Please take your Bibles and turn to the book of Galatians, Galatians chapter 5. The passage we're looking at this morning will be verses 7 through 12. Galatians 5, 7 through 12. If you're able, let's stand together and hear the reading of God's word. You were running well, who hindered you from obeying the truth. This persuasion is not from him who calls you. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty, whoever he is. But if I, brothers, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been removed. I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves." Strong words, very strong words from the Apostle Paul out of Galatians because He's protecting the purity of the gospel. Please be seated. Let's pray. Father, we pray that you would give us a passion for the gospel of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. and that we would understand it clearly and that we would see the implications of it not only for eternity but for each and every day of our lives. And that we would be those who are ready to give an answer to the hope that is in us when people ask. Help us as we spend this time in this important epistle. May we heed the warning and listen carefully. In Jesus' name, amen. One of the central characteristics of the evil of sin is deceit. And you'll see it throughout the scriptures. both I am deceived, I can be deceived by others, and I at times deceive myself, and I can deceive others. This is true certainly for non-Christians, but it's also true for Christians. As Christians, we should do much better Sometimes we do, and sometimes we don't. You would think, I'm gonna give you an example, you would think the whole discussion wouldn't even need to be a discussion when we talk about the sanctity of life and we talk about the very, very serious problem of abortion in our nation. How can you debate that? the freedom, the right to murder. I mean, where do you come from to be that deceived that you would actually stand up in public and say, that's my right to murder my offspring or her offspring? It's just, it's wild how depraved people are. Judges are called to uphold and interpret the law. It is a law, it ought to be, of justice and mercy, especially for those who are weak and helpless and cannot protect themselves. But what have judges done? There are judges who have taken a stand against life. There are doctors who are called to heal and to save, and nurses who have, in some way, worked it out in their mind that it's okay, in certain instances, to take life. Elected officials, right up to the President of the United States. Now, I'm not speaking of the present President, but previous Presidents. have taken a stand and have been so self-deceived instead of defending the weak and the needy. Boyfriends and husbands have taken the same stand and believe this lie that it's okay for my girlfriend or wife to get an abortion. Young, and not so young women. And we're talking millions over the years. Literally millions have bought this lie. And each one bears a certain amount of responsibility based on their age and their knowledge and their position in life, their ability, the counsel they've received, the opportunities they have and so on. And yet it's amazing to me, in light of all of that, there is grace, and there is mercy, and there is forgiveness, and there's love to the person who repents and believes in the Lord Jesus Christ. And that ain't no lie. That's the truth. And that's what all of us stand on, regardless of whether we have a connection with this particular sin or not, that's your hope and that's my hope. Only in the gospel, only in Christ can I say this, only there. And that's why Paul is so adamant, so intense about the purity of the gospel. If we lose that, we lose all forgiveness, we lose all hope, we lose all life. We do. And so this is something that you need to be sharp on and you need to be willing to defend and stand upon. You need to be able to see the truth and know the truth and embrace that truth and never move away from it. Proposition statement this morning is this. Be careful, brothers and sisters, don't be deceived. The preaching and way of the cross is a stumbling block to the world, but to those who believe in the gospel, it is the power of God unto salvation. God receives all who come to him and he forgives them. He forgives you and me all of our sins. That's our hope. Why would we water that down? Why would we add something to it? Or why would we be in a fellowship who preaches it and then leave and go somewhere else where they have perverted it? And so this idea, this warning of don't be deceived is for all of us today. For all of us, it's a warning. Remember last week, Paul exposed the dangers of false doctrines that threatened the Galatians. And now in verses 7 to 12, he now encourages the Galatians to continue on in the truth of the gospel that he's preached to them. He stated that those who were troubling them would be judged. The warning is here in almost a sarcastic tone, a sharp tone from the apostle Paul. they would be judged for adding to the gospel. Point number one, verses seven and eight, you see, it's a quote, you were running well. You were running well, who hindered you from obeying the truth? And so there's a picture right there. He starts out, his very first statement, you