well boys and girls it's class time for lecture number one and we're studying the book of Galatians so we've already finished the introduction so we're not going to get into the I believe some of the meat of the word and I want to say I'm thankful the opportunity God's given me to teach and I love the Lord. I love the book of Galatians. And so you've got a copy of the notes. There will be a few things that you'll need to write down and be ready for your exam. And you're going to have to learn some verses and make sure you study your notes very well. I'm just loving to hold all of you in here accountable. So We know that when we talk about the book of Galatians, it was an early book, and written sometime around the time that the book of James was written, kind of two rough books. But Galatians is a book that's, well, we call it the battle cry of the Reformation, because this book separates grace from works. This is the book that I believe is a foundational book for everybody to know. Everybody should learn the book of Galatians. And also that it's what we call the great charter of religious freedom. Because he tells us in his word, stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ has made us free. Because there's always somebody wanting to teach the Bible in such a way to put you back into bondage. And so some of the things that will be dealt with is going to be concerning legalism, antinomian, Galatianism. But you see, legalism means you're saved by your works and rituals and ceremonies. There were a lot of people that were Jewish trying to keep the law in order to attain righteousness in order to go to heaven, which will not, it never works. So there's those who are very strict on the law and they try to hold you under a bunch of rules. And so there's people who even get out their magnifying glass and begin to examine your life and see whether or not are you passing the test. They can tell whether you're a real genuine Christian by, are you following the rules? Are you doing all the things that you're supposed to do? And if you're not, ah, that's a sign you're not saved. So antinomian comes along and it's no law at all. Just do whatever you want to do, because we're all living by grace. So to them, living by grace means you don't have to do anything if you don't want to do it. And if you don't want to do it, don't do it. Live any way you please, no consequences. So when somebody says you kind of give people a license to sin, what they mean is they're trying to give you freedom to live without consequences. And we don't believe that. We believe you have freedom to choose to serve the Lord to whatever degree you want, but understanding that there's consequences to our decisions. And so keep that in mind. But anyway, the church was started by Paul on his first missionary journey. And in the book of Galatians, though you'll find him in a lot of his other books, there's no praise here and there's no honor and no congratulations about how great you are and what great job you're doing. It doesn't start off that way. It's a little of a rebuke because these are people that Paul had led to Christ. And now they had been influenced by some legalistic Judaizers who came down from Jerusalem and came into this body of believers, which Galatia is a place today would be called Turkey, where Lystra and Iconium and Antioch and some of these places and Derbe, that's where these towns were located and these churches were located. So something that you could write down if you got a blank piece of paper, maybe on the backside or something, that would be good to write down. And that would be number one, it was written to expose false teaching and also to defend Paul's apostleship and salvation by faith alone. That is not a mixture of law and grace or works and grace. So we'll be looking at some of that. But the book of Galatians also, though it defends those things and the teaching, it also kind of teaches us how to live. So we have these six chapters in the book of Galatians. There's two chapters, two chapters, two chapters. They kind of break it down into three different parts. You see, the first two chapters is personal. And the second two chapters, three and four, is more doctrinal. And then chapter five and six is practical. Because you've got to, you know, personally understand who you are and what Christ has done for you. And you trust the Lord. And you've got to learn doctrine in order that you might grow. but to grow means you've got to apply it in your life. So the book of Galatians is tremendous for getting an unsaved person to hear and understand the Gospel, and then to be established, and then to grow, to share their faith with others. So I put down a few things that I thought would be good. And that is in chapter 1, it's know, why the Gospel came. And then chapter 2, who the Gospel came through. Chapter 3, who the Gospel came to. And chapter 4, the child is born a son. Chapter 5, the child stands and walks. Chapter 6, the child runs. So it goes through and explains this so that a Christian can get a good balance in his life of knowing what the