Thank you, Mark and Diane, for leading us. Appreciate that. That song did go a little better this week, Mark. 

Well, I'd like to begin this morning by asking you to turn to Colossians 2.8 with me, please. I'm just going to read one verse to kind of set a theme for the message here. Colossians chapter 2 at verse 8. Paul writes, "Beware, pay attention, 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." 

And that's really the theme of our message this morning: to judge a message, judge a man, judge a doctrine according to Christ, according to the Scriptures, and not according to man. I was thinking about what Paul said in Corinthians, that the gospel is an offense to men, the gospel is an offense to the world. And if you think about it, it may be the most offensive thing that we could say in our world, that Jesus is the only way, that God only wrote this book, that there's no other means to heaven other than faith in Jesus Christ alone. 

But Jesus said in John 14:6, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through me." In our text this morning, Paul is most concerned with the gospel, the true pure gospel of grace and salvation through faith in Jesus alone. 

And you remember our context: Paul had traveled through this region, establishing several churches. He'd taught them, founded them, and then continued in his evangelistic missions. After he had left, legalistic Jews from Jerusalem came in behind Paul and attempted to undermine his ministry, his authority, his apostleship, and his very message. They taught a message of faith in Christ, plus works of the law for salvation. 

It is the same situation we find ourselves in in the Christian world today. Many denominations preach this same heretical gospel, adding works and rites and rituals to what Jesus accomplished on the cross for our salvation. But the main contrast we're going to see in our message this morning is that the gospel that they preached came solely from men and tradition and religion, the creation of false gods by men. Paul's gospel, on the other hand, did not come from man, but directly from God. 

And this is such a vital message for us to hear and to receive. When we think about the gospel, when we think about doctrine and theology, what it is that we believe, and what it is that forms our understanding of God and man and salvation and sanctification and eternity, is it from God? Is it found in this book, the only book that God ever wrote, or is it from man? Did we get it from the mind of man, from the wisdom of man, from religion, from tradition? 

This is a challenge before us this morning because we must constantly be revising our thinking, our understanding, by the Word of God and not according to man. I was watching a show the other night. Bobby and Ashley and all the kids are in Minneapolis with Caitlin, so I'm batching it, and it's a strange thing for an old man like me. And I've been working until late at night, but I thought, I'll watch a show. 

So I was watching this show, and the lead character says, "The Bible says, if a body is burned, it cannot rise." I thought, you know, it doesn't say that. It doesn't say if you die in a fire, you're okay, you're gonna make the rapture; it's not a problem. But I wonder how many people watching that show would understand that truth, that the Bible doesn't say that. Or you might hear often, "The Bible says, God helps those who help themselves." No, it doesn't. It doesn't say anything like that or teach anything in that vein. 

What does the Bible say? What do I believe? Is what I believe and what forms my understanding of God and the Christian life according to God, or is it according to man? This is the question before us this morning as Paul defends his authority, his apostleship, and his gospel against these heretics. 

Let's look at Galatians 1.8. Kind of recap where we left off last week. "But even if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel to you than that which we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. For do I now persuade men or God, or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ." 

But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it, and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 

But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through his grace to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus. 

I've given you four points on the outline this morning. First, any other gospel. Second, a bondservant of Christ. Third, not according to man. And fourth, by revelation.

Well, in verses 8 and 9, we see this powerful statement again from Paul. If anyone preaches any other gospel, let him be accursed. If anyone comes, even an angel from heaven, and they preach any other message than what Paul had preached, what they had received and believed for salvation, he says, "Let them be cursed to hell." 

So I just want to reiterate that the dividing point in the church is the gospel. We must divide at this point. We should be striving diligently to be sure that all of our doctrine is from the Word of God and consistent with what He has revealed to us and not from men. But most certainly, at the point of how it is that a man can be saved from the wrath of God and eternal punishment in the lake of fire, we, as the church, must be clear, and we must be willing to divide from those who add anything to what Jesus did in His one-time death on the cross in our place for our sins as necessary for salvation. 

Or anyone who would change the means or add to the condition of faith as the means for obtaining this salvation. Salvation is by grace through faith alone in Jesus alone, and any other message is a false gospel and a damnable heresy according to Paul. It's incumbent upon us to so know the Word of God to be able to discern the sometimes subtle but deadly error of Satan and his ministers in promoting a false message and adding works to grace. 

And we must be bold and have the courage to stand against and mark out those who preach another gospel, which is no good news at all, Paul says, for in it, there is no salvation from God. So we must feel the heart and passion of Paul in verses 8 and 9 in defense of the gospel that he preached and received from Jesus Christ. 