were running. The Christian life is likened to a race. I don't think it's a sprint. I think it's more like a marathon. Maybe it's more like what's coming up, what is it, next month? The mud run. Maybe it's that. because we find ourselves crawling in the muck sometimes of life by our own doing or someone else's, and we have to persevere through it no matter what. We're going to reach the goal. And so Paul likes to use this back up in your own, this epistle here in your Bible to Galatians 2 verse 2, Paul says, I went up because of a revelation. He went up to see the elders, to see the apostles in Jerusalem, a revelation and set before them, though privately before those who seemed influential, the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. Paul sees himself as running, as running this important race. In 1 Corinthians 9 he speaks of this Christian life as if we are athletes. and we are disciplining ourselves and we're running the race. Notice in chapter nine in verse 24, he says, do you not know that in a race all runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified." There you go. There's application right there. How are you running? There are some in Galatia that stopped running the race the way they should have. They were deceived and they started down a different path. What about you? Are you disciplining yourself unto godliness? Are you getting up after you fall down, maybe in the muck of life, maybe it's your fault, your sin, do you get up and immediately run to the Lord and repent of your sin, acknowledge it, and get back into that race, focused on the Lord? I urge you to do so. And if you're struggling and you have trouble or you have questions or doubts, talk to your elders. We would love to sit down with you and open the scriptures with you. It's a grief to me and to us that so often throughout the years, now the decades, people will come to you when they've already made up their mind and they've got one foot out the door. That's contrary to the vows that you've taken. Remember your vows. Don't become convinced of something way over here in secret. If you're reading or thinking about something that may be contrary even to the gospel, get help. And we will lovingly sit down with you and open the word of God together and work through it together. I plead with you to do that, brothers and sisters. So how did Paul do in the race? Well, he tells us. In 2 Timothy 4.7, he says, I have fought the good fight. It's a fight. I have finished the race. I have kept the faith. I've not lost it. I've proclaimed it. And I hold it to my chest right now. He made it. He made it. But Paul says here to the Galatians, who hindered you? or who tripped you up? What is it that hinders us in this race? What is it that can trip us up? Well, you know the answer to that. It's sin. The writer to the Hebrews in chapter 12 says, verse one, therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight What weighs you down? What slows you up in the Christian life? There's so many things, and some are okay. They're okay things, they're just not the best. And they may not be sinful even, and yet they are distractions from really pursuing Christ and His worship and His service, you see, in the furtherance of the gospel, both home and abroad. That's exciting to me, to see churches planted and growing through all kinds of problems that we face. It's exciting to see that. And he says here, every weight and sin which clings so closely, let us run with endurance the race that's set before us. There's that race motif again in Scripture. And we are to look unto Jesus, because he ran the race and he finished it. And if you and I are gonna finish this race, it's gonna be by the grace that Jesus Christ gives to us. Nothing less will do. And then there are also false teachers out there. as there were in Paul's day. And Paul essentially says, if you go back to Galatians in the first chapter, he says, may they be damned, may they be under the curse and judgment of God. So there's false teachers that can, and they pose as those who are members of Christianity and members of the Protestant church oftentimes. or maybe not the Protestant church, claiming to be the true church. And they're false teachers, and you have to be aware. And then there's Satan and demons who serve him. He's called the father of lies. He's an accuser of the brethren. He's a deceiver. Jesus said he was a liar and a murderer from the very beginning. Implication? He lied to Eve, and Adam bought his line as well. And as the saying goes, and the rest is history, a very sad history as a result of the fall of Adam. Look at verse eight back in our text. He says, this persuasion is not from him who calls you. This did not come from the Lord. Let me give you an example. This is somewhat extreme. You've heard of this in the past. I have as well, these kind of things occurring. A young man by the name of Christopher Edwards, he was graduated from Yale University in the early summer of 1975. Bright young man, no one's gonna fool him. He enrolled at Berkeley with plans to pursue a master's degree. While there, he was approached by a stranger who offered him an alleged fun weekend at a local farm. What he didn't realize was that it was a front for the Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church in