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0:59As you can recognize already by the title, the gospel of grace, we're talking about its origin. Last time we talked about its singularity, which establishes its priority in your life. Today we're going to talk about its origin, which establishes its authority in your life. Question I want to ask you is: how do you escape from a man-made religion? How do you escape? How do we escape from the systematic thinking of man? It's like a coffin you can easily get buried alive in.

1:39In 1874, Eric Weiss was born. He was born in a Jewish family. His dad was a rabbi. And upon moving to the United States in 1878, they changed the spelling of their name from Weiss to Weiss to kind of take on the more German aspect of their name. Dismiss the Jewish part. Eric, although he staunchly did not believe in superstition or magic, he became one of the greatest magicians and escape artists of all time. His show name was Harry Houdini.

2:30And one of Harry Houdini's mantras was: My brain is the key that sets me free. My brain is the key that sets me free. And he wowed crowds wherever he went, escaping from the most tight circumstances one could imagine, if you could put it that way. He escaped from. Water chambers being handcuffed and bound. He even escaped from being buried alive in a coffin. But on October 31st, in 1926, Halloween, something went horribly wrong during one of Houdini's escape routines. There's a lot of debate as to exactly what happened, but he died that night.

3:26And whatever it is that took place that day after escape, failed escape, what followed after, it's clear that his brain failed him. Now, if you will fast forward, if such was the case of the Houdini, the great Houdini, fast forward some 64 years to 1990, and another self-avowed Houdini came on the scene and was performing on Halloween, 1990, this great coffin escape, Harry Houdini. In fact, he said this just before getting into the coffin, Joseph Burris, age 32. He compared himself to Harry Houdini and he said this: I consider myself a master of illusion and a master escape artist. I believe I am the next Houdini and greater.

4:32And so he said those words. Then, dressed in a white tuxedo, he was handcuffed, wrapped in chains, and put inside a coffin and lowered seven feet into the ground, where the crews started to pour in dirt, three feet of dirt on top of that, and then after that, they started pouring in wet cement to fill the entire hole. This was all before a watching audience. And just as soon as the wet cement was completed, the truck pulled away, something happened. The whole hole sunk. It dropped a few feet.

5:27The cement busted the coffin. It was a plastic, clear coffin, and the weight of the cement collapsed on the coffin, and it buried Joseph Burris alive. All efforts were unsuccessful to save him. Well, I liken man-made religion to being buried alive in a plastic coffin. Doom is certain. Man-made religion is a prison that the mind cannot escape, and it is too flimsy of a support to withstand the weight, the crushing weight of man's sin, his guilt, and shame before a holy God.

6:24Only the religion that comes from above provides a way of escape. And this religion that comes from above is the gospel of grace that we've been studying, that Paul proclaimed to the churches in Galatia, that he defends in the book of Galatia. And so that is what we are studying. And here this morning, the origin of the gospel of grace comes into view. Remember last time we looked at the singularity of the gospel. The problem in Galatia is that people were deserting Christ. To desert the gospel is to desert Christ. And the danger in Galatia was that people were coming, the churches left the gospel of grace, inevitably they would come under the curse of God. Anantha. If anybody preaches a gospel other than the one, the true gospel, he is to be accursed. And so the solution in Galatia was.

7:30Not to desert the gospel, the gospel of grace. That would keep them connected to the God of grace. The moment you depart or forget the gospel, you forget God. That's the singularity. We looked at that last time. Today we're going to look at the origin. The singularity of the gospel establishes its priority in your life. And the origin of the gospel of grace establishes its priority. Look at verse 11. For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man, it's not man-made. That's what he's saying. Verse 12: For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. The gospel that was proclaimed in Galatia, the gospel that we read about in the New Testament, it isn't from man, it's from heaven.

8:35Revelation. As I said, this thought is going to pervade the next 24 verses. And since we've already looked at that in detail in the introductory series, we can move more quickly through without getting caught up in the details, but focus on why Paul gave these words. And what he does. Is he's going to lay out the evidences that prove his point that he says is in 11 and 12. He said, Look, this gospel is not from man.