Gospel is, and what the Gospel is not. And about understanding things that are wrong in people's minds about the purpose of the Law. So in chapter 2, verse 19, talking about, I've been free from the Law. We that are dead are no longer under the Law, because the Law cannot touch a dead man. So we'll be looking at that in chapter 2. And understand this, if you wanted to put it down just in like a, a one word to a chapter. So chapter 1 is about, well, it's, Paul is telling the truth about chapter 1, the gospel. And he's telling the truth in chapter 2 about the law. And he's telling the truth in chapter 3 about grace. and he's telling the truth about you and I've been a son of God, an heir of God, in chapter 4. And then he tells us in chapter 5, as children of God, how to grow. And so chapter 6, understanding that God is not mocked. And whatsoever man soweth, shall he also reap. So these things are greatly laid out throughout this book of Galatians. So here in chapter 1 of the book of Galatians, I will not dwell on every verse and every word, but I'll try to give you, and I love doing like overviews, you know, give you an idea, a there's others who love to just go into a verse and just crack apart every word, and they can, I know one preacher, he spent so far six months on two verses in the book of Ephesians, chapter 1, six months. Now honey is good. Too much honey make you sick. There's a lot of verses in the Bible, and there's a lot of truth, and so we want to relate truth in other And light, because you know, windows are, they let light into a dark room. And so you use other scriptures sometimes to let light into a dark room or to shine upon some scripture. So here, Paul, an apostle. Now you say, well, what is an apostle? Well, apostles are those who marry epistles. That's the wife of an apostle. Now some people never get that. They think I'm joking, but, and I am. So there are epistles and there are apostles. They're not the same. But some apostles wrote some epistles. But Paul was an apostle. And you can see there in your notes, and I will not always refer to the notes, but I'll be going through it and then you can see some of these things, but you will probably need to know this about the apostle. on a test. I used to love to tell the kids, you know, what you're going to have on a test for tomorrow, or the next class. And they just loved my teaching because I'd tell them the answers in advance. Well, that was the only way I could have people take my class. So it worked. But now, an apostle, and you need to know these three things, sent by Christ personally, eyewitness of Christ after His resurrection and saw signs and able to do signs and miracles. Now so far, I don't think I can pass number two and three. But I do believe that I've been sent by God. But I am not an apostle. There are people today who claim to be apostles. They're lying. They're not apostles. it may sound good, makes them think, well, I'm way up there. You're way down here. Well, it's something to think about, I guess. But there's two great motivational truths that you'll see there in your notes under number three, that he literally had Christians killed, may have been a constant reminder of the injury caused, caused to Christ and the importance of getting the gospel to everyone. And also in chapter 12 of the book of Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians chapter 12, he talks about all the things that he was willing to do and go through for the cause of Christ. And the reason is, it makes the statement that the, he saw things. He said, I knew a man in Christ above fourteen years ago, whether in the body or out of the body, I cannot tell. Though such a one was caught up into the third heaven, and saw things unspeakable. I've often wondered, what did he see? But he can't tell us, he said. And so instead of being lifted up with pride, God gave him a thorn in the flesh, lest he would be exalted above measure because of what he saw. But whatever it is, he saw. But when he came back after he had been stoned outside of the city of Lystra, man, there was no stopping the great apostle Paul. nothing else ever matter. All he want to do is win people to Christ, challenge people to serve the Lord, because he saw some. But you know, one of his companions was a guy named Luke. Anybody know who wrote the book of Luke? Luke. He also continued that story into the book of Acts. And Acts tells us an awful lot about Paul and his missionary journeys. And I believe that Luke, who wrote also Luke chapter 16 that deals with the, what's the subject that he deals with? Hell. So Paul had a sidekick that saw something and described it and told the story. But Luke knew about hell and Paul saw heaven. Can you imagine what a dynamic duo they met and how that they had a vision and a burden for reaching people? And know if it didn't matter whether we do it or we don't do it, it seemed like they wasted a lot of their life. They wouldn't have to go through all those things if it didn't matter. But the Bible says, pulling them out of the fire, making a difference. Myself personally, I just