Berkeley. He went, and the fun weekend turned into seven and a half months of maddening brainwashing. Christopher was changed from a clear-thinking, brilliant, astute individual into a completely subservient disciple of his new Messiah. In his own words, dependent on his leaders for every move, ready and willing to die or even kill to restore the world under the absolute rule of Reverend Moon. He was kidnapped by his father and a team of trained professionals in January of 1976. And not until he went through a full year of deprogramming in therapy under the direction of a specialist in occult-related problems did Christopher Edwards gain mastery over what he called, quote, months of madness, end quote. He wrote a book entitled, Crazy for God, about his experience. Now that couldn't happen. Well, it happens. It happens right in the U.S. of A., and the Gospel is all around us, and yet people can be deceived and they can buy into it. It's hard to understand. But the Scripture here is warning us. And don't just go, Well, that might happen over there, but it would never happen to me. We can be deceived. And so how are you running? Are you wise? Are you discerning? By faith in Christ? Do you embrace the gospel? Do you listen to the message? The message coming through in different ways on our phone and television, computer screens, in various ways on the university campuses. Are you hearing the messages and are you discerning? Do you look at the character of these false prophets? And I urge you, don't walk by your feelings because the feelings are gonna be all over the place. And I've heard people say that. It just felt so right. I have a peace about this. As they're walking away from Jesus Christ, I have a peace about this. Makes me wanna scream. What can we do? Well, I can say this to you today, brothers and sisters, and we can study the word of God and we can hold to it and we can watch each other's backs and we can help and encourage one another. The second point, verse nine, a little leaven. A little leaven leavens the whole lump. It's just a little sin. It's just a little idea. It's not a big deal. As yeast or leaven permeates and influences, it spreads in a lump of dough, so false ideas spread in the world of thought. They spread through the world of education. We call it at times higher education. These thoughts go through the business world and through government and into politics. In individual hearts, these false ideas can permeate entire families and entire churches. Our church, the OPC, came out of a church that had believed the lie. It had believed the lie of liberalism. I won't go off into that, what that was all about. And so for a number of years, since about 1937, we have been those who have held to the truth and our denomination is noted for that. Yeah, we're sticklers about the Bible. And we're sticklers about self-government and government within the church and the rule of elders, et cetera, et cetera. We really are. The OPC's kind of known for that. Let's be humble and hold to it faithfully. And so this yeast, it could be good, it could be evil, depends on what it is, can come into your life. It permeated, was starting to permeate into the church in Corinth, for example. I'm not gonna take the time, the clock is killing me today. but a little sin can permeate. And in 1 Corinthians chapter five, this man had his, it was like his stepmother in an intimate sexual relationship. How awful is that? And the church for a time wasn't doing anything about it. And Paul says there, that leaven is gonna leaven the whole lump. That sin in the body of Christ is gonna permeate and it's gonna poison the entire church if you don't deal with it. Paul says, I've already dealt with it. I've already judged the man in my mind. And then there's the leaven of error in Matthew chapter 16. Jesus warns his disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees. And it's not against their, you know, cooking practices. That's not what he meant. What was it? It was against their teachings. They were adding to the scriptures. They were twisting the scriptures. They were setting aside the scripture for tradition, you see. And he warned them about the leaven that could permeate into their own lives. Well, you know, another metaphor could be one little drop of poison. You know, sin is so powerful, if God were not restraining it, it would destroy the universe. Do you realize that? It is the anti-God principle that has entered the universe, and if it could get rid of God, it would get rid of him. That's how awful it is. One drop of poison. Would you drink a glass of water if someone said there's only one drop of poison in it? The rest is pure water. But yet I've known of people in the world of theology that are brilliant off the chart. And yet they came across a wrong presupposition, a wrong starting point, one falsehood, and they tried to move through the Scriptures, but that falsehood was coloring their theology. Brilliant. You see, maybe I'm not given to those kind of things because, you know, I'm just an average guy. And to me it seems so clear, but to some with brilliant creative minds, you see, they can come up with an idea and then they put it upon the scriptures. And they are wrong. They are wrong. One little cancer cell. If the doctor said that to you, you