Grace That Doesn't Sound Like Grace

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

Morse Corner is a non -denominational church and 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.

If I say something and I'm not an apostle, I'm not a prophet or anything like that, but if I say for example

God created the heavens and the earth in six days and rested on the seventh day.

If I say something like that and somebody responds is what what are you a science denier? You don't believe in evolution or the

Big Bang? And I say no, God created all things and mankind was made in God's image.

If you know somebody could respond and say well Pastor Grant, he's just an idiot. He doesn't believe in science.

Are they really attacking me? I mean, well, yeah, they're attacking me, but who are they really attacking?

They're attacking God's Word. They're attacking the Lord because the Lord said that He created in six days.

The point is this, so much as I am speaking on behalf of God, rightly, and that's a preacher's job, so much as I am speaking on behalf of God and His Word, any attack against my message is an attack against God's message.

I could come up with my own message and you can say well he is an idiot because he's preaching his own message and that may or may not be true.

But you understand, I didn't come up with this. God created the heavens and the earth.

That's not my message. I didn't come up with that. That's in God's Word. And Paul's writings are

Scripture. They're God's Word. So any attack against the

Apostle Paul, you might as well be attacking Jesus Himself. Let me prove that. Go to Acts chapter 9.

And I say all of this to try to lay a foundation that Galatians is absolutely authoritative.

Everything that is said in the book of Galatians is true. We must accept what is stated because it's a book about the clarity of the gospel.

What's the gospel? How can you answer that question outside of the writings of Paul or the writings of Scripture?

You can't. You can't. And you know, I talked about me and my words.

It's the same for you as a believer, right? You're a priest. If you're part of the

New Testament, if you're part of the New Covenant, you're part of that priesthood of all believers.

So you represent, in this world, you represent Christ because you are part of the body of Christ.

So if you proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God and if you're attacked for it, if you're persecuted for it, are they really attacking you or persecuting you?

No, they're persecuting Christ. So as much as you speak rightly the

Word of God on behalf of Christ, you're speaking the Word of God as well. So any attack on you is really an attack on Christ.

Here's the proof. Acts chapter 9 verse 1. This is while Saul was still an unconverted

Pharisee trying to oppress Christians. It says, then Saul still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the

Lord went to the high priest and asked letters from him to the synagogues of Damascus so that if he found any who were of the way, that's

Christianity, they're followers of the way, Jesus the way, the truth, and the life. So if he found any who are followers of the way, whether men or women, that he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.

As he journeyed, he came near Damascus and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

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? And then the Lord said,

I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. Who is Paul persecuting?

He was persecuting Christians here on earth. Jesus said, you're persecuting me. So the point is when people are persecuting

Christians or attacking the message of scripture spoken by Christians, they're really persecuting

Christ. They hate Christ. You know, I don't know if this is an encouragement to you or not, but if you're hated for your faith, don't get that.

They don't really hate you. They hate the Lord. They hate the Lord. They hate the

Lord's message. So we speak on behalf of Christ.

Paul spoke on behalf of Christ. Galatians chapter 1, go back there. I don't think it needs to be said, but obviously our words do not carry the same weight as the apostle

Paul. You know, we kind of put things in our own words and we may write things. Obviously, it doesn't carry the same weight.

Paul was an apostle. I'm not. Okay. Paul was an apostle. You're not. Paul received special revelation from God.

We don't. Paul was an eyewitness of the resurrected Lord. We're not.

Jesus appeared to him in a vision and gave him this holy calling. Our calling isn't the same.

In some ways it's the same, but we don't have the calling as an apostle. The Lord gave him the ability to heal the sick.

Paul even raised the dead on one occasion. You can't do that. I wish I could do that.

I can't do that. So there are no apostles in the church today.

Again, they are the foundation of the church. You build the foundation where? At the bottom.

The foundation was laid 1 ,900 years ago. We've been building on the foundation ever since.

And this is as good a time as any to say it. If anyone ever comes to you and claims that they are a prophet or an apostle, what should you do?

Somebody comes to you. I'm an apostle like Paul. Well, my advice, flee as fast as you can and hold onto your wallet because that's really what they're after.

1 John 4, 1 says, Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits where they're of God because many false prophets have gone out into the world.

Of course, Paul's critics, what did they say about him? Well, you know what they said? They said, well, Paul's a fraud.

Paul is the false teacher, but he proved that was not true because Paul had the ability to work signs and wonders.