want to live long enough to make a difference in this whole world. And I don't want to waste my life being a success at something that doesn't amount to a hill of beans. I want to be a success at doing something Jesus did. He was a soul winner. God only had one son and he was a missionary. I want to be a missionary. And I believe that's one of the greatest things anybody can ever do. And so you can thank the Lord for that. But he says, because of that and what he saw, great things. Now, if you look there in your notes, where he says, I, an apostle, not of men, neither by men, neither by, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father. In other words, I was not appointed by any man. God did this. Jesus Christ gave him his message. So where did Paul get his message? He must've got it from the other apostles. No. Look there real quick there and look what he says in verse 11. He says, But I certify you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man. I didn't get it from any man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it by man, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. He learned straight from the Lord. the Gospel that he's preaching. Now do you believe that Jesus Christ would preach a different Gospel than what the Apostle Paul was told to preach? I don't think so. Look there in Galatians in chapter 3 and notice what it says in verse 8, Galatians chapter 3 verse 8, I would always write down in your notes somewhere the verses that I'm giving to you that may not be in your notes. verse 8, and the scripture, referring to the Old Testament, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith preached before the Gospel unto Abraham. Who preached to Abraham? God. What did God preach to Abraham? The Gospel. Do you think that Jesus and God had the same Gospel? Well, of course. You see, why is that important? Because of what we're going to study in chapter 1. But he says, the gospel unto Abraham, saying, And thee shall all nations be blessed. To be blessed was to have salvation. Under the law you were cursed. So that's why he says that in verse 10, look at that. For as many as are of the works of the law, that means you thought you had to earn your way to heaven, are under what? A curse or a blessing? You're under a curse. For it is written, Cursed is everyone that continueeth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But no man is justified by the law in the sight of God. It is evident. Just shall live by faith. So does the Bible tell you that you cannot be justified by the law? Yes. When God preached the gospel to Abraham, that had to be before the law was ever given. So Abraham never had to keep the law. And here you have God the Father preached the Gospel to Abraham and Jesus Christ preached the Gospel to Paul. Now look there in Galatians in chapter 1. This is why when he says, I marvel, down in verse 6 of chapter 1, I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that calls you into the grace of Christ and to another gospel, which is not another, but there be some that will trouble you and pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we are an angel from heaven preached unto you, any other gospel, let him be accursed. Now take your Bible and look there in verse 2. And all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of Galatia. So Paul not only was saying, I was called an apostle because of Jesus Christ and God the Father. And the brethren that are with me bear witness, I am an apostle because of what he was able to do. And then he says there in verse 3, grace be unto you. But they have the word grace, you can mark it in your notes if you want to. It's a Greek greeting. Just think of the G in grace and Greek. They go together. Grace unto you and peace. That's a Hebrew greeting. They're two greetings, meaning the same thing. When I've gone to Israel, they'll always say, shalom, shalom malakam, malakam shalom, meaning grace and peace unto you. Well, that's an interesting greeting. So he's writing to these people that he had led to the Lord. And now we're beginning to question Paul's apostleship because some legalistic Judaizers were stirring up the pot and causing the questions and doubts. And he says in one place, he says, you thought so much of me. would have taken out your own eyes and given them to him because Paul had eye trouble. He said, you would have took out your, he says, where is this blessedness then that you spoke of? Because you're not happy like you used to be. Anytime you put people under the law to perform and make their salvation depend upon it, they lose all their stability. They lose their security. They lose their joy because nothing is sure anymore. That's why grace can give it all to you and you can be happy. I'm going to heaven. Why? Can't go to hell. How do you know? Got no sins to pay for. Isn't that good news? And so here you'll find out, he says this in verse four, who gave himself for our sins that he might deliver us from this evil, present evil, evil world. Gave himself for our sins. That is the death, the burial and the resurrection. That