have cancer, but it's just one tiny cell. You need a microscope to see it. What would you do with that? Would you say, okay, no big deal? Or if he said you had cancer, would you turn around and shoot him? Would you get rid of the doctor? Or would you face the reality? And the reality of sin is not simply around us to deceive us, it's in our own hearts. And there are times we deceive ourselves. We want something, we argue for something, and we stand upon a particular ground because of our pride, and we know how to color our argument, we know how to turn it a little bit to make it look better than our spouse or neighbor or whatever, and we're wrong. We're wrong. We've gotta be careful and humble. Lord Byron wrote, the thorns which I have reaped are of the tree I planted. They have torn me and I bleed. I should have known what fruit would spring from such a seed. And when there is error in any form, bitter fruit comes forth. in the lives of those who are taken in by it. And the seed in this particular context was what? It was circumcision. It was just add circumcision, add maybe some portions of the ceremonial law to the gospel. Believe in Jesus, that's fine. But just add this to it. And Paul said, no, no, no. And so brothers and sisters, again, the warning is there for each one of us. Watch out in your own life for that one little continuing sin, for it will grow, it will spread if you let it. And by the grace of God, we need to jump all over it. And I know it's hard because the Christian life is daily and it goes on over the years. And it's hard to stay in that race, isn't it? A third point, I'll be more brief on this one, I hope. Look at verses 10 and 12. Encouragement and sarcasm, they're both in the text here. It's an interesting text. In verse 10, Paul says, I have confidence in the Lord that you will take no other view. Okay? You're gonna be okay. I believe that you are grounded in the truth. And that's why doctrine is so important. It is our foundation. It's not something added on. It's not something for ministers and for seminary students and professors to talk about because they just like that kind of stuff. But I'm not interested, Dane. No thank you. It's for all of us. Paul said, I'm sure of this, I'm confident of this very thing, that he who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. John writes in his gospel in the 10th chapter that Jesus is the shepherd of the sheep. The sheep hear his voice and they follow him. then how is it that you have sheep here and one of the sheep begin to hear a different voice over here? What's with that? And yet I've seen that happen. You've been with the sheep for years, you look like a sheep, you sound like a sheep, but all of a sudden you're over here and you're following other thoughts and other ideas and a different shepherd who is not a shepherd at all. In the same passage in John 10, it says that that shepherd will lay his life down for the sheep. He will die for the sheep. And then near the end of that passage, he promises that nothing will separate us from the Father, nor from him who is the shepherd, you say, nothing. Paul's confident of that. And yet in our text, notice in verse 10, the second half, and the one who is troubling you will bear the penalty whoever he is. In verse 12, I wish those who unsettle you would emasculate themselves. Judgment and strong sarcasm here. So strong that in chapter one, he says, let him be cursed. Let him be set aside for God's wrath, who perverts the gospel. Jesus was strong on this as well. We read about, or we read his words in Luke chapter 17, verse one and following where he says to his disciples, temptations to sin are sure to come. But woe to the one through whom they come. It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. And that's what's going on. It was taking place in Paul's time. Jesus described the Pharisees and the scribes by these kind of words, hypocrites, deceivers, extortioners, misguided proselytizers, blind guides, fools, inwardly corrupt and foul, sons of murder, serpents and vipers, future persecutors of the church. And their worst evil was what Isaiah prophesied 600 years earlier. In vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men. You see how important the scriptures are, that you and I know them, that we're standing upon them. And brothers and sisters, that means you need to be a committed student of the word throughout your life. this needs to be the most important book in your library. And I don't care what form you get it, if it's on yourself, whatever it is, get the Word of God in you and pour over it every day of your life. It will guide your path. It will protect you. Paul uses cutting sarcasm here in verse 12 that they might cut themselves off One commentator, Peter Barnes, writes, circumcision without Christ is mutilation. The priests of Sibyl, a cult that was native to Galatia, used to mutilate themselves, and Paul may be once again implying that works righteousness, whether in Judaism or paganism, is the enemy of the cross. Of course, Paul is indulging in ironic black humor not setting out precise instructions. Sarcasm is not listed as a work of the flesh, and the apostle was quite capable of resorting to it. Judaizers would be excluded from God's covenant people by their own law. May they cut