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Good morning. Please stand. Reading of God's Word. I'll be reading from Isaiah 55. Isaiah 55, the first seven verses. So welcome. Isaiah 55, verse 1. Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters. And you who have no money, come, buy, and eat. Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost.

Why do you spend money for what is not bread, and your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourself in abundance. Incline your ear and come to me. Listen, that you may live. And I will make an everlasting covenant with you according to the faithful mercies shown to David.

Behold, I have made him a witness to the peoples, a leader and commander for the peoples. Behold, you will call a nation you do not know, and a nation which knows you not will run to you because of the Lord your God, even the Holy One of Israel.

For he has glorified you. Seek the Lord while he may be found. Call upon him while he is near. Let the wicked forsake his way. And the unrighteous man his thoughts, and let him return to the Lord, and he will have compassion on him and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Let's pray. Heavenly Father, come before you as a people who are in need of your faithful mercies. And what a promise is held out in this passage: that if anyone comes to you, you will make a covenant with them according to the faithful mercies shown to David. Father, we recognize the worth of this statement and of this blessing to be in a relationship with you and your faithful mercies.

It's the greatest thing anybody could ever know. It's a gift that endures forever. And Father, you offer it freely to all who will simply come and learn to find their satisfaction in you. So, Father, that is our desire this morning. We come confessing our sins, recognizing that we need pardon, we need your forgiveness, we need your direction in our lives, we need your provision in our lives, and Father, all of this you promise as part of your covenant faithfulness.

To your people. And so, in that, we rejoice in that truth. We gather this morning and we sing praises to your name. May you be exalted here. In Christ's name, we pray. Amen. Once again, good morning. Please turn in your Bibles to Galatians 1. We'll be looking at verses 3 to 5 today, and then we will spend some time in Acts 13.

In fact, we'll spend the most of our time in Acts 13. But Galatians chapter 1, verse 3: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore.

Amen. Well, this morning we come to the gospel, the message of God's grace. We've looked at the mission of God's grace. That's under his authority, the whole mission itself. The missionaries are under his grace. God raised up Paul. We saw that verse 1, Paul, an apostle. We recognize that the mission team is also.

Under God's authority, under Christ's authority, he raises up the mission team, brings them together, as well as the sending church. But also, that the mission field is under the authority of Christ. He had a specific designation, address for the gospel on this mission trip. And in verse 2, it's to the churches of Galatia.

So the mission, the missionaries, the mission team, the mission field, the mission trip itself, it's all under Christ's authority. And of course, the message. The message to be proclaimed is under Christ's authority. And that's where we come to the gospel this morning. You ever had a burden that you couldn't lift?

Have you ever felt like there's a measure that you can't meet? Something, a standard you cannot live up to, a way of life? I call this the burden of perfection. A burden of perfection. Something you just can't lift. Something you just can't get to. So can't measure up to.

John Bunyan, and you all should be familiar with John Bunyan by now. John Bunyan was a man who was acquainted with despair. He was acquainted with depression. He was acquainted with despond. That was the burden of perfection that he held under the great weight of God's displeasure, trying to live up to that standard, knowing all along that he couldn't get to that standard of perfection.

Well, getting the gospel right is key to life with God. We've got to get the gospel right, and that is what this message is about this morning: the gospel. The message. What is God's message of grace that He communicates to us and He expects us to communicate to others?

It's clear from the text that we read: grace to you, verse 3, and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us for our sins, so that He might rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore.

Amen. It's clear that getting right with God comes from God. But it doesn't come through the law of Moses, it comes through Jesus Christ. Grace and peace come from God the Father and Jesus Christ, who gave himself up for our sins, so that he might rescue us out of this present age according to the will of the Father, so that we may live for his glory.

To him be the glory, the radiance, the splendor, the fame, the prestige of our life forevermore. Amen. This greeting in Galatians 1 summarizes in a nutshell the gospel that was preached in Galatia. Grace and peace come from God through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for the sins of his people in order to deliver them from evil so that they may live for the glory of God.