is what we preach. People say, well, that's not found in the gospel of John, so you don't have to worry about it in John. Oh, I beg your pardon. When he says, God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son, gave his only begotten son, gave his only begotten son, what's that? His son did what? Died, paid for our sins. And he can't give anybody eternal life unless it comes back from the dead. Duh, it came back from the dead. So here, you could apply this to three different ways, and I believe that it's appropriate because it fits all three. One, and you write these things down in your notes. They may be there, but it's been a while since I look at some of these things. And that is this. He saves you from the penalty of sin, and He can save you from the power of sin, and He can save you from the presence of sin. One, He saves you from the penalty of sin, which is death in hell. So when you trusted Christ, He saved you from the penalty of sin. You don't have to go to hell and pay for your sins. But now that you know Christ is your Savior, God wants to teach you how that He can deliver you from the very power of sin in your life. So that's why he says about walking in the spirit and not in the flesh. About some do's and don'ts that can help you and I as a Christian. So it's one thing to have salvation and to be saved from that penalty that I'll never have to go to hell again. Never have to go to hell, never have to worry about it. It's a done deal. God can't change it, can't alter it. It's final. But in our life, we can obey and disobey. So God has given to us the freedom to choose. We talk about, when you know the truth, you shall be free indeed, free, free to make decisions to do right. Before you couldn't, now you can. You see, to turn from sin takes power steering, and before you were saved, you didn't have power. Now you got power steering. I remember when I used to drive a vehicle that didn't have any power. And now it's got the power. So this is why it's so important to understand what God is talking about. So now I know that I can have the power of the Holy Spirit living in my life. This is why when he comes out and he says in chapter 3, it's the first time it's mentioned about the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is what's going to give you and I what we need in order to walk with God. Him working in you and through you. So the next one is talking about the presence of sin. So whenever we trust Christ as Savior, we're saved from the penalty. Many Christians don't always allow the Lord to work in their life, and so the power of sin can destroy your testimony, ruin your life. or you can yield yourself to the Lord and learn God's Word and apply it to your life and it can deliver you from the power that sin has in your life. Now one day when Christ comes back, and He is coming back, He's going to deliver us from the very presence of sin. that's something I'm looking forward to. That's a good thing. So we live our life looking for the day when the Lord is actually going to deliver us from the very presence of sin. He's going to deliver us from this present evil world. Then he gets down here and he says this, in verse 6, I marvel, I marvel, and I give you some explanations and you can read those in your book a little bit later. And turn to page 2, And you'll look there at verse 6, I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ and to another gospel. Now I got a little illustration I wanted to show you. And well, here it is right here. This is a shoe. You didn't know that, did you? See there how much you're learning? This is a shoe. we're going to say, this is the gospel. That is the gospel. Now, there is a verse here that makes the statement, I marvel that you're so soon removed from Him, they called Him to the, into another gospel. So another gospel would be another different kind. This is a different kind. It's a shoe, but it's a different kind. But it's not this kind. So he says, and there's two Greek words, halos and, I forgot the other word, halos and heteros, but it means one of a different kind, which is what the word heteros means. He says, if this is the gospel, there's not another one of a different kind. And then he also says that there's not another one of the same kind. This is the same kind. But see, this one turned to the left, and this one turned to the right. You probably didn't know that about your shoes, did you? Generally, that's how you tell which shoe to put on what foot. But see, if this is the gospel, there's not another one, allos, of the same kind. And there's not another one of a different kind. In other words, there's one gospel, and you don't change the truth of the gospel. You don't change the content of the Gospel. And you don't add works to the Gospel. These are brand new. But you see, that's what he's talking about here. But now look what he says there in verse 7. Which is not another, alas, of the same kind. He says, but there be some that trouble you. And this means a mental sense. It troubles you in your mind because it causes you to question and doubt your salvation