Follow Me As I Follow Christ

Thank you for listening to this message from the ministry of Morse Corner Church in Leverett, Massachusetts.

Morse Corner is a non -denominational church that is committed to the preaching and teaching of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Our church was founded in 1896 by two students of the famous evangelist

D .L. Moody. We seek to encourage and edify the body of Christ through the proclamation of God's word through the ministries of the local church.

If you'd like more information, visit our website, morsecornerchurch .com. We hope you enjoy the message.

Paul preached the cross, and because he preached the cross, he was persecuted.

The Judaizers, on the other hand, they didn't preach the cross, they preached that salvation came through what?

Works, right, the works of the law. So that's a popular message, and you know, it's still a popular message today.

These would be like preachers today who tell people what they want to hear, that, hey, you're a good person.

You're saved because of all the good things that you do. You know, you're a champion.

You're a victor. You're going to succeed. People like that. Yeah, I am a pretty good person.

Yeah, I am going to succeed. Yeah, I am going to get that promotion at work. So when people preach that and sprinkle in a little

Jesus on top of it, call it Christianity, and there you go. That's essentially what the false teachers were doing.

Salvation through the law is based on what you do. People like that.

But preaching Christ and his suffering and the crucifixion, friends, that's not something people wanted to hear about.

So some of the Jews could even make room for Jesus. Typically we think of the

Jewish people, either they accepted Jesus or they did not. But there was a lot of Jews that could maybe make room for Jesus as a prophet.

Salvation through the law, faith in Jesus, okay. But a crucified Messiah is the one thing they could not handle.

The message was what? To the Jews, it is a stumbling block.

To the Greeks, it's just foolishness. So the true gospel has always been an offense.

But the message of the false teachers was palatable. And let's not forget what

Jesus said in Luke 6, 26. He said, So when unsaved people love listening to a

Christian preacher, there's a problem. That's a bad sign.

So the Judaizers who told the Jews and others what they wanted to hear, it's kind of like today when people have their ears tickled.

So the Judaizers were the false prophets. And Paul was the true prophet.

He was the true apostle. And basically the wounds in his body authenticated his message.

So that's all that verse 17 is referring to. You know, people will suffer and die for what they believe in.

Don't you know that's the case? Nobody will suffer and die for what they know to be false.

The Judaizers were not willing to suffer at all. Paul was willing to suffer.

Why? Because he saw the risen Lord. Paul was willing to suffer. He was willing to give his life because he knew it was true.

Do you remember the parable of the sower? When Jesus said, he who received the seed on stony places, this is he who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy.

Yet he has no root in himself, but endures only for a while. For when tribulation or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.

So the false teachers didn't have to face any opposition. If they did, they would have bailed out.

There are some people who they hear the gospel and they accept it. And I mean, everybody wants to go to heaven.

But the first sign of trouble, the first time it's going to cost them something, what do they do?

Immediately they stumble. I want to challenge maybe some people listening. I think you've heard this before, but maybe some people listening later on on the radio.

Instead of thinking, hey, I'm going to believe in Jesus or telling somebody, will you believe in Jesus for everlasting life?

Everybody wants everlasting life. Maybe this is something you could do next time you witness to somebody.

Instead of saying or making it all about going to heaven, say, are you willing to follow

Jesus? Are you willing to be a follower of Christ? If you say, do you want to go to heaven?

Nobody is going to say no to that. Anyone who believes that there is a heaven and hell, nobody is going to say no to that.

But if you say, do you want to become a follower of Christ? Do you want to follow the teachings of Jesus?

Can you see how that all of a sudden puts it in a totally different light? I want salvation.

I want blessings. I want heaven. I want all those things. But I don't actually want to have to follow him wherever he goes.

So maybe that's a challenge. But, you know, a fair -weather disciple, because that's kind of what

Paul is talking about here with the Judaizers. They were not willing to suffer for Christ's namesake.

The thing about a fair -weather disciple, they're not much of a disciple, are they?

I know I'm talking to a group this morning. Many of you have faced a great deal of adversity.

Many of you have faced a lot of trials in your life. And you know the great thing about it?

Your faith is still intact. You've gone through a lot in your life.

And instead of blaming God for it, and instead of stumbling at the first time things went wrong, you're still here.

Your faith is still intact. And I just praise God for that, and may God bless you for that.

James 1, 2, and 3, he says, My brethren, count it all joy.

Count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience.

Why do you have to count it all joy? Because it really isn't all that joyful, is it? But it is if we keep our eyes focused on the reward.

Okay, look at verse 11. Paul says, See with what large letters I have written to you with my own hand.