That's the gospel. Grace and peace in your life comes from God. It is administered through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ for your sins, in order to deliver you not only from the penalty of your sins, but from the power of your sins and a life disposed to your sins so that you may now begin to live for the glory of God, for his fame, not your own.

And that's where life really begins. That's the nutshell what we see in this greeting here of Paul. I want to take you to Acts chapter 13 now. Acts chapter 13. I'm going to look at verses 13. 13 through 41 today, because in Acts 13, picking up where we were last time, beginning in verse 14, we have the expanded version of this gospel.

And in Galatians 1, in that little greeting, we have the gospel in a nutshell. But in Acts 13, what we'll look at today, beginning in verse 14, we see the gospel and this expanded version of that message that was actually preached in Galatia. And that's, you need to understand the gospel that Paul preached at Galatia, because this is going to be the foundation, really, of all of his letters.

It's going to be the foundation of Galatians. It's going to be the foundation of Romans. It's going to be the foundation of all Pauline thinking and the gospel that was proclaimed to the nations. So let's just pick it up where we left off last week. If you'll remember, this first missionary journey begins in Antioch.

They travel to Cyprus. They come across the island of Cyprus to Paphos. And they come up to Perga. And that's where we left them last week. Look back at verse 13. Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos. Came to Perga and Pamphylia, but John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

But then, verse 14, we'll pick up where we left off from last week. But going on from Perga, they arrived at Pisidian Antioch, and on the Sabbath day they went into the synagogue and sat down. So they go into Pisity in Antioch, they're into the region of Galatia.

Now, let me give you a little background on Pisidian Antioch. My wife and I just, some of my kids, just went there in May. It was actually, in my opinion, one of my favorite places on the whole trip of this last summer. It's one of my favorite places to go.

It's a city located about 100 miles north of Perga. It's on this beautiful plateau that's about 3,600 feet above sea level. And there are just breathtaking views in every direction. You'll see some of those here in a moment. It was a key commercial city on the trade route, that Via Sebeste, that Roman road that connected the area with Iconium, Lystra, Derby.

Where did Paul travel? He traveled the roads. That's how he got back and forth. He went on these roads. But it was a key commercial city. It was an imperial province that was reorganized under Caesar Augustus. And so this made this a very important place. And a monument was built for Caesar Augustus.

I'll come to that in a minute. But I just want to show you a couple of things about Pisidian Antioch that struck me when I was there. Here's the gate into Pisidian, at least from the east, most likely that Paul would have walked through. You can walk on the very same stones that Paul would have walked on.

It's all there. And you go in there, and we took some interesting photos at the museum, just to give you a little picture of everyday life. You know what? The ladies in Pisidian Antioch like to wear jewelry. And there's some pictures of some jewelry up there. In fact, it's very similar jewelry to what ladies like to wear today.

It seems like there hasn't been a lot of change. Maybe a little different here and there. In fact, when we studied ancient, we went to a museum years ago about ancient Cana. You know what? It was interesting. I was pointing out to Nassau, you know, ladies like to wear a little same kind of jewelry way back then, all a little different, but everything pretty much the same.

It goes on the rings, goes on the pretty similar about the ladies. You know what else they liked? They like their dogs. This is a 2,000-year-old what? Yeah, Chihuahua. That's a Chihuahua. So you can tell they had their little dogs running around. And so don't think that these breeders came up with this recently.

We've got proof that this thing's at least 2,000 years old, this little statue, or pretty close to it. So you've got chihuahuas. In fact, another thing about this, I remember when we had dinner, and I think I shared this story, we had dinner at a restaurant, no, at a hotel one night, a long art stay, and they had the best tortillas, the best chicken tacos I think I've had in my life.

Mexican chicken tacos. And we went up and talked to the cook, Nancy did, and she said, this is Mexican food. And he said, yeah, it is Mexican food. But we've been eating like this for thousands of years. There's a lot of culture, what I'm trying to get at, even the cuisine.