if salvation is more than just by grace. Now, what is the test of the gospel? The test of the gospel is it has to be free and last forever. If one of those is missing, it's not the gospel. The gospel has to be free. grace alone, and it has to last forever. If it doesn't last forever, the question would be, is why not? The only reason it couldn't last forever, if it depended upon man in some way. And anyone who teaches you can lose your salvation, do not understand the truth of the gospel. The truth of the gospel, the good news is that when God saves you, He gives you eternal life and will never cast you out forever. Never. It'll never happen. So when He says forever, you have everlasting life, means it's irrevocable. It's irrevocable and it cannot be undone. Now, in these verses, it makes very clear what we're supposed to understand. when you take the Gospel and you add works to the Gospel, what does the works imply? Well, I want you to look there in your, your notes, and you'll see this down at the bottom under number 2, removing themselves from the grace, a Gospel of grace. Can a believer remove himself from grace? Now we'll discuss that more in detail when we get to chapter 5. But apostasy, knowing the truth, but moving away from it. Heresy, denying truth altogether. And so this is where a lot of people are. And so we, I wrote two things down that I wanted you to know, and maybe you want to write these down. A heretic, you ever hear somebody call you a heretic? A heretic learns error, believes error, and refuses to correct it. Apostasy is somebody who knows the truth, believes the truth, and then turns from it. anybody can become an apostate at any given time. You can be here, know the truth, graduate from Bible college, and then turn against the truth, and become an apostate. But it doesn't mean a person's not saved. Otherwise we say, okay, an apostate's not saved, an heretic's not saved, homosexuals aren't saved, and they, that's why nobody can be saved. Everybody's a liar, so no liars can be saved either. Anybody can be saved. Anybody can mess up. These people Paul's talking to are ones that he led to the Lord and they were already moved from the truth of the gospel. Not going to, they already were. I marvel that you are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ. another gospel. So now were they believing another gospel that was not the gospel? That's what legalistic Judaizers were doing. They were saying in Acts chapter 15 you had to keep the law in order to be saved. And you had to be circumcised in order to be saved. Is that the true gospel? No. that puts people under bondage and they're beginning to look at their life to true, try to prove whether or not they're saved or not. And that is not the gospel. That is not true. So down in the bottom of this page 2, we're talking about number 3, the true gospel is of grace through faith and was given to them by Paul. The false gospel is of works. another gospel and was given by the Judaizers. So heteros means a different kind. And alos means of the same kind. In other words, you get the idea, there's not another gospel that saves a man, except the gospel of grace. And remember that. If he says, if anybody preaches any other gospel, let it be a curse. Do you think God would give Abraham a message that would be in the curse message? Or Jesus Christ give Paul a message that would be in the curse message? And yet there's a lot of people today say they had different gospel for salvation. No, they didn't. You study the, or some of the Old Testament, and even you study the book of Romans and chapter four, doesn't it say that Abraham believed God and it was counted to him for righteousness? Well, isn't that what we did? Didn't David make the same statement in the same chapter four? He said, blessed is the man to whom God will not impute sin, won't put his sins to his account. And that by faith alone, all we had to do is trust the Lord. David preached that. And David knew he had eternal life and he was going to go to heaven when he died. Read the 16th Psalm where he talks about that he can't wait to get there. And he makes the statement. that heaven is a place of pleasure forevermore, and fullness of joy, fullness of joy, pleasures forevermore. And precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints. So that David made the statement, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord temporarily. I hope, I hope, I hope. I will dwell in the house of the Lord for how long? Forever. Did he believe in eternal security? Evidently, you can't say that. You can't say, well, I know I'm going to heaven. So many times I talk to people and say, you know, you can't know you're going to heaven unless you know you can't go to hell. And the reason that I can't go to hell is because I don't have any sins to pay for. Why? Christ paid for my sins. So if I was to ask you, give me a good definition of the Gospel. It's Christ died for my sins. Now I want you to give me a good definition of grace. Christ died for my sins. Isn't it wonderful? God gave us the best definition that we could