GRACE UNDER FIRE

GRACE UNDER FIRE

“Paul, an apostle (not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead), and all the brethren who are with me,

To the churches of Galatia:

Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins, that He might deliver us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.” Galatians 1:1-5.

Introduction

“The occasion was a typical Sunday church service, but the locale was behind the iron curtain in Communist East Europe. The service was progressing as usual when suddenly two Communist soldiers brandishing submachine guns kicked open the door. With flailing arms and angry voices, they denounced the Christians and their vile worship. ‘Such worms as you have no right to exist upon the face of the earth!’ they shouted. ‘We are going to shoot all of you! However, those who are willing to denounce their faith and deny Christ can move immediately to the right side of the sanctuary and you will be free to leave.’ A portion of the congregation got up and moved. The soldiers then commanded them to get out. Most of the congregation sat motionless in their pews. When the doors were closed, the Communists turned to those sitting before them. ‘We too are Christians,’ they said. ‘We’ve come to fellowship with you, but we first had to get rid of the hypocrites.’”

I would be surprised if that’s a true story. However, I use it to illustrate a point. What is Christ to you? What is Christianity to you? Is it something worth getting all het up about? Is Christ and the true Faith something worth dying for?

The General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia is held in Sidney. Every three years or so each Presbytery sends representative elders to the General Assembly. At these General Assemblies decisions are made which affect the whole of the Presbyterian Church in Australia. Some people get fired-up at these meetings. And why shouldn’t they? Isn’t Christianity worth defending with passion? We can thank God that in the Presbyterian Church of Australia, God’s Word is still our rule of Faith!

When it comes to the issues facing the church today, the Scriptures are searched for the answers. Issues such as: What does the Church believe about Euthanasia, In Vitro Fertilization, Homosexuality, Same-sex Marriage, etc., are thrashed out.

The Presbyterian Church has a good system. Some call it Presbyterianism, I prefer to call it Biblical. Were you to read Acts 15, you would see that Elders were sent from different congregations to meet at the General Assembly, not in Sydney, but at Jerusalem. The main issue at that meeting wasn’t euthanasia or IVF programs or Same-sex Marriage. The issue was that certain men from Judea had been telling Christians “Unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved” (Acts 15:1). Paul’s Letter to the Galatians is dealing with that very matter.

I don’t have to tell you we live in an age where just about anything can call itself Christianity and people will believe it! A number of years ago, the Anglican Archbishop Peter Hollingworth was telling us all not to believe the Genesis account of creation. Then there was a Presbyterian Professor of Theology in Sydney telling us he wanted to “bring God into the Church. If there is a God” he said!

You’ve heard the phrase, “Live and let live”? By that people mean, “Each to their own!” Then they import that teaching into the churches. Then they proceed to ignore the clear teaching of Scripture. Well, the Apostle Paul for one, would rather die, than see the clear teaching of Scripture disregarded.

Paul had been all through Galatia proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Churches had been established among the Gentile people who lived there. People were hearing the Good News and getting saved. But then the wolf showed up. The wolf in sheep’s clothing. The angel of darkness posing as an angel of light. They began to distort the Gospel message Paul had preached. Then, before you know it, they began turning against Paul.

We’ll look at the first five verses of Galatians in the following. They call these verses the “Salutation” or the “Greeting” verses.

The Judaizers have gone for the jugular. They were trying to kill the Gospel of God’s Grace to fallen man. In these first five introductory verses we see Paul come out fighting right from the bell. He’s fighting for what we all should be fighting for, i.e., the purity of the Gospel!

The Messenger Under Fire

Paul displays his credentials. Right from the outset Paul wants you to see his credentials. “Paul, an Apostle”. He wants to establish his authority God has given him. “I was made an Apostle by Jesus Christ and God the Father.” He’s like a policeman thumping on the door of the Galatian Church. He’s flashing his badge, and he’s saying, “Open up in the name of the Law!”

We see here that he’s not a self-proclaimed Apostle. He didn’t decide one day to be an Apostle. Neither is his Apostleship from men or through men. An illustration of this would be an elder in the Presbyterian Church. When we make a man an elder, we do it because he is already is an elder. When certain men display the gifts of an elder, we simply make it official.

It’s God Himself who calls His Elders. He draws the attention of the Session and the congregation to those in the congregation who are displaying the qualities of an Elder. By ordaining the elder the Lord provides him with the badge of office. The Elders swears before God to uphold the teachings of the Faith. We Presbyterians call the teachings of Christianity the Westminster Confession of Faith.

God gives the Elder the authority he needs in order to rule and discipline the Lord’s flock. The people of God in turn are to give God respect by respecting those whom the Lord has appointed as His Elders. For this is how the Lord runs His Church on earth, i.e., through the Eldership. However, an Apostle is more than an Elder.

An Elder oversees the Lord’s flock in some particular corner of the vineyard. Whereas an Apostle oversaw the Lord’s Church at large, i.e., the whole thing. An Apostle is one who has seen the risen Christ, and has been commissioned by Him. That’s why Paul mentions that he’s an Apostle “through Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised Him from the dead” Galatians 1:1.