In fact, if you've eaten some Thompson seedless grapes recently that we get in the grocery store, those originated in this area. So much of the, I say all that because the people there, the culture there, is not that different from us today. The same needs, same kind of people, same kind of people.

Of things that we're very familiar with characterize these people. I think you'd be able to identify the same issues that they were dealing with then, the same issues that we deal with now, fundamentally. And that's why the gospel that was preached at Pisidian Antioch is the same gospel that God intended to be preached throughout the age until he returns, because the basic need for humanity has not changed.

And so, Pisidian Antioch, I think it's a place that you would culture is not so far away, put it that way. They had, as I said, a temple to Caesar Augustus. And just show you a little bit about this. This was like one of the first temples that's going to become part of what's going to grow into this cult of worshiping the emperor.

You have the beginnings of it here with Caesar Augustus. Of course, it's really going to reach a peak with Domitian in John's time, in the time of the Revelation was written. But it's here. And so here's a model of it that was in the museum. I'll show you a little bit of the ruins of it.

So this is in back of this temple or the little, whatever you call it, the little temple that's on the Mount. You can see the ruins. There's a little person on top of it. It's very big. And it is situated up high, and you can look at the landscape.

You can look at, see the mountains all around it. This was put in a place to where, no matter where you were around there, you could look up. The purpose was for it to be a commanding presence. You would see Caesar Augustus. It was all white marble, and you would have this reflection, and you would see it from all around.

That was how they built these temples to the Caesars. And so here is a picture, just us standing there. You can see the little peoples there. I just took this picture just because you can get a sense of just the expansiveness of this area. You can see the little inner sanctum there.

That was the picture that I showed you previously. There's the inner sanctum there, and it's very large. But then, when you put it in the scale of the whole site, it is just large. In fact, you would, this would, this is an artist rendering of what it would have looked like.

And it is just a commanding presence, this Caesar Augustus. And notice in verse 14 that Paul, when they arrived, on the Sabbath day, they went into the synagogue and sat down. Now, let me show you something else. Now, here's a here's a A 3D rendering of the city in Antioch in its peak, which would have been in Paul's day.

This is the city they would have come to, would have come through that eastern gate. And you can see in the middle, there is the temple to Caesar Augustus. Well, just down the street, right in eyeshot and earshot of it, is the church of St. Paul that was built several hundred years later.

Some archaeologists believe that that is built right on top of the synagogue where Paul preached the sermon that we're going to work through this morning. But I show you that just so that you get a sense. Here comes this rabbi. Here is the great, mighty Caesar Augustus. And here comes this rabbi with the gospel.

And it totally changes the culture. And here is a picture of the ruins of that church, what later became the church of St. Paul. But you can see just the breathtaking landscape that this city sits upon. Well, it's here that the gospel comes. The gospel. That's what we're interested in this morning: the gospel that came to Pisidian Antioch.

Look at verse 15. After the reading of the law and the prophets, the synagogue officials sent to them, saying, Brethren, if you have any word of exhortation for the people, say it. Talk about an invitation to preach. Here's Paul, and here's the synagogue officials, probably because Paul was known as he was a rabbi, brought up under Gamaliel.

But anyway, they gave him a platform and said, if you have any exhortation, speak it. Paul's like, okay. Verse 16. Look at those who he addresses. Paul stood up and motioned with his hand, said, Men of Israel, and you who fear God. Israel and anyone else here who fears God.

That's who the sermon is addressed. And it's in this context we have the first record of the gospel that's preached in Antioch, or in Galatia, I'm sorry. Pisidian Antioch. Yeah, Pisidian, Antioch. And there's three elements of this sermon that I want to bring to your attention today so that you'll know how to respond to this exhortation.