use. Because isn't that what it is? How are you saved? By grace. What do you mean by that? Christ paid for my sins. No works. I didn't have to earn it. I'm saved. Why? Christ paid for my sins. And the reason I can't go to hell tomorrow or any day in the future is because, well, he paid for those too. Don't that make sense? So whenever we believe that, God says he gives us as a free gift everlasting life. You know, I was just in a place in Biloxi, Mississippi, and this guy there, he taught me in to go play a game of golf. I didn't want to go. Well, we went and he wanted to go to this military base because they got the best greens, the best fairways. They had had drought and everything was dry, but boy, at the military base, they can afford water and everything looked great. So we decided we're going to go. So we drove a half an hour to get there. And when we finally got there, we stood at the thing and they wanted all this ID on the stuff. So I had my wallet. I had my ID and I had my VA card and all that. I'm good to go. Well, the guy I was with, well, he forgot his wallet. He couldn't get in. So they said, you'll have to have it, you can't get in. He was my friend, but I just wanted to choke him real slow. And so we're going to have to leave. Nobody else was there. And there was about four or five of them behind the counter. They're waiting for the people, the onslaught of people, but nobody was there. And I says, well, I got a minute or two. I said, can I ask y'all a question? Four of them were sitting down, one was standing up. I said, where are you going to go when you die? They didn't know. Can you believe? We got people in the military that don't know where they're going when they die. And I says, you're not doing anything. I got a minute. Let me tell you how you can know. I said, so if I was to say on a scale from one to a hundred, what would be your percentage of going to heaven? It would be 50%, 70%, 80%, 90%, 98%. I says, how would you like to know 100% that you can go? I said, let me show you something. I explained the gospel to them. And when I got through, I says, did that make sense? And every one of them is sitting there shaking their head like this. You know, when you're old like this, milk it for all it's worth. They feel like there's human in the old man. That's okay. And when I explained, and so I looked, I says, does that make sense? He says, yes, it does. I said, what about you? There was one girl there. I said, what about you? She said, yes. I said, so if it makes sense that all Christ wanted you to do when he came back from the dead was to believe he'd paid for yours. I said, if that's all he wanted you to, I said, can you handle that? Jesus smiled and said, yeah. And so all five of them trusted Christ as their Savior. Now, isn't it wonderful that you can have a message? Now, what if I had to get them to turn from their sins? Well, I'm going to make them feel real bad for all those bad things they've done. Have you got sin in your life? What are they? I want to know how bad you've been because you got to turn from them. I can't just make the gospel clear. I couldn't do it in two or three minutes. I'd have to have a day or two. Or you gotta come back to my church 10 times so I got enough time to tell you how bad you are and how good you gotta be and all the things you gotta quit and I gotta make you feel sorry for all those things so you're willing to give them up. But is that the good news? That's not the good news. Good news is God loves you just the way you are. He don't love your sin, but he loves you. He sent his son to die on the cross, pay for your sin, and give you eternal life. So if you'll believe it, God says he would save you, give you eternal life, and you can know you're going to heaven today. Anyway, I spoke at a church, had five more trust the Lord. Then I had a couple more trust the Lord. You know, it's the most wonderful thing in the world to know that you have got in your hands the power of God. The gospel is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that what? Believe it. You see, I had this young girl. Well, she's not young anymore. She called me up on the phone. She says, I have got to talk to you. She says, I got to talk to you. Please let me come and see you. So I said, sure. She had to come over to the house where we were staying at. This was in Arvada, Colorado. This was just a couple months ago. So she came over to the house and I didn't know her. She had her husband. I didn't know him either. He looked a little familiar, but I wasn't sure. When she walked in, Little old woman, I think she was from, I think Korea or China, I don't know. She shook my hand and then she wouldn't let go. She just says, I am so glad to see you. I'm so glad to meet you. Want to see you for 30 years? And I can't remember when I ever saw her. And she shook my hand, didn't want to let go. Finally, I said, we can sit over here. She sat down and she says, I came to your church 37 years ago. She says, I was Buddhist. I was Buddhist. She says, I sit in your church. I listen to you. Don't understand nothing you say. Isn't