So Paul's handwriting, I wish I could see. I know that's not going to happen. It's impossible.

I wish I could see what his signature looked like. Because when somebody saw it, they knew, hey, this letter is from Paul.

And why did that matter? Because if this was from Paul, it was from an apostle.

And if this letter is from an apostle, it's what? Yeah, it's authoritative for the

New Testament church. So here's the thing. Paul speaks with authority.

The word apostle means one who is sent. So the apostles of Christ are sent by Christ.

Therefore, they speak with the authority of Christ. So you're reading the words of Paul.

You're listening to the words of Paul. But in some ways, you might as well be hearing the words of Jesus himself.

Because Jesus represents Paul. You know, when the United States sends an ambassador or a delegate to another country.

And they go to that country and speak to that nation's leader. Their words are authoritative.

Why? Because they speak for the United States government. So it's not the

United States government. It's not the president that speaks. But they're speaking his words. So you see the authority there.

Well, that's what Paul is doing. He is speaking with the authority of Jesus Christ. How many of you have heard someone say this?

They say, well, you know, I don't follow Paul. I follow Jesus. I don't follow

Paul. I follow Jesus. That might sound spiritual to you. But in reality, it's kind of an unfortunate statement.

If you ever hear someone say that, I follow Paul and not Jesus. Just ask them, tell me something about Jesus that didn't come from Paul or James or John or one of the disciples.

Tell me something about Jesus that didn't come from one of the prophets or the apostles. They can't.

Because we don't know anything about Jesus except through them or through their words.

So unless a person wants to join the ranks of the Judaizers and speak against the authority of Christ's apostle, they need to rethink such a statement.

Also in 1 Corinthians chapter 11, you remember what Paul said? Follow me as I follow

Christ. In the modern church, we like to think of, well, I follow

Jesus. I don't follow any man. But do you realize you are following someone?

You are following a man. You are following men. Someone can say, well,

I only follow Jesus. I don't follow anyone else. Everyone follows somebody.

People follow celebrities. People follow politicians. People follow their friends.

People follow a family member. Everybody is following somebody.

You can say that's not true for you. I promise you it is. Paul says, follow me as I follow

Christ. And part of that is don't follow the Judaizers. They are going to lead you astray.

You need to follow an apostle of Christ. So Paul is basically saying in verses 12 through 13 that the

Judaizers, you know, they are trying to get, what was their goal? What did the Judaizers want the Galatians to do?

They wanted them to do something. So if you were to convert to Jesus, if you were to be saved, you had to have a medical procedure, basically.

What was it? Right. You had to be circumcised.

They don't want to face opposition from the Jews because that's where all the pressure was coming from the

Jews, about the law and circumcision. So they basically caved to that and said in order to be a follower of Jesus, you need to be circumcised.

And they were teaching the law. What was their purpose in teaching the law?

Paul describes it basically they just want to boast and brag about how they made you their own disciples.

So if somebody was circumcised, one of the Judaizers could say, yes, that's because of me. I convinced him to do that.

So it was a way of boasting about how they had their own followers.

In Acts chapter 20, verse 30, Paul warned the Ephesian elders, you just make a note of this,

Acts 20, verse 30. He said, also from among yourselves, men will rise up speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after themselves.

The word perverse basically means to distort or to twist the truth, to twist the scripture.

And today in the 21st century, you know, the more things change, really the more they stay the same.

There are preachers who, you know, for some subjects, they want to twist the word of God.

So the Judaizers were teaching things that were popular. And today you have to watch out for the same thing.

Teach, people are teaching things that are popular. And then there's those other subjects that they don't want to touch with a 10 foot pole.

So they're about boasting and converting their own disciples.

Look at verse 14. What did Paul want to boast about? How many followers he had, how many disciples that he had?

No, he said, but God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our

Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me and I to the world.

I want you to think for a moment. Can you say that same thing?

That this world has been crucified to me. The more time goes on, the more we grow in our walk with Christ, the less and less we should be clinging to the things of the world.

Paul said the world had been crucified to him. What does that mean? The Greek word translated world is what?

Who knows? Yeah, cosmos. So basically there's one sense where God so loved the world.

God loved humanity. God loved the people of this world. And we should love the people of this world.

But there's another sense that we should not love the world. We should not love the world system.

We should not love the ways of the world. Jesus said, all that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes and the pride of life.

That's what we are not to love. Thanks for listening.

I'm Pastor Michael Grant from Morris Cornick Church. If you'd like to listen to the complete message, or if you'd like more information about the ministry, visit our website, morriscornickchurch .com.

We'd love to have you join us some Sunday morning here in Leverett. Until next time, may the grace of God be with you.