9:12I wasn't taught it. I received it from Christ. And so, what Paul is going to do in the next 24 verses is he's going to explain, show, demonstrate several evidences why the gospel that he had, you can be sure it's not from man. It's not something that he made up in his mind, it's not something that he learned from somebody else. He wants his audience to understand the origin. Where did this gospel come from? Where does this idea that God would send his perfect son into the world who would go to a cross? Where did this come from? It didn't come from man, it came from God, and that he would be crucified, that he would remove his people's sins, that he would give his people his righteousness, that he would be raised from the dead, that he would be exalted. Where did this come from? It came from the mind of God. It didn't come from man. It is completely different and necessary for life. So, he's going to go through and give four evidences that prove the heavenly origin. Origin of the gospel of grace. And I want us to look at that so that you will escape all forms of man-made religion. Let this gospel have priority in your life. Let this gospel have authority in your life. And you will escape every form of man-made religion. And it's necessary because it is certainly a death trap.

10:55So, first line of evidence: the gospel of grace is, first of all, Paul goes into detail that it's not from Paul. It didn't come out of Paul's own mind. Look at verse 13. For you know, for you, I'm sorry, for you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. You know what Paul is saying? He says, Look, at one time in my life, I hated the gospel, and I hated those who clung to the gospel. So I can tell you for sure, this didn't come out of my mind.

11:50What would make somebody change such hostility to the gospel and hostility to those who believed it? Nothing. Short of an intervention of God. Look at what he says in verse 15. But when God, who had set me apart, even from my mother's womb, and called me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles. We'll stop there. To make him known among the Gentiles. But just in these couple of verses, notice the actions of God. All these flow out of God's grace. And we've spent a long time looking at these works of God's grace. And look at God's choice of Paul. What did he first do? He made Paul a monument to his grace, somebody completely undeserving. And then notice God calls Paul. And he called me through his grace. He made Paul a missionary of his grace. And then what does he do? He reveals his son. God reveals his son to Paul. He unveiled Christ.

13:06And with that, he reveals to him the message of grace. He makes Paul a monument of grace. He makes him a missionary of grace. And he instills in him and reveals to him the message of grace. Why? So that, verse 16, I might preach him among the Gentiles. So that Paul would go and proclaim God's grace. And that's his work. First, he makes you a monument to his grace. Then he makes you a missionary of his grace. He gives you, opens your eyes to understand the message of grace, and so that you may proclaim it. That's God's work. And that's what Paul is saying. All that was God.

13:49It's clear that God wants the nations to know who Jesus is. He wants you and I to know who Jesus is. Now, why is that important? Why is it important that the nations understand who the Jewish Messiah is? Why is that important? Why should we care? Well, because Genesis 4, 49, 10 says, to him, to this Jewish Messiah, shall be the obedience of all peoples. Zechariah 9:10 says, His dominion will be from sea to sea and from the river to the ends of the earth. You see, it's not just the Messiah of Israel, but he is Lord of all the nations. He is Lord of you and me, and everyone who will ever live, and everyone who has lived. That's why you should know who this Jesus Messiah is. He is Lord of all. And this has implications for the United States of America. It has implications for the state of Texas. It has implications for this church. It has implications for you as an individual. He is. Lord of all. The blessed recognize that. The cursed don't.

15:11So what Paul is saying here in these verses is that the origin of the gospel is clearly not from his own mind. He's making the evidence: look at the changed life. Something from above happened to me. Listen, the gospel changes people. Do you know somebody who's been changed by the gospel? One day they're one way, and then the next, they're different. It's like a spirit of life has taken hold, and they've changed. It's called gospel transformation that comes through the gospel of grace by believing in the gospel of grace. The problem is, many of us, we can recite the gospel of grace, but we really don't believe the gospel of grace. It's when you really take that in, change. The gospel changes people. It changed me.