that a wonderful testimony? I listened to every word and didn't understand anything you say." She says, but then you did the thing with the wallet. I understood every word. She couldn't speak English. But she understood the gospel when I explained the wall of illustration about the gospel. And she trusted Christ as her savior. And she had tears in her eyes when she's telling me this. And she says, I wanted to tell you and thank you. Isn't that something? From people that you haven't seen in so long, and they wanna tell you the power of, you see, I didn't even talk to her about how to, how do you win a Buddhist to the Lord? How do you win a Mormon to the Lord? Now, I've got 45 lectures on cult evangelism, but when I'm witnessing to somebody, it's good to know that if I needed it, but most of the time, I don't even need it. All I need is to give them the gospel. I had a man come to the church. His name was Bill Ferguson. He was a Mormon. I never said a word about how to deal with a Mormon. I could have. I teach a whole class on it, but I gave the gospel. And when he understands the gospel, it lights up and they can see it. They can see error whenever you show truth. But if you try to prove theirs is wrong, all you're going to get is an argument. Give the gospel. Explain it where people can understand it. And it's the best news in all the world. So as you go down through here, I want you to see that word there, anathema and accursed. That's right there in your Bible. Look in verse 8. verse 8, but though we, and he includes himself, means the apostles even, if we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. Now this word may not mean to go to hell, but it can be that there's some of God's children, and it's used in three or four different places. In a couple, I'm not getting down into the notes about God chastening His children. because of what they're doing. You see, God wants to bless your life, but God doesn't want to bless and cannot bless disobedience. When I say I love the Lord, then I must love the gospel. And if I love the gospel, then I should love the lost man, because it's a story, a love story about how God so loved the world. And I want to know that story well. And I want to be in, as Paul says in the book of Philippians, set for the defense of the gospel. Defend that message. This is why I get in so much trouble with so many people, especially preachers around the country, because I want to defend the gospel. Two days ago, I had a person email me. Says, I want to thank you. Says, I am a Reformed Presbyterian, I heard you and I listened to you. I read your articles that you send out on email. He says it's changed my message. He said, now I understand. Now, I didn't get a chance to sit down with him personally, but he's heard my messages, whether on YouTube and radio and newsletters. All you keep doing is keep sowing seeds. If we wanna serve the Lord, sow seeds. The gospel is a gospel seed, and there's power in the gospel. And you see, we're just cheap radio sets, but we got a very expensive message. And all we wanna do is keep broadcasting. broadcasting this awesome, powerful news. Did you know if a lost man gave the gospel, people can still get saved? If a disobedient Christian gives the gospel, people can get saved. And I know people who do that. They live like the devil, but every once in a while, they just go ahead and give the gospel, and they trust Christ as Savior. But look how many more you could reach if you were dedicated, disciplined. And you did it because you really knew and really cared and you wanted to make a difference in people's lives, and you didn't want people to go to hell. So, what if an angel preaches? The Bible says in the book of Revelation, there was an angel preaching the everlasting gospel. If it is, it's got to be the same one I know. If people are going to get saved, it has to be the same gospel I preach. If God says here, there is no other gospel on salvation, can't be. Nobody has ever been saved because they lived a certain way. When he says, for by grace are you saved through faith, that not of yourself, not of yourself means it's not according to how you live. It is the gift of God, not of works. Not of works means it's not according to how you live. But isn't it true that most churches, most preachers are telling people it's how you live. Oh yeah, you're saved by grace, but then they but it all over the place. Salvation is the gift of God, and it's not of work. So Paul was set for the defense of the gospel. So that's why in verse 10 he says, do I sound like I'm trying to please men or God? I feel like this way. I travel this country preaching the gospel. I've been in a lot of different kinds of churches. I preached in one church, and after it was over, because during the service, man, they were amening all over the place. Had three trusts of the Lord. They had a little fellowship hall after we sat down to get something to eat. The preacher walked by and I says, what kind of a Baptist church is this? He says, we're not Baptist. What's the name of your church? He says, we're Wesleyan