Verse 10 is very interesting, not only in application for us, but in how it fits into Paul's argument here as well. And verse 10 says, "For do I now persuade men or God? Do I seek to please men? For if I still please men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ." 

The accusation of the Judaizers against Paul was that he was no apostle at all, that Jesus had chosen the twelve. We've seen in the book of Acts: they'd replaced Judas. These were the apostles, and Paul was outside of all of this. Outside, in fact, an enemy of Christ all through his ministry, after his crucifixion, resurrection, and even the ascension. Paul was not an apostle in their estimation. 

What he was, as they told the Galatian believers, was a man-pleaser. You see, they were trying to convince the believers that Paul had stripped away circumcision and the law, basically conversion to Judaism for the Gentiles, in order to please men, in order to gain favor, to be popular. He didn't want to say the hard things, like you have to keep the law to be saved. He just wanted to grow his ministry with the Gentiles. 

But if you know anything about Paul and his life and ministry, this is patently absurd. And yet it was playing with the Galatians, influencing them, affecting their thinking, so much so that it says that they were moving away, moving away from God, the one who called them in the gospel of grace. So Paul says here in verse 10, in effect, there, building on verses 8 and 9, "If anyone preaches any other gospel, let him be cursed to hell." 

There, do I now please men? Or do I please God? Is it pleasing to men to say if they preach any other message than the one I preach, let them be damned? Is that a man-pleasing message? No. But it's a God-pleasing message. And we have to ask ourselves this very question out of verse 10: Who is it that I'm trying to please? 

Because, my brother, my sister in Christ, if I am to be a bond servant, a bond slave of Christ, it will not be pleasing to most men. In fact, all who desire to live godly, to please Christ in this ungodly age, will suffer persecution. 

So it is a very relevant question for you and for me, really, each day of our lives, in doing what I'm doing, saying what I'm saying or not saying, is my motive to please men or to please God? And you can see how this fits into Paul's argument, his defense against the accusation of the Judaizers. He was not a man-pleaser. In fact, everything he did got him into real trouble, serious trials and tribulations because of the fact that he sought to please God and not men, to obey Christ in the calling that he received from Him. 

And this is evidenced by the life and ministry and eventual death of Paul because of his faithfulness to Jesus Christ. Let's go back to Acts 9. Turn to Acts 9 with me. I want you to see something very interesting about Jesus' commission for Paul right at the very beginning. Acts 9 at verse 4. This is a recounting of what happened here, or the account of what happened when Jesus came to Saul. 

It says, "Then he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?' Then the Lord said, 'I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.' So he trembling and astonished said, 'Lord, what do you want me to do?' Then the Lord said to him, 'Arise and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.'" 

"And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. Then Saul arose from the ground and when his eyes were opened, he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. And he was three days without sight and neither ate nor drank." 

Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And to him, the Lord said in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." So the Lord said to him, "Arise and go to the street called Straight and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying. And in a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias come in and putting his hand on him so that he might receive his sight." 

Then Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from chief priests to bind all who call on your name." You sure this is a good idea, Lord, to go see Saul of Tarsus? 

But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel." Now at this point, that sounds pretty good, doesn't it? Like a good gig, a great position of honor, Paul would be Jesus' witness even before kings. 

But look at the next verse, verse 16. "For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake." Bringing the true message of Jesus to this world is not going to please men. Bold preaching of the truth, the gospel of grace by faith, will not endear you to the men of this world, particularly to religious men. 

Rather, if you are faithful, as Paul was, it will bring you things like this: 2 Corinthians 11:24, "From the Jews, five times I received 40 stripes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked. A night and a day I've been in the deep and journeys often in perils of water, in perils of robbers, in perils of my own countrymen, in perils of the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness, in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness, in toil, in sleeplessness often, in hunger, in thirst, in fastings often, in cold, in nakedness." 

Sounds like Benny Hinn and Kenneth Copeland's message, doesn't it? "Besides the other things, what comes upon me daily, my deep concern for all the churches." And, of course, this might end up, as it did in Paul's case, with a separating from your head—your head from your body—for faithfulness to the gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Turn over to Galatians 6.17 with me. I want you to see a verse here at the end of this epistle. Galatians 6.17. Paul, closing the letter, he says, "From now on, let no one trouble me, for I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." 