16:10And that's the evidence that something from above happens. And that's what Paul is saying. Listen, you knew what I used to be like. There's no way this thing came out of my mind. That's exactly what I opposed. Well, the gospel changed him. The gospel of grace is not from Paul. Second, the gospel of grace is not from the apostles. We'll pick it up in the middle of verse 16. I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood. That is, after he met the Lord, he didn't go and consult with flesh and blood.

16:48He met him on, we read all about that in Acts chapter 9 when Paul meets Christ on the road to Damascus. Verse 16, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me. But I went away to Arabia and returned once more to Damascus. Then three years later, I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him 15 days. But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother. Now, in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying. Why is Paul so concerned that they get this history right in his life? What is that supporting anything? Why is he emphasizing the little time that he spent with the apostles? You'd almost expect the opposite. If he's trying to bolster his ethos, he would do the other way. Well, let me tell you this. I went up there and I spent some time with Peter, got to know him. And then not only that, I saw James. No, he's doing the opposite. He's emphasizing the little time. And why is that?

18:00Because Paul did not spend enough time with the apostles to develop a whole new systematic theology that would persuade him to then abandon everything that he had learned all his life in rabbinic Judaism. You see, Paul didn't want the gospel just to be considered another religion derived from the mind of man, even if they're good men. And Paul's saying, Look, I'm doing what I am doing. I am proclaiming what I am proclaiming, not because I've been taken in by some apostles, but because I have been taken in by Jesus Christ Himself. What I am proclaiming, I learned from Him. My eyes were opened. My heart was illumined. All those scriptures that had been laid there in my youth, that God had purposed and had planned that I would learn and study, all those. And the moment I met Christ, it all came alive and I understood who He was. It was from God illuminating my soul. I met him. That's why I proclaim the message that I proclaim to you, not because I just thought, okay, well, let's go from Judaism and let's go check out this school of thought. Paul was very much accustomed, as we saw early in our introductory series. He was a man of Tarsus, a university town. He understood Greek philosophies. He would have grown. Up in that learning center. He knew all that.

19:35But what are you saying? Look, what I have, I didn't learn from them. I learned from Christ himself. Paul's gospel didn't originate with the apostles. And even if he did get his gospel from them, it's clear that it still wasn't from men. The scriptures resonated. What he learned, he learned from Christ, and it resonated with him. So, the gospel of grace, what Paul is going through, he's saying, look, it's not from Paul. It's not from the apostles. Evidence that he spent very little time with them. There's not enough in time to have spent with them to learn the corpus of material from them.

20:31Third, the gospel of grace is not from the churches in Judea. The gospel of grace is not from the churches in Judea. Verse 31. Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea, which were in Christ, but only they Kept hearing, he who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy, and they were glorifying God because of me. We've studied this, we've looked at in detail the history of Paul's life. We put all this together. These are known as the silent years, where very little is known about Paul at this time. But the one thing that he clearly states here is that the churches in Judea didn't even know him, at least by faith, by face.

21:33They were glorifying Christ because they had been hearing rumors about him that the ones who tried to destroy the faith was now preaching the faith. And so it's clear that Paul didn't learn this from fellowshipping with the churches in Judea. They didn't even know him by face. So it's in all of these examples, Paul's words of verse 11 and 12 ring true. Listen again. For I would have you know, brethren, verse 11, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man, for neither I received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. It was not according to man, didn't come out of my mind. I wasn't taught it by the apostles. I wasn't taught it by the churches in Judea. But I received it through a revelation. God revealed his Son in me. That's how I came about the gospel that he preached in those churches to Galatia.

22:52So it's clear what Paul is laying out here. It's like the gospel of grace, it's from heaven. It's not from man. Gospel of grace is not from Paul. It's not from the apostles. It's not from the churches of Judea. And yet, what is Paul saying? He's not saying, well, you just have to take my word for it. That's not what he's going to continue. And he's going to say, yes, although all of these are true, the gospel of grace, not from Paul, not from the apostles, not from the churches, yet it is affirmed by the church in Jerusalem. In other words, those who didn't teach the gospel to me affirmed the gospel that I preached. And that's where he's going to spend the next 10 verses in chapter 2. Gospel of grace is affirmed by the church in Jerusalem. It's affirmed by those who know Christ. So then, Galatians 2:1.