Armenian. It means that they believe you can lose your salvation. I had just finished preaching on the security of the believer. I'm so glad I didn't know. It wouldn't have changed my message any. His people loved it. He never invited me back though. Sometimes I feel like I'm only going to get one shot at this and there's no sense compromising now. See, I'm too old to start compromising. If I was going to do it, I should have done it years ago. But now in this stage of my life, man, I'm just chaffing at the bits. You see, you want to start either a revival or a revolt. You want to do something. That's what Paul did. Paul was a soul winner, but he made everybody mad. A lot of people mad. People wanted to kill Paul. I don't think anybody wants to kill me. I'm too sweet. I'm too nice. I'm a nice guy. But I believe that it is great to know the word of God. So you study the Bible, learn to quote scripture. If you're a child of the king, use the language of the court. Learn this book and study and know what you believe and know why you believe it. And also look up here just in case any of you students here may not know where you're going to spend eternity. I want you to know. Or somebody later on just might watch this on YouTube or in an online Bible class. This is you and me. This is sin. We all have sin. God loves us, but he hates our sin. And the Bible says since we've all sinned, we're all condemned because the wage of sin is death. So we all have to die. I had a man tell me one day, he says, I haven't sinned in 40 years. I said, that's a shame. I says, you're going to die. And the reason you're going to die is because you sin, because the way to sin is death. Duh. He didn't get it. But God loves us, wants us to go to heaven. To go to heaven, you have to be perfect, as righteous as God. And none of us are perfect. We've all sinned. So God says, you cannot earn eternal life. You can't work your way to heaven. So it's not according to how you live. You cannot save yourself. This hen represents Jesus Christ. He's the Lord, God in the flesh. Came into the world because He loves us. Hates our sin because our sin separates us from Him. We can't get to Him and He can't get to us because sin separates. So Jesus Christ, who had no sin, didn't have to die. But He took all of our sins, paid for it on the cross, came back from the dead. And all that God wants me to do about what He did was believe He did it for me. See, but I believe He did it for me. I got a payment for my sins. I paid for my sins. That's why I can't go to hell. My sins are paid. I don't have any sins to pay for. You see, when Christ died 2,000 years ago, how many of our sins were in the future? And a person who's going to be born 100 years from now, Did that include his? From the time the first man and the last person, all sin for everybody, regardless of how many has already been paid. And all we have to do is the only thing we can do is believe he did it for us. So when you believe he did it for you, he puts that payment to your account. And you can say, I'm going to heaven. How do I know I'm going to heaven? Christ paid for my sins. How come I can't go to hell in the future? Because I have no sins to pay for. Why? Because Christ paid for my sins. I am saved by grace. Christ paid for my sins because I believe in the gospel, the good news that Christ paid for my sins. And see, that's why that is so important to know and to understand, to believe, defend it, preach it. Let's pray, shall we? with heads bowed and eyes closed and no one looking around. If you have never trusted Christ as your Savior, why not right now in the quietness of this moment? Just say something simple like this, Lord, I don't understand it all. I've got questions and doubts, but I believe that when Christ died, I believe He died for me, that He paid for my sins, and I am going to accept Him as my Savior. And friend, if you trust Christ right now as your Savior, He saves you right now and gives you eternal life. And if you trust Christ as your Savior and you know you're going to heaven when you die, Friend, I'd like to know, and I'd like to pray for you. I'm not God, so I can't read minds. And this is the best way to do it for me, is I do it with heads bowed so that you're not embarrassed. I'm not going to have you stand up or come forward, but right where you're sitting, or if you're watching by internet, you that are here in the auditorium, would you right now just let me know by slipping your hand up very quickly, put it right back down. You don't want at all. So that made sense to me, and I want to know I'm going to heaven when I die. Would you just slip it up very quickly, put it right back down. Father, we are thankful so much for your watch, care, your love, all your provision. You made salvation free so that everybody can have it. And knowing that it is the gift of God and it's not of works, lest any man should boast. We thank you for the opportunity you've given us to come to school, study your word. We ask your blessings upon each class, each student. In Christ's name we pray, amen. Thank you and God bless.