themselves off. So whatever Paul means here, we know this. Paul hated sin. whether it was the sin of heresy or the sin of immorality. And so the question again, it screams at me when I study these things, do I? Do you? Do you know that we can sin vicariously? We don't have to go out and do something or say something, whatever. We can sin vicariously by watching others sin for us on TV, movies, and on the internet, and it's just all around us. And so, brothers and sisters, we need to say, Lord, teach me not only to avoid sin, the wise man doesn't walk into it, the wise man sees trouble and he turns and he goes the other way. And the victory is only won in the heart, in the mind. Or it's not gonna be won at all. But also that God might give us the grace to hate it, like Paul did. To truly, truly hate our sin. Okay, a final point here. We see it in verse 11, the continued offense of the cross. But if I, brother, still preach circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case, the offense of the cross has been removed. Did Paul preach circumcision? Well, he might have as a Pharisee before Christ. He encouraged some to be circumcised in a certain context, Timothy being one of them in Acts chapter 16. But that has really nothing to do with what Paul is saying in Galatians here. He might even have performed it a few times, but he didn't preach it. It was anathema in his ministry because he was a preacher of the gospel in all of its power and purity. And the proof here is stated by Paul himself. If I were implying that you ought to be circumcised, then why am I being persecuted? And he was being persecuted. I have not and will not remove the offense of the cross, says Paul. I am committed. And so what offense does the cross give? Because it is an offense, it's scorned, it's laughed at, it's set aside, and those who are spiritually blind think it's foolishness. You see, the cross reveals God's holy hatred of sin. It reveals the demands of the law. It shows how strict they are that God would send his only son to die on that cross. It reveals man's total depravity and inability to do anything toward his salvation. Because if there was anything in man, do you think God would have sent his son to die on the cross if man could somehow work out his own salvation? Man's pride is laid low in the dust by the cross, and he must look to Christ alone for salvation, you see. He must look to the cross. He must deny himself, turn from his sin, and take hold of Jesus Christ by faith. This is abhorrent to man's proud, sinful nature. Only by God's grace will he bow and believe. And so what is the way of the cross for us who embrace it? You see, the cross is that instrument of death, the cross is that instrument where we deny ourselves, where we, by the grace of God, mortify sin, kill sin. Out of a book of Puritan poems and prayers, I want to read some thoughts to you. The title of this particular prayer is, Man, a Nothing. I am deeply convinced of the evil and misery of a sinful state, of the vanity of creatures, but also of the sufficiency of Christ. Are you convinced of the sufficiency, the all-sufficiency of Christ? And yet this writer goes on and says, but I fight against it. It's so sad. We all do because we're sinners. When you would guide me, I control myself. When you would be sovereign, I rule myself. When you would take care of me, I suffice myself. When I should depend on your providings, I supply myself. I don't need you. When I should submit to your providence, I follow my will. When I should study, love, honor, and trust you, I serve myself. I fault and correct your laws to suit myself. Instead of you, I look to a man's approbation, to man's praise, and then by nature, an idolater. Lord, it is my chief design to bring my heart back to you. Convince me that I cannot be my own God or make myself happy, because that's what we do through each and every sin. We do. Take away my roving eye, curious ear, greedy appetite, lustful heart. Show me that none of these things can heal a wounded conscience or support a tottering frame or uphold a departing spirit. Then take me to the cross and leave me there. May God, by his grace, take us to Jesus. And we walk in an intimate love relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. That's what it's all about. That's what it's all about. There's no special key or secret that I can give you to overcome all your sin. It's found in Jesus Christ and your intimate relationship with him. Praise God because he loves us and he'll never let us go. Let's pray. Father, this is so good, I just can't put it into words. We are so grateful for the Lord Jesus Christ. He's not an idea. He is a living person. And how could he ever love us? And yet he does, Father, and you love us. And so we praise you and we thank you for the ongoing work of the Spirit of Christ within us. Bring us back to you again and again When our hearts grow cold, when our feet go down the wrong path, when we say the wrong words, when our hearts are sinful, Lord, bring us back. Don't let us stray as we have known some to do who have once professed the faith and now no longer walk with the people of God. Keep us, Lord. Keep our children and our grandchildren. that we might walk before you and continue your worship in glory. In Christ's name we do pray, amen.