23:59This will be. Familiar territory. Then, after an interval of 14 years, I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas taking Titus along also. Again, notice then, after an interval of 14 years, I went up again. This is Paul's third post-conversion trip, at least recorded in Scripture, up to Jerusalem. If you remember, just bring this back to your mind. You remember the first missionary journey? Remember, Antioch is the center. That's where they set off, and they go through the, they make their way all over to Galatia. They come up into the area of Galatia, Pisidian, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derby. Then he goes back to those churches. So he proclaims the gospel in those areas in Galatia, Pisidian, Antioch, Iconium, Lystra, and Derby. And then they go back, retrace their steps, establishing churches, appointing elders, and commissioning and commending them to the Lord. Then they come back, whoops, then they come back to Antioch. They make their way back all the way to Antioch, and there is great fellowship there in Antioch. They're telling everybody what has happened and celebrating that God had over. Opened a door unto the Gentiles, and then something happens. A couple of guys come down from Jerusalem. They come down, and what do they say? And remember, Acts 15:1.

25:45Some men came down from Judea and began teaching their brethren, unless you are circumcised according to the custom of Moses, you cannot be saved. And so this began troubling the church. It's a very sharp dispute. And so what happens is then an envoy, Paul and Barnabas, taking along Titus with them, go up to Jerusalem to discuss this matter. And Paul is going to lay before them the gospel that he's been preaching in Galatia. And so he's going to demonstrate how they affirmed the gospel. But notice, as we're working our way through this, that notice he took Titus. Yeah, okay, there's Paul goes, Barnabas, you know, Paul, Barnabas was with them on the trip, highly regarded by the Jerusalem church. They took Titus with them. Why Titus? Well, now, who is Titus? Well, Titus is a Greek, but he's a living example of those who are being saved among the Gentiles. So they're taking with them.

27:02A real live fruit of Paul and Barnabas's ministry. But a second thing to point out is they were taking an uncircumcised Gentile with them right up to the church in Jerusalem. Test case. And even somebody to testify, to come back and to testify. So they take Titus with them. And they have this private meeting. Look at verse 2. This is before the big public meeting in the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. This is a more private one. Verse 2: It was because of a revelation that I went up and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles. But I did so in private to those who were of reputation for fear that I might be running or had run in vain. Notice he goes up there. What's his purpose? He is to submit to them the gospel. The idea is: I went up there to lay before them the gospel that I have been preaching in Galatia.

28:22And notice Paul's concern. But I did so in private. There's a private of those of reputation. It's going to be at least James, it's going to be John, who doesn't say anything, and Peter. And there they are. At least he may say stuff in the private meeting, but he doesn't say anything in the Acts 15 public meeting. But notice they're there. And notice Paul's concern that somehow, for fear that I might be running or had run in vain. What does vain mean? Empty. That I had been doing something without effect. That I was doing something that wasn't going to accomplish the goal that I thought it was going to accomplish.

29:13So Paul's got this deep concern. The idea of running is the idea of trekking or striving. I'm doing something, and my concern is that my work and what we're doing is going to turn up empty, void. Now, his concern here is not about his lack of confidence in the origin of the gospel. I don't believe that's what Paul is submitting out thinking, man, I didn't get this right. No, he was convinced in his heart. He understood the scriptures. He understood who Christ was. He had seen, experienced the work of the Holy Spirit. He had seen that. He understood. He wasn't doubting the origin of the gospel. What he was. Concerned about is this effectiveness of this Jew-Gentile church.

30:10He'd been preaching a gospel, one Lord, one gospel, one faith, one body. And if the Jerusalem church didn't recognize one body, it would negatively impact everything else. This was a major concern. As if the Jerusalem church did not receive Gentiles as Gentiles, then the gospel would be confused and this church fellowship wrecked. The idea, if the Jerusalem church wasn't on board with this Jew-Gentile, one church idea, then he's like, okay, I am striving in vain because that is a major, major issue, major confusion, and major defection from the truth. So he's concerned.

