Who are you listening to?

G'day! Thanks for joining the Heights Church podcast today. We hope you enjoy our message.

If you're in the Sydney area, be sure to join us at the Heights Church at Gostom

Road Colonson Heights, Sydney, Australia.

I'm going to be reading from Galatians 1, 1-10. You can find it in your Bibles

or just behind me on the screen.

Paul, an apostle, sent not from men nor by a man, but Jesus Christ and God the

Father, who raised him from the dead, and all the brothers and sisters with me,

to the churches in Galatia, grace and peace to you,

from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, whom gave himself for our sins

to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and

Father, to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

I am astonished that you were so quickly deserting the one who called you to

live in grace, in the grace of the gospel, and are turning to a different gospel,

which is really no gospel at all.

Evidently, some people are throwing

you into confusion and are trying to prevent the gospel of Christ.

But even if we or an

angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than

the one we preached to you let

them be under god's cruel curse as

we have already said so now i say again if anybody is preaching to you a gospel

other than what god that what you have accepted let them be under god's curse

am i am i now trying to win the approval of human beings or of God?

Am I trying to please people?

If I was still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Obviously, we're starting a series in Galatians. If you'd like to read the sermon

outline, there's a QR code in front of you where you'll get to our page,

which is a new page called Media.

And on that Media page, then you'll be able to download sermon notes onto your

phone and make sure that I keep on track I don't know what you would do if I

didn't stand up and go, hey, you're supposed to be point two instead of point three.

Let's pray. Lord, as we open up Galatians, as we open up your word,

I pray that you speak to us in a way that is life-changing and transforming for us.

Because we know that when you speak, things change.

Things either come into being or things are transformed or things are renewed.

And so, Lord, as you speak to us, I pray that we're transformed,

we're renewed, we're restored to the place that you would have And I pray this,

Lord, in your name. Amen.

There are some things, if you hear them often enough, you will eventually believe it. And it's true.

Words shape us, for better or for worse.

And the truth is that if spoken repeatedly, it can reshape our life.

But it also can be if lies are told, it can crush us. It can replace the truth

with the foundation of lies.

And things can be built upon. Our lives can be built on.

And it can be built upon either truth spoken consistently or lies spoken consistently.

But truth spoken consistently becomes our identity, as same as lies spoken consistently

becomes identity as well.

I'll never forget my tech drawing teacher. he told me over and over again that

I would never amount to anything.

And that didn't motivate me, by the way. It wounded me quite deeply.

So, so much so that I won't tell you how many years ago, but a long time ago,

I'm still talking about it. I'm still giving it a sermon illustration.

Years later, I ran into him and told him what I was doing. And he said to me,

honestly, I thought you'd end up in jail.

The ironic part about it is that if he treated students today as he treated

us back then in his tech drawing class with humiliation and physical intimidation,

he'd be the one behind bars.

What made me a target to him was that I stood up for a kid who was being mistreated in class.

And I told him if he did that one more time, then he would deal with me.

I wasn't such a nice person in high school.

I refused to stay silent. What was meant to break me ended up actually building me stronger.

I chose to believe a different voice, a different truth, and that truth has shaped my life today.

And there's many people who could stand up and say, the truth of God's word

has shaped their life today as they've walked in.

The Galatian church was listening or beginning to listen to the wrong voice.

It was going to shape them, but it was not going to be shaping in a way that

God would be honored, but shaping in a way that the gospel,

the truth of God's word, the good news about Jesus was going to be dishonored,

was going to become null and void, basically the gospel.

Paul had planted these churches in Galatia, which by the way is modern Turkey.

He preached the gospel of Jesus Christ, that salvation is by grace through faith.

Big words, grace through faith. Grace is unearned, undeserved favor freely given to sinners.

It means that God gives us love and forgiveness and salvation,

not because we have earned it, but because he is loving and merciful. Full stop.

We have faith or trust in God's perfect and all-sufficient grace for us.

The Galatian people responded in faith.