Because really, this sermon is an exhortation. Well, look at this. First of all, there's a promise of a Savior. Promise of a Savior. You know, there's people need a Savior. People needed a Savior then. Every individual on earth needs a Savior. Every nation on earth needs a Savior.

And God promised to bring the Savior of humanity, of the nations, first to Israel. And the fact that Israel needed a Savior is very well established in the Old Testament, and that's exactly what Paul is going to do in this introduction to his sermon. He's going to set the need, he's going to explain Israel's need for a Savior.

Verse 17. Look at verse 17. The God of this people, Israel, chose our fathers and made the people great during their stay in the land of Egypt. And with an uplifted arm, he led them out from it. You see, Israel was in bondage and they needed to be delivered from a sinful regime.

Now look at verse 4. Look back at verse 18. I'm sorry. For a period of about 40 years, he put up with them in the wilderness. So God delivers them, but then he has to put up with them. Because Israel needed a much greater deliverance than just from Egypt.

They needed something greater than a political deliverance. They needed a deliverance. Much deeper. If they're going to live with God and live for God, they're going to have to be rescued from a sinful heart. So not only does Israel need to be saved from a sinful regime, but they needed to be saved from a sinful heart.

Look back at verse 19. When he had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, he distributed their land as an inheritance, all of which took about 450 years. After these things, he gave them judges until Samuel the prophet. Then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, the son of Kish, a man of the tribe of Benjamin, for 40 years.

After he had removed him, he raised up David to be their king, concerning whom he had testified and said, I have found David, the son of Jesse, a man after my heart, who will do my will. You see, Israel, for a period of 40 years, 400 years, took them a lot of time.

They were destined to futility because they were destined to follow their own ways. So they needed to be saved from a sinful regime. They needed to be saved from a sinful heart. They needed to be saved from a life of futility. Because ultimately, that's where sin is going to take you.

Sin takes everybody into a life of futility, just like it did Israel. And Israel needed a Savior. From their feudal way of life. And so they raise up Saul comes on the scene. But then Saul is stripped of his power and he is removed from the land of the living.

Why? Because he didn't want to do what was in God's heart. King that Israel needs, that God has purposed for Israel to have, would be one that would do all that was in his heart, not one that would go his own way. Well, Saul removed. David would do what was in God's heart.

He had a heart inclined toward God. That's what the word expression means, a man after my heart. That is, God was looking for a man whose heart was inclined to do what God wanted to do, not like Saul that was inclined to do what he wanted to do.

And so God raised up David. Now, don't get hung up on the fact that David sinned grossly and think somehow the scriptures got it wrong that he wasn't a man after God's own heart. No, he sinned greatly, horribly. But be of, it's an encouragement to look into this and see that the record still calls him a man after God's own heart.

What is it? He was. Inclined toward God's ways. And when his sin was made known to him, he repented. He didn't just feel sorry for his sin or the consequences of his sin like Saul, but he really repented of it. And so that is what he did. He had a heart inclined towards God.

He was a man after God's own heart. And in the process of turning, he showed how he led many sinners in the way. He instructed sinners in the way of repentance. But the point that David that Paul is using this for is to say that God was looking for a man who would do what was in his heart.

And so that's Israel's need for a Savior. They need to be saved not only from a sinful regime, political, they need to be saved from a sinful heart, they need to be saved from a life of futility. Israel needs that, and so does everybody else. But then in verse 23, notice that God promised, God's promised Savior has come.

Verse 23. From the descendants of this man, of David, according to promise, God has brought to Israel a Savior, Jesus. God brought forth the Savior through the line of David. Just as the gospel affirms. What can we say about Jesus? His heart was inclined toward God on a level that has never ever been seen before, dwarfing that of David.

He was a man of that, but not his heart was inclined toward God perfectly and completely, a heart in union with God. And his heart was so inclined toward God that he never did anything wrong and never failed to do what was right when it was required of him.