At the end of this important epistle, Paul says, "Leave me alone; I don't have time for these false teachers. This false gospel trouble me no longer. I'm no man pleaser. I see the scars all over my body every day because I am a bond servant of Jesus Christ from the beatings, from the stonings, from the persecution." Paul had many scars to show his faithfulness to Jesus. 

Well, next we see in our text not according to man. Look at verse 11, chapter 1. Paul says, "But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man; for I neither received it from man nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ." 

"For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it, and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through his grace to reveal his Son in me, that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went to Arabia and returned again to Damascus." 

The gospel that Paul preached was not according to man. He did not receive it from men, nor was man even the agent of God to give it to him, to call him, to send him out to preach that message. And here's the great irony, my friends: the message that the Judaizers preached was solely from man. Where did they get it? Where did the teachings of Judaism in that time, this false gospel of works, come from? It didn't come from God. 

This works-righteous, man-centered false religion of the Judaizers, the Pharisees, and the like came from the rabbis over time, the wisdom of men, the twisting and perverting of God's truth and His Word. In Matthew 5 to 7, Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, we see Him address this situation repeatedly. He said, "You have heard it said of old," this is what your rabbis taught you, or this is the way they twisted the commandments of God. And their purpose—one example is in verse 33. He says in chapter 5, "Again you have heard that it was said of those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform your oaths to the Lord.' But I say to you, do not swear at all, neither by heaven, for it is God's throne, nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King, nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. Amen. But let your yes be yes and your no be no, for whatever is more than these is from the evil one." 

And we see this manifest in the rebuke of the religious leaders by Jesus in Matthew 23. Let's look at Matthew 23 at verse 13. Some serious strong words from Jesus here: 

"23:13 But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut up the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither go in yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you devour widows' houses and for pretense make long prayers; therefore you receive greater condemnation. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel land and sea to win one proselyte, and when he is one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves." 

These are the words of our Savior. Verse 16: "Woe to you, blind guides who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is obliged to perform it.' Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctifies the gold?" 

"And whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it." These are all false religious teachings that they'd added and twisted. "Fools and blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? Therefore, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by all things on it. He who swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it, and he who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits on it." 

Jesus says, "Let your yes be yes and your no be no," but religions' false systems must design complicated and ritualistic systems by which they can bind men under their authority and gain power and money for themselves. This is what we see in the Jewish system of Jesus' day and in the religions of our world today. 

In 1 Peter, Peter says, "If you call on the Father who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear." Listen to this: "Knowing that you were not redeemed with corruptible things like silver or gold from your aimless conduct received by tradition from your fathers but with the precious blood of Christ as of a lamb without blemish and without spot." 

"He indeed was foreordained before the foundation of the world but was manifest in these last times for you who through him believe in God, who raised him from the dead and gave him glory so that your faith and your hope are in God." Your faith and your hope are not in lighting candles or participating in rituals, going through rites, suffering, giving alms. Your faith and your hope are not in those things; your faith and your hope are in God, since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit and sincere love of the brethren. Love one another fervently with a pure heart, having been born again not of corruptible seed, but incorruptible through the Word of God, which lives and abides forever. 

Aimless tradition from your fathers cannot save you. That pretty well sums up Judaism in the time of Paul and these Judaizers he was fighting in their false gospel, as they had simply added Jesus to their works-righteous system. 

It reminds me of when I was in India. Augustine told me, "We have 350 million gods," he said, "one for each American." And you would go and you would share the gospel with some of these people, and they would say, "Yes, I'll take Jesus," and put him right here on the shelf with my other gods, right? That's what the Judaizers, in essence, had done. They'd taken their religious system and their law keeping and their rites and rituals and they had added faith in Jesus. 

And this sums up the religions of our day as well and denominations in our communities: aimless tradition from our fathers. This religion, according to man, cannot bring transformation, cannot bring the new birth, recreation, purification, and a resulting holy life. Only bondage, only hypocrisy and judgment, and wrath to come. No deliverance, no salvation, no good news—a false gospel—because they are from men; they are created by men; they are not from God. 

Romans 1:18 says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world, His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse." 

Listen to a podcast yesterday, and they had a famous guy on there, a scientist, and he said, "I see no evidence in the world for God." That is a willful suppression of the truth. Paul says they're out there without excuse, because although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened—professing to be wise, they became fools. 

Listen to verse 23: "They changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man." Men suppress and reject the truth of God and His revelation; they create for themselves their own gods after their own likeness in their own corrupt ways. This is the definition of all the religions of the world. 