“I’ve met the risen Saviour in Person” is what he’s saying. Paul met the Christ on the road to Damascus, didn’t he? Remember how the Lord blinded him and sent Ananias to him? Talking about Paul, the Lord said to Ananias, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear My name before the Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel” Acts 9:16. Paul, therefore, is reminding the Galatians that he is the Apostle, not by choice, but by commission of Jesus Christ and God the Father. Why did he have to do this? Well, certain men were trying to undermine his authority. The Judaizers were attacking his credibility. The Messenger was under fire.

Have you ever noticed when they have an election in the US, we always get to hear about the candidate’s past life? Bill Clinton had tried marijuana when he was younger. How was he going to get out of that one? Who in their right mind would want a dope-head for a president? “Yeah! I tried marijuana. But I didn’t inhale!” You have to admit that that was a smart thing to say. He was saying, “Sure, I might have held a marijuana cigarette in my hand, you might even have a photograph to prove it, but you’ll never prove that I inhaled it!” Put that in your pipe and smoke it! And so the enemies of Bill Clinton had to search elsewhere for dirt on him. That’s how it goes in politics, isn’t it? If you can undermine the opposition’s credibility, then it’ll be easier for you to attack his policies.

Look at our own government. So and so has had “X” amount of flights to the Bahamas or Paris or somewhere. He’s even taken his girlfriend with him first-class. He’s even claiming for flights he never took. Therefore, how can you trust this man? How can you trust his policies? The Judaizers had been doing the same with Paul. “He’s just after your votes!” They were saying Paul was a “man-pleaser”. They painted Paul as walking around “kissing babies” in order to gain a following for his policies.

Take pot-shots at the man and you’ll hit his message too. They were firing at the messenger of grace, i.e., God’s grace. Isn’t that always the way? If you don’t like the message, kill the messenger. Do you reckon it happens in churches today? Have you ever been guilty of killing the messenger? Maybe some preacher has preached some doctrine you don’t like? Instead of searching the Scriptures like a good Berean “to see if these things are so”, you’ve just written off the message. “Oh! He’s just some know-it-all college professor!” Or, “He’s just some young whipper-snapper!” And so, you pass judgment on the messenger. and disregard the message. Well, that’s what’s been happening with Paul.

The Judaizers had got in among the Lord’s flock in the churches of Galatia. They’d been saying things about Paul in order to lead the flock into the wolf’s den. In another place the Apostle Paul says, “Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ” Colossians 2:8. The Judaizers were enticing the Galatians away with the traditions of men and empty deceit.

It wasn’t as if these Galatians didn’t know Paul. Paul said that the Galatians received him as “an angel of God, even as Christ Himself!” He said that they would have plucked their eyes out if possible and given them to him. But now they were turning against him. But more importantly, they were turning away from his message. They had been listening to the whispering gossip. The smear campaign of the opposing party had taken affect.

Paul’s not happy, to say the least, that these Galatians were so quick to dismiss him and his message. He’s like a storm cloud nursing its anger on the horizon. His letter is punctuated by flashes of lightening and ear-splitting claps of thunder. But it’s bringing with it the refreshing rain of a summer storm. Some hear only thunder, while others hear the voice of God as His grace echoes off the mountains.

As Christians we need, more than ever, to proclaim God’s grace from the rooftops, from the mountain tops, “Repent and believe in the gospel!” Paul had the credentials. He was commissioned by God. He had the authority. And Paul was above reproach! The things the Judaizers were saying about him just weren’t true. It’s important that we too strive in our lives never to give the devil a toehold. Because the enemy seeks to undermine your character in order to put people off your message. What was Paul’s Message?

The Message Under Fire

What was his message? Paul’s message is the Gospel. It is the good news of Jesus Christ. It is the good news that Jesus Christ has given “Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father.” So we see in the first five verses of this Epistle, in what we call the Salutation, the whole substance of Paul’s message to the Galatians. Usually a preacher will introduce the subject of his sermon, then he’ll preach what he’s just introduced. And so he reminds the Galatians of the One who gave Himself for their sins. And how He rescued them from the present evil age. And how He did it according to the will of our God and Father.

Paul’s message is one of grace and peace. It is because of God’s Grace that we experience God’s Peace. That’s what the Gospel is all about. It’s about the good news of the Grace of God in the Person of Jesus Christ. It’s about the Peace with God that we find in only Jesus Christ. We see God’s grace in Jesus Christ at the cross. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son.” That’s the grace of God to fallen and sinful mankind.

We see at the cross Christ make peace between God and sinners. Did Christ at the cross not ask His Father to forgive us? “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do.” So Paul’s message to the Galatians is still one of grace and peace. And yet, as mentioned above, there are thunderbolts and lightning, very, very frightening! Is he doing this perhaps to show that he’s no wimp? He’s already been accused of being a man-pleaser. No!

Paul’s livid because some people are preaching a false gospel. What does our Confession say? “The purest churches under heaven are subject both to mixture and error.” So you need to go to heaven to find the perfect church! Our Confession goes on to say, “Some [churches] have so degenerated as to become no churches at all, but synagogues of Satan.” Westminster Confession of Faith 25:5.