So this promised king from David was also the promised Savior that God brought to Israel. And that's what Paul's doing. Saying Israel needs a Savior. Evident from history, God promised a Savior and has brought that Savior forth, and his name is Jesus. And he goes on to say, this is exactly what John the Baptist had been telling you.

Verse 24, after John had proclaimed before his coming a baptism of repentance to all the people of Israel. And while John was completing his course, he kept saying, What do you suppose that I am? I am not he, but behold, one is coming after me, the sandals of whose feet I am not worthy to undo.

Tie. You see, the people were very familiar with John the Baptist, his ministry, and what he did. He came reminding them that John the Baptist came announcing the arrival of somebody much greater than himself. God has fulfilled the promise to meet the need of Israel to bring forth a Savior, and he brought that Savior forth from David's line as John the Baptist had been declaring.

And so here's Paul's sermon. Introduction. Scriptures testify to the fact that God has brought forth a Savior. John the Baptist has announced that Savior has arrived. And he's saying, Israel's need is still the same. Your need is still the same. We need a Savior. You need a Savior.

And Jesus Christ is that Savior. What do you need to be saved from? Well, you need to be saved from the evil regime of this world. You need to be saved from the sin in your heart. And you need to be saved from the futile way of life that follows sin.

Are you hearing the gospel today? This is the need for the gospel. God has sent Jesus to you to answer this need that you have for a Savior. Well, that's Paul's introduction. Now he's going to get to the sermon. That is the message of salvation. And you see that in verses 26 through 37.

Look at verse 26. Brethren, sons of Abraham's family, and those among you who fear God, to us the message of this salvation has been sent. You can hear Paul's excitement. Brethren, sons of Abraham, and those among you who fear God, to us this message of salvation has been sent.

It has come. It is here. Everything previously that Paul has said was introductory. And now he's getting into the heart of his sermon. This message of salvation. Notice that statement. You can underline it. The message of this salvation has been sent. What is that message? He's going to tell us what that message is.

Three core elements. Three core elements of this message of salvation. We'll come to the first core element. Jesus Christ crucified. Look at verse 27. For those who live in Jerusalem and their rulers, recognizing neither him nor the utterances of the prophets which are read every Sabbath, fulfilled these by condemning him.

And though they failed, No ground for putting him to death, they asked Pilate that he be executed. When they had carried out all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in a tomb. First element of the message of salvation is Jesus Christ crucified.

Do you know the gospel? Well, it starts here. Jesus Christ crucified. He was condemned. He was rejected. He was crucified by the people and the rulers of Jerusalem, who guess what? You know why they crucified him? They didn't understand their Bibles. That's what he says. They didn't understand.

They didn't understand the utterances of the prophets, which are ready. They didn't recognize him, nor did they understand the scripture. Because their hearts were hard. Jesus was crucified by the people and the rulers of Jerusalem. He was crucified by the Roman authorities. Both Jew and Gentile were party to crucifying Christ.

It was a world allied against Christ. And yet, it was not a statement of victory, which might first. One might consider, well, maybe Christ couldn't overpower these things. No. Notice that he was crucified. According to the plan of God as revealed in the Scripture. When they had carried out verse 29 all that was written concerning him, they took him down from the cross and laid him in the tomb.

Christ crucified, because the Father sent him to be crucified. Second core element, Jesus Christ resurrected. This is Paul's gospel. This is the gospel that's going to go out far and wide. And he never changes it, by the way. Notice verse 3:30. But they've laid him in the tomb, but God raised him from the dead.

And for many days he appeared to those who came up with him from Galilee to Jerusalem, the very ones who are now his witnesses to the people. So not only did God bring Jesus forth from the line of David, he brought Jesus forth from the dead. Jesus Christ crucified.

Jesus Christ resurrected. The third element, this message of salvation, Jesus Christ exalted. Jesus Christ exalted. Look at verse 32. And we preach to you the good news of the promise made to the fathers that God has fulfilled this promise to our fathers. Children, in that he raised up Jesus.