Churches were born. Paul moved on. But then came these voices that said,

believing in Jesus isn't enough.

And all what you need to do is to keep the Jewish law as well, the rules of Moses.

In other words, Jesus plus something equaled salvation.

Galatians 1 says this, It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.

Stand firm then and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery.

I love the way the message puts it like this.

Christ has set us free to live a free life. So take your stand.

Never again let anyone put a harness of slavery on you.

See, the truth can be, and freedom can be stolen from us, and the truth can

be distorted in a couple of ways.

Galatians were being told to go back to legalism, but others were going kind

of like in the exact opposite direction, treating freedom like they had license

to do whatever they wanted to do.

So Paul addressed in Galatians both situations, legalism, trying to earn God's

love through rule-keeping and indulgence, thinking freedom means there's no rules at all.

We're all hippies, just go out and do whatever you like in the whole world.

In Galatians 5.13, Paul says, you, my brothers and sisters, you were called

to be free, but do not let your freedom indulge the flesh.

True Christian freedom doesn't lead to legalism or indulgence,

at least the love, God's love.

Unfortunately, we still hear those voices today. You won't often hear a Jewish

person come up and talk about, we all need to follow the rules of Moses and

all those type of things. But we hear the wrong voices today.

And some of us actually believe it and take it on.

You know, I aren't being told to follow the law of Moses, but we sometimes have

an incredibly distorted view of Jesus.

We have the Jesus of legalism, where you don't drink, smoke or chew or go out what girls would do.

That happens back in Texas, sort of down home, the churches that I went to.

The Jesus who only loves you when you get it right,

when you wear the right things in church,

when you say the right things and when you put on the right look,

that Jesus of legalism or even the Jesus of prosperity, the one who promises

wealth and success and you follow him because of that,

or the Jesus of self-effort who says it's all on you,

or the Jesus of good vibes.

We're just here, Jesus is here just to make us feel better and get through life

in a nice, comfortable way. Or the Jesus of tradition, the one is on more about

routine than relationship.

So with so many voices that are claiming to speak about Jesus,

it's easy to get confused like the Galatians.

But there is only one true gospel.

There is only one Jesus.

And Paul set out to clarify who this Jesus is. And we see that in chapter one.

He's saying you're being distorted. You're being confused.

These people are coming in and they're speaking a voice into your mind and you're

starting to take it on in your life.

And the truth is being polluted.

We need to take a moment to reflect the world that we live in.

Because what Paul is saying in chapter one doesn't actually promote what our

world says about tolerance.

In other words, there are many versions of the truth.

There are many ways in which you can express the way we should live,

the way that we get right with God.

There's many different religions that are all true to those who believe that they're true.

There was one time when tolerance meant respecting another's right to hold a

different view than what we believe.

In principle, it's like this, I might disagree with you and what you say,

but I will defend it to the death, your right to say what you believe.

But today, tolerance has been redefined.

Now it means that all views must be seen as equal and valid.

You're right from your side, and I'm right from mine.

Great poet, Bob Dylan. The only view that is not tolerated Is one that claims

to be exclusively true The gospel of Jesus Christ.

Claims exclusively to be true, that you were saved not by your own doing,

by works, by anything that you can put on to Jesus, but only by him, through faith in him.

And this cultural tide that we see today is the tide that Paul stood against exactly the same.

Paul's passion was to promote and present back to the Galatians,

because he spent heaps of his time in the church of Galatia, the gospel.

He wanted to present the gospel, that there was no other gospel other than Jesus.

So addressing this anti-gospel that was emerging in the culture.

Paul doesn't mince his words.

We look at Galatians chapter 1 verse 9, and we can see that Paul wasn't on about

Galatians 1:9

a nice tolerant world, said this,

as we have already said, so now I say again, if anyone's preaching to you a

gospel other than the gospel that you accepted, let them be under God's curse.

That seems fairly roll off your type of language, but it's pretty strong there.

Paul includes himself in this.

He says, if I preach a different gospel, then let me be cursed as well.