31:11But notice his concern is quickly relieved in verse 3. But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. This is the first major result of the meeting. There's two major results. That I want to point out to. This is the first, the first major result of this meeting in Jerusalem was that not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised.

31:47Why is this significant? What Paul is saying is like, had there been any thought by the men of reputation, the leadership of the Jerusalem church, had there been any thought that obedience to the Mosaic law was necessary for either salvation or sanctification, then Titus certainly would have felt compelled or had been forced or he would have picked up on the idea that he needed to be circumcised. And what the fact that he didn't indicates that none of the apostles or anyone else present in that private meeting saw that Mosaic obedience or obedience to the Mosaic or the Abrahamic covenant was mandatory in the gospel.

32:38Circumcision really is part of the Abrahamic and then also is part of the Mosaic. Paul's, see what Paul was doing? He was contemplating the idea that his efforts were in vain, but then his mind was set at ease because those of the reputation were not. Spoke, but by the way, they spoke and dealt with Titus. You can see the real reason that there was contention at the Jerusalem Council. Look at verse 4. But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty, which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. But we did not yield in subjection to them, even for an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.

33:41The idea of these false brethren. And by the way, these guys are going to follow Paul wherever he goes. You're going to see this show up. This is what he's going to be dealing with over and over, so much so that some will even think Paul's thorn in the flesh is actually these guys. They follow him wherever he went. They troubled the church, and they troubled the church by discrediting Paul and seeking to change the gospel. That's what they're after. And to change the gospel, to bring them under the Mosaic code, is to shackle the people into the minutia bondage of the Mosaic law, which, by the way, they themselves were the ones who had their traditions and were able to. Mandate and regulate those to bring, and so they snuck in. It's kind of like this idea: we're sneaking in, we're stealth, that's the language. They were smuggled in in the order to, ah, spy you out. Ah, caught you in the act, didn't I? I got you. That's what they did. And what they wanted to do was to take away their freedom, the freedom of conscience, that they are pleasing to God through the work of God in His Son, Jesus Christ.

35:08And to remove that freedom and to put on them the stipulations of obedience. And this would set them on a trajectory of going through life with their eyes on themselves, always wondering, did I get it right? And is God happy with me? You see how that becomes a bondage. Shackling when you are given over to a gospel of works. It is not a gospel at all. Because what it is, now your focus is not on God, not on what He did, but upon you and what you're doing and what you're not accomplishing. And it's leaving you in a place where you really wonder, is God really pleased with me or not?

35:49There's no freedom there. And that's what they wanted to do: to bring them into bondage, spy out their liberty, bring them into bondage. They wanted to reduce the gospel as a means to capture people and make them obedient to the law of Moses. That's what these false brethren were due and rightfully called false. They looked like brethren, but they weren't. And notice they wanted the truth of the gospel to remain. Like we didn't yield to them even for a moment.

36:27Because if we yielded to them for a moment, the truth of the gospel wouldn't remain with you. You see the ministry of those in church leadership to understand the truth, understand the gospel, and not to acquiesce, not to, it impacts the life of the congregations. But this is exactly what all man-made religions do. They seek to bind people's consciences to another man's conscience or another system of conscience. Listen, friends, if we are not even bound to Moses, we certainly are not bound to somebody else's conscience.

37:18We're bound to the law of Christ. We're bound to the conscience of Christ. And that's what Paul is going to lay out here. There's one great Than Moses that has come. There's a law greater than Moses, and it's the law of Christ. He's going to talk about it, mention it in chapter 6 and verse 2. What were he saying? Look, Jesus wasn't under Moses. Contrary. Moses served the ministry of Christ. But here's what they're contending for. And Paul is aggressive with her, like, we're not yielding to this idea for a moment. Because Paul doesn't want uncircumcised followers of Christ, those who are not under the Mosaic law, he doesn't want them to become second-class citizens. They have the same faith. There's justification by faith and faith alone. And Paul is going to go great lengths in this in Romans chapter 3 and verse 30. There's only one God. There's one faith for the uncircumcised and for the circumcised as well.