As it is written in the second Psalm, you are my Son, today I have begotten you. Christ is exalted. He is declared with power by the resurrection to be God's Son. He quotes Psalm 2:7, You are the Son, today I have begotten you. And it's in the context of resurrection, how Paul is using it.

He called, He raised him up from the line of David, and then He raises him up from the grave. The magnitude of Christ's authority dwarfs all others that have ever lived or ever will live. He has authority over death and the grave. It is, and there is no other person in history who contends with this.

There's one. You can't miss him. He now sits on the throne of Yahweh. 1 Chronicles speaks about the throne of Yahweh. Christ Jesus is the one who sits on the throne of Yahweh. But Jesus is exalted. He has authority over death and the grave forever. All judgment has been given to him.

He decides who goes in and who comes out. And that's why the psalmist ends chapter 2 of the Psalms with, pay homage to the Son. Son, kiss him, lest he be angry with you. Christ exalted. He is declared with power to be God's Son. But look at verse 34.

As for the fact that he raised him up from the dead, no longer to return to decay, he has spoken in this way: I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David. Not only is Christ exalted by being declared to be God's son with power, he is also declared to be the dispenser of God's favor and blessings.

I read it earlier. Paul is now quoting Isaiah 55. I will give you the holy and sure blessings of David. This is how he's speaking. And in the context, as we read earlier, that is God saying, Come, come, come, and I will make a covenant with you according to the faithful mercies of David.

He is the dispenser of God's favor. That's what Isaiah 55, 3 says, Incline your ear and come to me. Listen that you may live, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you according to the faithful mercies shown to David. Paul is using this as testifying that Christ is the dispenser.

Of God's favor. He has authority over life, death, grave, your life, my life. And he is the one who dispenses God's favor. Never to decay. Look at verse 35. Therefore, he also says in another Psalm, you will not allow your holy one to undergo decay. For David, after he served the purpose of God in his own generation, fell asleep and was laid among his fathers and underwent decay.

But he whom God raised did not undergo decay. So Christ is exalted. He's crucified. He's resurrected. He's exalted. And he is exalted. He is declared with power to be God's Son. He is the dispenser of God's favor, and he will never decline. Never see decay. That's never going to change.

Christ is exalted. And so here's the message: Christ crucified, Christ resurrected, Christ exalted. Well, Paul is laying before the men and the people there in the synagogue that day, that God has fulfilled his promise in the Old Testament scriptures. Jesus is God's promise. He is the fulfillment to God's promise.

Israel still needs a Savior. People still need a Savior. God has sent the Savior. Need a Savior. Listen, if you do not know Christ today, you need a Savior. And even if you do know Christ, you still need Him to be your Savior. But listen, if you've never, you need a Savior, you need to be saved from death, decay, sin, a life of futility, all of that.

And the only way that this is going to happen, to have a, be delivered from death and decay, is to be saved from sin. That's the message of salvation. But the question is, why did God do all this? So we've looked at the promise of a Savior. We've looked at the message of salvation.

Now we come to Paul's exhortation. This would be like the conclusion to the sermon. The exhortation. Remember in verse 15, 13, 15, the officials said, Brethren, if you have a word of exhortation, say it. And so he goes to work. He gives them an introduction. He gives them a sermon, a message of salvation.

Then he's going to exhort them to obey it. That's how a good sermon is concluded. And that's what he does. Look at verse 38. That exhortation begins with an invitation. Acts 13, 38, therefore, in light of the promise of a Savior, Therefore, in light that the message of salvation has been sent to us, and that's in Jesus Christ crucified, resurrected, and exalted, therefore, let it be known to you, brethren, that through him, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you, and through him, everyone who believes is freed from all things from which you could not be freed through the law of Moses.

So, all this boils down to what is the core issue that you need to be saved from. You need forgiveness of sins. Don't gloss over that, don't rush over that. You need, this is what humanity needs. First and foremost, you need forgiveness of sins because without this, there is nothing else.