Paul would rather die first than see a congregation turn its back on Christ and His Gospel. There were people ignoring the truth of Scripture, and they were teaching others to do likewise. Paul’s livid because people who should know better are listening to them.

He’s not out to defend himself. He’s out to defend the gospel. He doesn’t care about himself. He says later on in this letter, “God forbid that I should glory except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” “I seek no glory” says Paul, To God “be glory forever and ever. Amen.” he says. He doesn’t care about the things the world cares about. The world’s been crucified to him. He’s dead to the philosophy and deceit of the world. And so it should be for the Galatians. And so it should be for us.

But the Judaizers were saying that grace isn’t enough for salvation. They were adding to the Gospel message. They were telling the Galatians that they had to be circumcised to be saved. It’s the same as you or me telling someone they have to be baptized to be saved. But that’s not the Gospel. The Gospel is that we’re saved by grace through faith. Not by grace through circumcision or baptism. But by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone! He’s saying “Christ gave Himself for our sins.” He gave Himself where? At Calvary, at the cross, the place where He said, “It is finished!”

The Judaizers were adding to the finished work of Christ. His work on the cross is a masterpiece! You wouldn’t try to add something to a masterpiece, would you? The only thing you can add to a masterpiece is the applause. To God be glory for ever and ever. Amen. What would you add to the Mona Lisa? To add something you’d ruin it, wouldn’t you? You’d be like a kid with a magic marker. “Here’s a moustache and a pair of glasses!” That’s what the Judaizers were doing to the Gospel. They were defacing the priceless picture of the Gospel. They were distorting it beyond recognition.

Before the collapse of the Soviet Union it is said that you couldn’t always be sure of reaching your destination. When you looked at a map you couldn’t be sure if your destination actually was where the map said it was! The government was always trying to hide and conceal things from people. And so they would make sure that maps were “government approved”. You’re guaranteed to get lost using an unreliable map. The Judaizers were changing all the road-signs on the road to heaven. They were giving vehicles a heavy load and telling them to take an alternate route. The trouble was that they were sending them down a road where the bridge had been washed out. Jesus Christ is the bridge we cross into heaven. He delivers us there. He picks us up in this present evil age and delivers us into His everlasting kingdom. That’s what Paul’s message is.

Christ has come behind enemy lines. He’s rescued us. He’s delivered us. His grace is sufficient. God’s grace was sufficient for Paul. It’s sufficient for the Galatians. And it’s sufficient for all of us. The Message of Grace is forever. Thank the Lord for the Everlasting Gospel. Paul applied the Gospel to a people who were quickly forgetting the Doctrines of Grace. The Gospel doesn’t exist in a vacuum. Paul was restating the good news in the context of what was going on in the church at that time.

Martin Luther restated the Gospel to the church in the 1500s. Luther felt driven by God to re-form what had become de-formed. Do you feel like that? When you look around all at all the de-formed things in the church, do feel the urge to re-form? We have to keep restating the Gospel to every generation. We have to keep reminding them “By grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast.” Martin Luther was a great re-former of the church. He said that he was led on by God as a horse is led on by a man. He said, “I simply say that true Christianity had ceased to exist among those who should have preserved it, the [elders] and scholars.”

What is Christianity like today? We’ve got ministers performing weddings for same-sex couples all claiming they’re Christians. We’ve got people who don’t believe the Bible is God’s Word claiming they’re Christians. We’ve got a man in Rome who claims he’s infallible while at the same time claiming he’s a Christian!

Where do you stand? Do you stand with Paul for the purity of the Gospel. Or is it live and let live? Where do you reckon we should draw the line? We hear Christians say nowadays saying, “Let’s not argue over non-essentials.” I’ve even heard them say the Lord’s Supper is a non-essential. I’ve had people tell me Baptism is a non-essential. I find it all a bit strange because of the fact that the Lord’s Supper and Baptism are the Gospel in visual form. You hear the Gospel in a sermon or see it with your eyes in the two Sacraments.

Conclusion

If you want to re-form a de-formed church, then you’ll need to know what the Gospel is. You’ll need to rediscover it like Luther at the beginning of the Reformation. You’ll need to re-state it in the context of the church today. It won’t be easy for you. When people don’t like the message, the messenger gets it.

I don’t know if you’ve seen this quote before, but John MacArthur Jnr. says,

The man of God is thrilled to be soldier. It is not that he goes out of his way to antagonize people and make enemies, but he is willing to fight the battle for truth. It is greatly disturbing to live in a time when battling for truth is looked upon as divisive and unloving.    Far too many in the church today are willing to compromise theologically to avoid conflict, forgetting Jude’s exhortation to, “contend earnestly for the faith.”

Look at what happened to those Reformers during the Reformation. CH Spurgeon puts it rather poetically where he says somewhere something to this effect, “The martyrs rose to heaven mounted on chariots of fire.” They were burned at the stake by people who should have known better, burned for their unwavering belief in Jesus Christ and His gospel.