38:38One faith. And there are not any second-class citizens in the church. There are no second-class citizens, no second-class members in the church. And this is what Paul is aggressively defending. No second-class citizens here in this church, either, by the way. We may have different roles and different functions. You want to serve Christ? Go out and serve Christ by serving somebody who belongs to Christ. He esteems each of us with a love and affection that dwarfs our ability to comprehend. Go serve somebody today. Go serve Christ today. Look around you. Go serve your brothers and sisters in Christ. Matthew 25, 40, Jesus says this: The king will say, Truly, I say to you, to the extent that you did it to the one of these brethren of mine, even the least of them, you did it to me. There are no second-class citizens.

39:56Let's come on to verse 6. And notice, instead, they didn't have an issue. But in verse 6, but those from whom, who were of high reputation, what they were makes no difference to me. God shows no partiality. Well, those who were of reputation contributed nothing to me. But on the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been. To the circumcised, for he who effectually worked for Peter in his apostleship to the circumcised effectively worked for me also to the Gentiles. What is he saying there? He's saying, Look at all these of high reputation, and then he kind of gives a parenthetical thought. Oh, by the way, what they are doesn't really matter. This isn't a gospel, it's not their reputation that brought the gospel into being. He's not making an argument: look, these of high reputation is somehow they authorize the gospel. They don't. No one authorizes the gospel. We can only recognize it. And that's what he's saying here. What they are doesn't really matter.

41:11They contributed nothing to me. What is he saying? What is he saying is that they didn't have anything to say or lay before Paul or anything else that would change Paul's gospel. Because Paul goes up there and he says, I laid out the gospel to them. I laid out the gospel that I was preaching in Galatia, and now what he's saying is they contributed nothing to me. They didn't have anything to add. They didn't lay anything else before me. They didn't say, oh, yeah, you know, but that point over there, you know, take that off. No, no, you're off there or here. You need to add that. They didn't, he says, they contributed nothing to me. The idea is there of the gospel that he is proclaiming. There is no change to The gospel that Paul was preaching. That's his point. On the contrary, seeing that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised. See, on the contrary, they recognize, okay, this is God's doing. It's like Paul lays out the gospel, and it's almost like the apostles are saying, yeah, of course. So, what's the problem?

42:23What are you doing? What's the problem? This is the gospel. On the contrary, they recognize that Paul had been entrusted with the gospel. Instead of adding to or changing it, they're like, Yeah, that's it. God has entrusted to you the gospel of grace. He didn't disagree with the content. They recognized it as authentic. They too recognized that the gospel that Paul was preaching came from Christ, the same one that they had been proclaiming as well. And it's important in all of this to understand that Paul isn't suggesting for a moment that there's two gospels. You remember what he said in chapter 1 and verse 8? But if even we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed. There's only one gospel. There isn't a gospel for the Jews, and there isn't a gospel for the Gentiles.

43:31There's no room for a different gospel. There's one gospel, one God, one way into a right relationship with him, that is through faith alone, in Christ alone, his finished work. Now, there's a second result of the meeting. Look at verse 9. And recognizing the grace that had been given to me, James and Cephas and John, who were reputed to be pillars, gave to me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship so that we might go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. They only asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was also eager to do. Notice they saw the grace of God upon Paul. Grace has been given to him. So what is he going to do? He's a monument of grace. He's a missionary of grace. He's got the message of grace. What does God want him to do? Preach that grace. And so now you've got the church in Jerusalem, the apostles, saying, yes, we affirm that.

44:43And what did they do? They gave him the right hand of fellowship. That's the second result. The first result was Titus didn't feel compelled to do anything. The second result is the right hand of fellowship. And what that means is that they recognize the validity, the work of God in Paul's life. They say, you are in close association with. That's the idea of right-hand of fellowship. We do it here. When we welcome somebody into the church, what are we extending when we say give them the right hand of fellowship? What we're saying is, we recognize that you are in association with us. We participate in the same things. We have been made to drink of the same cup, the cup of Jesus Christ, His shed blood, the benefits and blessing of all that. And we recognize that we are partakers of that together. And that's exactly what the disciples, the apostles in Jerusalem, were saying. They were saying, Paul, we recognize God's grace on you. We recognize what has happened. You are in close association with us. We have been given the same spirit.