Simply put, Paul says to them, let them be under God's curse,

which literally means die and go to hell.

It's better than to die and go to hell than preach a gospel that eliminates

God from salvation and puts everything else back into it.

And he's saying, if I preach that, I pray that I die and go to hell too.

Anything that's added to grace means that the truth is now a lie.

And for anyone who takes that on board, it means death and entrapment.

It's like having this pure spring water, glass of water, and someone comes and

puts one drop of cyanide into it. Drink it?

No. Pure water will give life and enrichment and beauty back into you.

But that one drop of cyanide brings death and entrapment.

And death in the Bible means that forever or eternity, as Galatians puts it,

you'll be separate from God because God's rescue is what we all need.

And he is the one who rescues.

And we see that in Galatians chapter one, verse four, Jesus gave himself for

our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, this age.

This age says, I'm all right. Our culture says, I'm all right. I don't need anything.

But in Paul's mind, in God's mind, is you're not all right.

You're separate from God. That's the gospel. That's the good news that while

we might think we're all right, we're not all right, but God actually sees what's

real in our life, what's absolute, what we're like.

We're at the position that we're in and says, I'm going to help you in the position

that you don't even know that you're in. I'm going to open up your eyes so that

you can see that I'm separate from the creator of this universe and I need to be made right with him.

I need that good news.

Sometimes we don't think we need rescuing. Basically, if we bolster up everything

that we got, we can walk in strength and we can get there in the end.

And sometimes we just can't.

There's nothing that we can do to save ourselves. We're relied upon totally

upon someone else to save us.

That's not good for humanity.

We always think that it'd be great if we can contribute to our salvation or

we can contribute to our rescue or we contribute to the place that we can be.

There's some level of pride to say we lifted ourselves up out of the mud and

we stand on our own two feet. Why?

Because of our character and grit and determination.

But we all need rescuers. We need to all ask the question, are we all right? And God's answer is no.

You need a savior. You need a rescuer. If you've been a lifesaver or a surfer, you know the scene.

Someone's in trouble being pulled out of the water and you paddle over to them,

which I've done before, and ask, are you all right?

They should yell, I'm drowning. I'm caught. But they go, no,

I'm fine. And then you paddle away.

Next thing you know, they're drowning because they were drowning when you asked

them, but they just didn't have, their pride got in the road and weren't able

to say that they needed rescuing.

I've seen it firsthand as a lifesaver. I've seen it firsthand as a surfer.

People deny their need until it's too late.

And pride keeps them from grabbing hold of the thing, the very thing that's there to save them.

And Paul is the spiritual lifesaver and he sees people drowning in false teaching

and he pleads with them, don't refuse God's rescue.

We need rescuing from God. They needed rescuing from God.

And it's not just about flailing or having a struggle or not quite seeing the

edge and we just need to take a couple more swim strokes before we get to it.

No, we're drowning and here's what Paul says we need rescuing from,

from our slavery to sin, from Satan who tries to condemn us so that we can't

even lift our head, our identity's not made in God, our identity's made in our guilt,

those words that he keeps on speaking, Satan keeps on speaking, we take the heart.

Next thing you know, our self-esteem or our esteem has gone down to the place

he wants, not where God wants.

We need rescuing from the fear of death and the lies of this world.

We need rescuing from the horror of hell, which basically means eternal separation from God,

from a life that's lived without meaning and purpose that we need rescuing so

that we will know the meaning and purpose that God wants to give us because

that's what he wants to rescue us to, not just from.

He wants us to become what he created us to be.

Like we prayed for Mason, to be truly loved by God and others through the Spirit,

to have hope of this age that is going to come,

to experience God's unconditional grace and peace. That's what we are saved to.

And all of this is possible through the good news of God.

God didn't wait for us to ask him. He came.

He didn't come and say, are you all right? and just leave us to our being,

come and says, you're not all right and you need to be with him.

It's one life in Christ alone. So God threw us a lifeline, the one and only

that can save. It is by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone that we are saved.