But Paul's gospel was not from men; it did not come from men. He was given the gospel directly from Christ and sent by Jesus to the Gentiles to preach the good news of salvation by grace through faith in Christ. His gospel came by the revelation of Jesus Christ. Verse 12 he says, "For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ." 

Nor was I taught it—that phrase caught my eye. I remember years ago we started a Bible study up in Gurnee, and friends of ours, Jeff and Beth Lauren, hosted this study. And they had been Christians for years, involved in fellowship, studying their Bible, seeking the Lord. And I remember in one study I brought up a particular system of theology that is very prevalent in our world and Christendom as an illustration, and they'd never heard of it. 

They asked, "What does it teach?" and I kind of outlined the system, and their response was, "Well, where do they get that from?" That's a good question for each of us; there are many schools of thought, many systems of theology. But you know what's interesting about many of them? You have to be taught by the men who have developed these systems. You would never come to them or understand them on your own through your study of the Word. You must be taught; you must learn the system, and then force it on to the Word of God. 

Paul says, "I didn't receive my gospel from men, nor was I taught it by men; but my ministry, my thinking, my understanding of truth and salvation in the world, in the Christian life, all these things came directly by revelation from Jesus Himself." This is my authority for Jesus; it was direct revelation—or, for Paul, I mean, it was direct revelation from Jesus. For us, it's the written Word, God's revelation to us. 

This is where we must find our truth and judge all doctrines of men. We see in the next couple of verses in our text that Paul draws a contrast with his old religion that of Judaism. Galatians 1:13, "For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the Church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it, and I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers." 

Paul says, "I know your bag better than you do yourself, your religion, your legalistic self-righteousness, through ritual and law keeping— that was my expertise. I was taught it by Gamaliel, the great teacher of Judaism, just as the Judaizers were taught it by men and I was zealous." He says, "I was committed. I was persecuting, killing Christians. But something turned me around, transformed me in a moment and sent me the opposite direction—from persecuting Jesus and the church to preaching Christ to every creature." 

Let's look at Philippians 3:1, Paul's testimony concerning these things. Philippians 3:1, "Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord; for me to write the same things to you is not tedious, but for you it is safe." Verse 2: "Beware of dogs," he's talking about the Judaizers here; he's talking about legalistic Jews. "Beware of dogs; beware of evil workers; beware of the mutilation," referring to circumcision. 

"For we are the circumcision who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, though I also might have confidence in the flesh." If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I am more so: "Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews. Concerning the law, a Pharisee; concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless." 

"But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ, and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith." 

"That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if by any means I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." That is living out from among the dead. Paul says, "I was the greatest of my contemporaries in religion and Judaism, taught to me by them, by men, received by tradition from my father, zealous even to persecuting the church. And then something happened on the Damascus Road: Jesus transformed me, called me, and gave me His gospel to preach." 

That is the truth about Paul and his gospel. It came by revelation from Jesus, and the gospel of the Judaizers and all religion of men—they have received from the minds of men. We see in the last verses of our text that Paul's gospel came directly from God by revelation, and he didn't even confirm it by the apostles or by any other man; that Jesus taught him in Arabia, and this was God's pleasure, it was His purpose, it was His will; it was His gospel. 

Jesus taught Paul, showed him all the things he needed to know: the truth, the gospel, doctrine, what he would suffer as a witness for Jesus, a bondservant of Christ, and all this for the pleasure and the purpose of God. 

Our brothers and sisters in Christ, we must ask ourselves, for whom am I living? Who am I trying to please? Is it men, or is it God? Is my thinking, my wisdom, my understanding that guides and rules my life and actions from God, or is it from men? 

The challenge is profound to stand for the true gospel, to stand against all false gospels and lies and errors in this world and the churches, to live my life and gain my understanding only from the Word of God and let revelation form my theology and how I think and live as a Christian in this world. It's harder than we think, but it's a clear challenge from Paul in the words before us in Galatians chapter 1. 

I pray that you will ponder these things, that you'll pray about them, you'll go back and study this, and make a decision to know the Word of God and evaluate all things by His truth, His revelation to us. 

Let's close in prayer. Father, we're so thankful for Your truth, Your Word. Thankful that You've made it clear to us. And sometimes when we get off into man's teaching or listen to men, we can get confused, but when we come back to Your Word, You make known to us what is true. If it is our will to do Your will, we have a promise, John 7:17, that we will know concerning the doctrine if it is from You. Help us to search the Scriptures, to seek to know You, to believe what You say, and to reckon it so in our lives, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.