Without the forgiveness of sins, there is nothing else. And that's the invitation: come. Have your sins forgiven by coming to Jesus Christ. Therefore, let it be known through him, forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you. It's certainty. Notice who it's sent to: brethren, and everyone who believes. See the audience?

Paul's addressing his message to the Jewish audience, brethren, but then it's extended to all, everyone who believes. Message is sent. Notice he says they're freed. And every, verse 39, and through him everyone who believes is freed from all things, freed. It's a word justified, freed, regarded as righteous, freed, to be right with God.

And so what Paul is saying is: through faith in him, whoever believes in him is put right with God. That's the way one is put right with God, is through faith in Christ. And through him, everyone who believes is freed, justified, put right with God. That's how you become right with God.

Are you right with God today? You can be. Paul is emphasizing justification by faith. Do you wish he could make everything right? Do you wish he could somehow live up to that measure? How do you get there? Faith in Christ. But notice two things. Notice the centrality of Christ's work.

Through him, forgiveness of sins. Through him. Forgiveness of sins is through him. And notice that freedom is in him. Verse 38, some of you have translations that say there are two different prepositions here. Brethren, that through him, forgiveness of sins. Through him, forgiveness of sins. In verse 39, some of you have a translation that says, by the law of Moses, or in the law of Moses.

It's a little bit different. The Greek makes it very sense, makes it clear. Forgiveness of sins is through him. Freedom is in him. That's what it's saying. Freedom is in him. Forgiveness is through him. And that freedom in him is something that one could not be freed through the law of Moses.

This being put right with God does not come through the law of Moses, but comes through faith in Christ. You see, there are only two options for you to be right with God. Only two options possible. And listen to me today. Option one, if you want to be right with God, you're going to have to be perfect.

You're going to have to be perfect. Absolute holiness. You cannot have any sins of commission, doing something wrong, or sins of omission. Now, if you're honest, how many of you would say to God that you are perfect? Never lied, never did anything, never failed to do what was right at any time.

That's the burden of perfection. And if you are going to have an enduring life in heaven, in the presence of God, it's going to be because you are perfect. The Bible says there's not a single soul that meets that requirement. There's a second option. You need to believe the message that's being proclaimed.

Christ crucified, Christ resurrected, Christ exalted. And Paul brings all this down to really a single decision. Where are you going to be found? Are you going to be found in the law of Moses or in Christ? That's Paul's message. Either you're going to have to be found in Moses or you're going to have to be found in Moses.

In Christ. And he's saying, you're not going to find life under the obedience, the perfection of the law. You're not going to find it because you're not going to be able to live up to it. The law of God can disclose what God's righteousness requires, but it doesn't have the power to get you there.

Only union with Jesus Christ is going to get you there. Are you going to be in Christ, or are you going to have to carry the burden of perfection? That's the invitation. Come. But there's also a warning. Paul gives a warning. Part of his exhortation is: men come, but also the warning.

Gospel comes with invitation, but it comes with a warning. Therefore, verse 40: take heed that the things spoken of in the prophets may not come upon you. Behold, you scoffers and marvel and perish, for I am accomplishing a work in your days, a work which you will never believe, though someone should describe it to you.

You know what Paul is doing? Paul is describing Habakkuk 1:5. And you know what Habakkuk was telling the tribe of Judah? He was warning them. Just before the Babylonians came, listen to what Habakkuk 1.5 says. Look among the nations. Keep in mind, he's calling Judah to repent. The Babylonians are there, and you need to repent.

Otherwise, God's going to bring something that you wouldn't believe, even if it were told to you. And he tells them, Habakkuk 1:5, look among the nations, observe, be astonished, wonder, because I am doing something in your days you would not believe if you were told. For behold, I am raising up the Chaldeans, that fierce and impetuous people, who march through the earth to seize dwelling places which are not theirs.