46:02And so this is Paul's message. He's saying, Look, the gospel of grace, which he preached in Galatia, said it didn't come from Paul. It didn't come from the apostles. It didn't come from the churches in Judea, yet it was affirmed by the churches in Judea, specifically the church in Jerusalem. You see, that's the difference between man-made religion. You can't. A church may think that they, or a denomination, or a religion comes up with some kind of information and then says, Okay, here, we're authorizing this as the way of life. No, the church cannot. The church didn't give us the Bible. No church gave us the Bible. God gave us the Bible.

46:50We just recognize it. We don't have authority over God's Word. He speaks it, we can recognize it or not. We don't even have authority over who He adds to the body. He saves, and if He saves somebody, He's added Him to the body. We can only recognize what He's doing. And that's exactly what you see here in these chapters. The gospel of grace is something we recognize, and it's something that the church in Jerusalem recognizes. It's not from man.

47:22That's what Paul is saying to answer those who are going through and troubling the churches and discrediting Paul and changing the gospel. Probably one of their accusations is that Paul's a nobody. He just made this stuff up, and nobody in the church really agrees with him, anyways. But what Paul was saying is: look, the gospel is not some collaborative effort of a bunch of men who just got together and then just hammered out some kind of doctrinal statement and some kind of sophisticated plan to disseminate this truth and to get everybody under their power. He said, That's not. What's going on at all?

48:05He said the gospel was revealed to him. You need a religion that's based upon something that comes from God, not a religion that's based upon man. What is that religion of God? It's the gospel of grace. How do you escape the coffin of man-made religion? How do you get out of that? Well, the answer is found in number one, the singularity of the gospel. And that establishes its priority. This is why you listen to the gospel. Above all other thoughts and schools of thought known to man, this is the most important, the gospel.

48:58The gospel of grace is the most important message your soul needs to hear and need to be reminded of. That's why we have a church here, is to help remind each other of this gospel. Your soul needs to hear good news. How many of you sitting here today said, you know what? I understand that. I understand my soul well enough. I need good news. And the answer to you: give the gospel. Priority in your life. It's the only one. There isn't another source.

49:38Give the gospel priority in your life. That's the singularity. But the answer is also found. How do I get out of this man-made religion? The priority of the gospel, but also the authority of the gospel. And that is due to its origin. It came from God. Let it speak truth. Not only be listening, not only give the priority of your life to hear the gospel, let it speak with authority in your heart. That's where many of us fail. This is why you accept the gospel as truth. This is why you accept it as truth in the inner depth of your heart. No one can ever change it, it is authoritative. It comes from God. No one can change it, including yourself. You can accept it, and you need to tell your soul, soul, believe it.

50:35I am announcing to you the good news. Accept it. So, not only do you need to give the gospel priority in your life, you need to give the gospel authority over your life. Let it speak and let its truth have authority, because that's exactly what it is. And that way you'll be letting the gospel of grace come into your life. How do you escape out of the coffin of man-made religion? Come to Jesus. As Jesus himself promised, if the Son makes you free, you will be free indeed. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we recognize the importance and priority of your gospel.

51:36Father, it's what we all need to hear. It's what our land needs to hear. It's what our state, our country, our world needs to hear. It's what we need to be hearing in our churches. Father, we need to give priority to your gospel. Forgive us, Father, where we have entertained other thoughts, other man-made religions and systems, and have elevated them to a place of priority. Father, we also confess that we have not always let your word speak with authority in our hearts. We come to the gospel and then we start hearing voices that tell us it isn't true or why it's true for somebody else and not for us, Father. Let your word, Holy Spirit, by your power, let your word speak authoritatively in this church and in our hearts here today.

52:32We want to hear and we want to heed. Let your gospel of grace transform us as it did Paul. In Jesus' name, amen.