they do

look really good.

That is what the Bible tells us

the devil does.

That he makes himself look like

an angel of light.

So that when he's doing bad things,

when he's adding bleach into the milk,

it looks really good.

We don't have physical persecution

so much, do we, as Christians,

if you are a Christian

living for Jesus in this country.

And we're grateful for that.

That has been done in the past,

hasn't it, in this country.

The devil has used that tactic.

But I don't think he does that

as much in our country, anyway,

at the moment.

But in a way,

what he does is even more dangerous.

Because the devil is trying

to destroy the true gospel

and he does it

under the disguise

of advancing the gospel.

Like the troublemakers,

he poses

as a gospel advancer.

He says,

I'm not going to silence the gospel.

I'm not going to try

and kill Christians off.

I'll just give them

a better gospel.

I'll give them another one.

I'll try and get them

to think of a better gospel.

that there's a whole world

out there

beyond simply trusting

in Jesus Christ.

Whether it's giving money

or taking mass

or not eating chocolate

over Lent

or whatever.

Whatever it is

I can get them to do

that is additional,

whether it's superstition

or merit

or brownie points.

However silly it is,

it doesn't matter.

If I can get them

to think they need more,

that Jesus isn't quite enough,

I can even peddle them

as enhancements

to the gospel,

as Jesus plus,

if I can do that

then actually I can ruin it.

Because Jesus plus anything else

equals nothing actually.

And actually I think

that is the tactic

he's using in many churches today

sadly.

The calm is happening

It is not Islam

or secularism

or atheism

or pluralism

that threatens

the true gospel

most.

It's not these

obvious false messages

but it is the temptation

of a better gospel.

Of Jesus plus

something else.

And so that is the guile

of these false gospel advances.

The gravity of the situation,

the guile

and thirdly

the Galatians gullibility.

The Galatians gullibility.

A friend spoke about

the time he'd been on holiday

to a country

in the Near East

and it was one of these

cities with a fantastic

tourist industry

and he knew that

going there

he had to keep his wits

about him

for pickpockets

and people like that.

At one point

he got lost

trying to find his way

back to the train station

so he asked the local

for directions

and the local man

immediately in Helford

not only to give him

directions

but to lead him

to the train station.

He would take him there.

I know a shortcut

he said

leading him through

the back alleys

and the back streets

until they arrived

at their final destination

which did not look

at all familiar.

There was not a train

or a platform

in sight

and it turned out

to be a shop

that the guide's brother

owned selling rugs

to tourists.

Come in

he said.

He'd been duped.

He'd been conned.

He'd been led

in a different direction

and he was

an experienced

traveller.

He'd gone to this

place knowing

you've got to keep

your wits about you.

He wasn't stupid

but that is why

cons work

isn't it?

Cons work

for people

who think

they're not going

to be conned.

And that is why

this letter

is as relevant

today as it was

then because

as hard as it sounds

for you and me

we are as gullible

as the Galatians

were.

They are in a

grave situation

and we may be

closer to it

than we think.

We are

in as much

risk as they

were

of turning

to a different

gospel

of turning

to a gospel

that supplements

the basics

of faith

in Jesus

with other

stuff.

We are.

we really

are.

And we

won't see

that easily

will we

when we're

in it.

But we're

just as at

risk of

losing why

the good

news of the

gospel is

good news

at all.

Of knowing

that Jesus

death

verse 4

Jesus who

gave himself

for our sins

to deliver

us

is enough

for you to

be free

to enjoy

God

and to

live for

him without

fear.

We are

just as gullible

on this.

Look at

what happened

to them.

They've had

Paul the

great apostle

the great

master theologian.

Look at the

start they've

had as

churches.

The theologian

on grace

and on the

atonement

that look

what they've

done in

verse 6

I'm astonished

that you've

so quickly

deserted

him who

called you

in the

grace of

Christ.

verse 9

we've said

it before

so we

say it

again

it's not

the first

time that

he's warned

them about

this.

This isn't

just a little

blip

it's a

perennial

problem isn't

it?

He knows

how gullible

they are

and how

easy it

is to

veer off

and how

quickly

they've

done that

and those

harsh words

in verse 6

they might

not be

written to

you and

me in

2019

but they

are written

for you

and for

me.

Adding

other things

on to

trusting in

Jesus is

for us

folks a

constant

and easy

and quick

mistake to

make.

I think it

is pretty

safe to say

that I can

almost guarantee

that the

moment we

leave this

building

and even

in this

moment right

now we

are

at risk

of this.

That we

are gullible

we are

susceptible

to the

claim that

the gospel

is about

earning

salvation.

Our idea

of Christianity

is a kind

of performance

related pay

system isn't

it from

God.

We may

say that

Christ is

everything

but deep

down maybe

we live as

if he is

insufficient

and we've

got to top

it up a

little bit

more.

God

and it

can be

doing good

things isn't

it that

is good

to do.

Acts of

social justice

and praying

and fasting

and picking up

litter and

reading the

Bible and

evangelism.

Good things

to do.

But we

forget don't

we so often

that we

don't obey

that we

might earn

and belong

to God

but we

already belong

in Christ

and so

we obey.

So I

can have a

bad week

can't I

and I

can have a

good week

where I've

done lots

of good

stuff

but actually

I'm all

over the

place

and I

kind of

think of

God

as having

this kind

of emotional

wreck

by the end

of it.

And Christian

meetings can

be full of

that too

can't they?

We look at

each other

and we make

comparisons

but if you

start thinking

that that is

the way the

gospel works

you've got a

different gospel.

Jesus plus

anything else

equals nothing

at all

and the gospel

is ruined.

Just as we

close let me

say that these

meetings on a

Tuesday

as you

listen to

God's word

preached maybe

on a Sunday

and in other

meetings

this meeting

on a Tuesday

is probably

the most

dangerous place

that you can

be in Ealing

right now.

As you

come, as

people come

here and

the Bible

is opened

and the

gospel is

spoken out

prayerfully

and faithfully

we are not

infallible

people are

we?

I am not

the Apostle

Paul.

And there

is always a

risk isn't

there?

that the

true gospel

is so

good and

pure

there is

always the

risk that

we could

ruin it

that if we

don't tell

it faithfully

and if we

should ever

tell you

or imply

that you

need more

than faith

in Jesus

actually you'd

be better off

not coming

at all

honestly

you would

be better

off not

coming

if we

ever try

and enhance

the gospel

in that

way

tell us

and then

do not

touch us

with a

barge pole

Paul is

much stronger

than that

isn't he?

Verse 8

verse 9

if anyone

does that

let him

be

accursed

it's the

same idea

being

accursed

the same

idea as

in the

Old Testament

when

people

dropped down

dead

didn't they

when they

went in

the temple

and they

were unclean

or they

touched the

ark of the

covenant

if anyone

does that

let him

drop down

dead

Paul says

even if

it's an

angel from

heaven

even if

it's me

says the

apostle Paul

that is how

grave it is

to add

anything to

Christ

nothing matters

more than the

purity of the

message of

grace

of salvation

being a

gift

so let me

say don't

get taken

in by

the con

and it

can come

in different

ways

can't it

because we

can't easily

see it

happening

in our

context

let us pray

that as we

go through

this letter

we would

recognise

our own

gullibility

when it

comes to

good works

and earning

salvation

and obedience

and to

recognise

those areas

in our lives

where we

battle with

that

where we

get confused

on that

because

Jesus Christ

plus

anything at

all

really is

nothing

let's pray

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