Don't tamper with it, Paul says.

People drown, people change it and they remain lost for all eternity.

But sometimes in this age, we have been struck by that lie for the voices that

come in from sometimes from ourself, often by our culture.

What we see as a lie in today's age, I think you probably have seen it yourself.

If you've been to funerals, it is without fail, people say things like, he was such a good man.

He gave so much to the community.

They're looking down upon us now.

Except one time, one person I asked, what was your grandmother like? And they said, awful.

Have you got anything good to say about it? Nothing. I went,

wow, nothing. I said, nothing.

Would you get up and speak about your grandmother? No.

So I said, she was a person that was tenacious in all that she had,

she did, had to put something in there.

But generally what will happen is that we'll try to rationalize the good life.

And you see it all the time. They're looking down for me now and helping me as I do my study.

That person was good, and I hope I could just be like them so that when at the

end of time God will say, you're okay, you can come in for all the good things

that you've done. That is Jesus plus.

It is the gospel plus the circumcision plus the food laws in our day, in our age.

But Paul says this. Who are you listening to? Do we ask the question?

And Galatians is not an easy book as you read through it, no doubt,

and hopefully you can get there and go through it and read about it.

But ultimately there's just one question I think that comes out of the whole

of Galatians is that who are you going to follow, the Jesus of the gospel or

the Jesus that has been spoken to you as a lie?

What gospel are you listening to, the one that has been given to you by God

or the one that is given to you by our world, by our culture, by men?

Are you living in freedom?

Freedom of trying to make yourself right with God no matter how hard you try,

you will not be able to do that.

But are you living freedom, broken free from the chains to live a life for God?

Paul says, live free not for yourself, but for him who gave himself freely to you.

I think it's time, isn't it, for us, if you haven't already,

to grab that lifeline. And there's only one lifeline, that's Jesus.

To admit to Jesus, I'm not all right. I need you to rescue me.

And he has already done that. We learn about that in Easter,

is that great message of salvation where he died on the cross to take the things

that makes us not right upon himself so he can give himself freely to you.

And all it takes is, I need to be saved. Save me.

We're drowning in our own sin.

A world of pride and lies and false gospels surround us. But the truth is that you are loved.

You are rescued.

You are free.

Not because you sit at the heights.

Not because of what you've done. Because of what Jesus has done.

We sing a song of rescue. We sung a song of rescue.

We're going to sing another song, a song of grace and restoration.

So it goes like this. Who am I that the highest king would welcome me?

I was lost, but he brought me in.

Oh, his love for me. Oh, his love for me. Who the son sets free.

He's free indeed. And I'm a child of God. Yes, I am.

Free at last, he has ransomed me. His grace, his love and kindness that I don't deserve runs deep.

I was a slave to sin.

Jesus died for me. Yes, he died for me. Who the Son sets free, they're free indeed.

Can you say this truth to yourself? I'm a child of God.

Yes, I am. Through that incredible love and grace that Jesus has given me.

See, that's the anthem of Galatians, I think.

You're not good enough. You were drowning, but Jesus died and pulled you out

so that you might have life eternally with him.

Amen. Let's pray.

Lord, I pray, Lord, for those who have listened to voices over these years and

I have, and many people have, it says that we're not good enough to be saved

by you. And the truth is, we're not.

You died while we're still sinners.

While we're yet still sinners, you died for us.

So we give you thanks for that, that we didn't have to make ourselves right before you.

We didn't have to do anything, but just to have faith that your death on the

cross was sufficient for our salvation.

So Lord, we thank you, Lord, We thank you that Romans says that if we confess

the things that we have done, if we believe in our heart that you were raised

from the dead, so that sin that we placed upon you has been paid for and you rose to newness of life.

And here's the great thing, Lord, and we thank you for it, that we're free to

rise with you, to live for you and to serve you.

And we're not tied with the slavery, the yoke that's around our neck to try

to make ourselves right with you.

We know we are. we know that you are children and we know lord that you are

our father and our lord and our savior.