They are dreaded and feared. Their justice and authority originate with themselves. He's talking about to Judah: Look, if you don't respond to this message, this is going to come upon you. The Babylonians are going to destroy your temple, destroy you. You see, we need to be delivered from a world where justice and authority originate in the minds of man.

You want a world where justice and authority arise within fallen humanity? Well, that's the world we have. But this warning, and Paul is saying, Look, remember what happened to them when they didn't respond. Their temple was destroyed. The Babylonians. Came, and very fitting in the context of Paul's time, because you have the Roman threat, and very shortly you're going to have the Romans descend and destroy Jerusalem and do the same thing, destroy the temple and all of that.

But here's Paul. He's saying, Look, guys, don't let this be you. Don't harden your hearts. Don't let this come up on you. Don't be like Saul. Do not be like stubborn Israel, or you'll be cut off from the blessings of God. So that's Paul's message. The gospel came to Antioch, came by way of a sermon, had an introduction, it had a message: Christ crucified, Christ resurrected, Christ exalted.

That is the gospel. And an exhortation to heed, to come, and a warning for certain doom if you do not. That's the gospel. Now go back to Galatians 1 for just a moment. Let me reread those words. Because all of that is nicely summed up in what Paul says: Grace to you and peace from our God and Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave him.

For our sins, so that he might rescue us from this present evil age according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen. You see, getting right with God comes from God, but it's not through the law of Moses, it's through faith in Jesus Christ.

And grace and peace come by way of forgiveness through Christ, so that you may live for his fame, his glory. Earlier, I talked about John Bunyan. He had a wounded conscience. He was a man quickly given to despond. Listen to what he would often say of his soul.

O my soul, this is not the place of despair. This is not the time to despair in. As long as my eyes find a promise in the Bible, as long as there is the least mention of grace, as long as there is a moment left of breath or life in this world, so long I will wait and look for mercy, so long I will fight against unbelief and despair.

So long as there's a promise in the Bible, I will look to find it. You know what's interesting? You know when John Bunyan really lost his burden? It's when he picked up Martin Luther's commentary on the book of Galatians. Listen to what he said. He said, One day, a book of Martin Luther was given to me, the which, when I had but a little bit read, I found my condition in his experience so largely and profoundly handled as if his book had been written out of my own heart.

And this, I think, I must let fall before all men. I do prefer this book of Martin Luther upon the Galatians, accepting the Holy Bible before all books that ever I have seen as a most fit for a wounded conscience. You want to know how to come out of despair?

Spend some time in the book of Galatians. And I hope you'll continue to join us with this because it's here. Listen to what Bunyan is going to find. He finds the grace of God, grace and peace. He says this: Indeed, there is nothing in heaven or earth that can so awe the heart as the grace of God.

Grace to make angels wonder. Wonder, grace to make the sinners happy, grace to astonish devils. Grace brought you down from heaven, grace stripped you of your glory, grace made you poor and despicable, grace made you bear such burdens of sin, such burdens of sorrow, such burdens of God's curse as are unspeakable.

Grace was in all your tears, grace came bubbling out from the side with your blood. Grace, grace, grace. Friend, do you believe the gospel? Then come and meet Jesus Christ at the cross. Come and have your sins forgiven. Friend, do you believe the gospel? Come, live forgiven. Come to the empty tomb and see the power for a resurrected life according to the glory of God and for the glory of God.

If you believe the gospel, come and meet him at the cross. Find your forgiveness. Live forgiveness. That's grace. And this is the gospel that Paul proclaimed and that he's Going to defend throughout the book of Galatians. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, indeed, we take you up on your offer.

We come to you to meet you at the cross. We come to receive this pardon that you spoke about, that you promised for all those who come. So we come this morning. We come asking for the promise laid out. We come to you. We meet you at the empty tomb because it is in that resurrected life that we want to walk and live, not for our fame, but for your glory and for your fame.

Father, we come to you with our consciences opened and awakened, not only to the problem, but to the solution. And so we come. May you be exalted here in Jesus' name. Amen.