Also, Paul was accepted by Peter, James, and John. That is something that no apostle could claim today.

So just to go back and we're almost done, but just to go back to what I said a few moments ago about these people who try to pit the apostle

Paul against Jesus, we must recognize the truth claim that Paul is making, having the authority of Christ as an apostle.

Either you have to accept all of his teachings or he is a false prophet. I mean, this is all or nothing.

Either Galatians is the word of God or it's not. Paul either has this authority of Christ, speaks for Christ or he doesn't.

So he says, Paul, an apostle, not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God, the father who raised him from the dead and all the brethren who are with me.

We don't know who was with him at this point. At times it was John Mark or Timothy or Silas or Titus.

We don't know who was with him at this point, but there was always someone with him and I don't want to get off topic.

We only have a few minutes left, but this is really important. I think this is an important point.

Paul was not a lone ranger. He always was with someone in the work of ministry and he was always connected to a church.

Who sent him out? Was he a self -appointed preacher? Self -appointed apostle?

No, he was sent out from the church at Antioch. So Paul was always with other people doing ministry.

He was always connected to a church. And we should learn from that. We should be doing the work of ministry with others.

We can't just be one guy sitting in his basement at home on the internet doing the work of God. There's too many of those these days.

Ecclesiastes 4, 9 through 12 says, two are better than one because they have a good reward for their labor.

For if they fall, one will lift up his companion, but woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up.

Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm, but how can one be kept warm alone?

The one may be overtaken by another, two can withstand him, and a three -fold cord is not quickly broken.

So number one, we need each other. We need Christian fellowship.

And number two, we need to be part of a local church. You cannot do it alone.

Paul did not do it alone. That is not God's will for you to be alone. And then number three, if you are doing the work of the

Lord, hey, try to do it with someone. Go out two by two at least. So we don't know who

Paul was with, but we do know who he was writing to. To the churches, he says, of Galatia.

So this letter was not written to one church, like the church at Corinth. This is written to a whole group of churches in this region.

Paul says, grace to you and peace from God the Father and our

Lord Jesus Christ. So let's just spend the final minute or two on this statement, grace to you, grace and peace.

This is a very common way New Testament letters are opened. And you know, grace always comes first.

Grace always comes before peace, because you cannot have the peace of God until you first experienced peace with God.

And you cannot have peace with God until you first experienced the grace of God. So grace always comes before peace.

And even in this phrase, emphasizing grace, it counters the false doctrine of the

Judaizers who were legalists saying that grace, you know, isn't enough because they're trying to add works and that destroys the concept of grace.

There's a well -known radio program in ministry titled, Grace to You.

And I've heard many people say about that program upon listening to it, they say, it's called

Grace to You, but it doesn't sound like grace to me. Because admittedly, the preaching is really bold.

It's very direct. And that pastor even dares to mention the names of false teachers, something the

Apostle Paul did, by the way. But why do people say that? Well, in the evangelical church, most people, they want to be set at ease.

They want a preacher who makes them feel comfortable. They want to be told things that make them feel good and to laugh.

And there's nothing wrong with that. We try to laugh and I want you to feel good. I really do.

But we cannot compromise the truth. And that's what a lot of people want.

They want the smiling preacher who may be willing to compromise the truth more than the doctrinally sound expositor who preaches verse by verse through the scriptures.

So this concept of grace, it brings the idea of sweetness and light and joy and kindness and speech.

And certainly that is all part of it. And we should be kind and gracious to others in our interaction.

But let's remember, souls are at stake. If you believe the gospel, you know souls are at stake.

In verse 3, Paul says, grace to you. But then in verses 8 and 9, he is anathematizing people saying that these false teachers, they preach another gospel.

He says, let them be anathema. Basically they are on the road to hell, he says.

But you can't pit Paul against Jesus, neither can you pit verse 3 against verses 8 and 9 and 10 and so on.

So why is Paul saying these things? In conclusion, because he loves the people. Why did he write this letter?

Because he loves the churches. He loves these people more than they know.

Maybe it's too late for the false teachers. Maybe it is. Maybe it's not. But certainly it wasn't too late for the

Galatians who had been bewitched. So Paul is writing to them. He is very direct.

He starts the letter in a very direct way. But he tells them these things because he loves them and he wants what's best for them.

And you know, if we really love other people, we don't need to be rude. We don't need to be unkind.

But if we truly love others, we should be willing to tell them the truth.

We need to become all things to all men so that by all means we might save some.

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, with the grace of God be with you.