Shabbat Shalom, everyone. Please open your Bibles today for the ministry, today for the book of Galatians. We are studying the book of Galatians, and today we are going to deal with the first ten verses of Galatians chapter 1. Galatians is one of these letters that Shaul Paul wrote to the assemblies in Galatia. Galatia was in Asia Minor. Galatia was more than just a city, one single city, but Galatia was a region in which the Apostle Paul had visited and established local congregations, local assemblies, as in Antioch, in Lystra, in Iconium, and in Derby. There were at least four cities which Shaul, Paul, have visited, share the message of the Gospels, and sought to see that many who turn to the Lord Jesus, the Messiah, will grow spiritually and understand what the Lord have done for them.

So he wrote to them the letter to the Galatians in order to help them because they were it didn't take too long beloved brothers and sisters and things have happened in Galatia that made it necessary for Paul Shaul to write this letter and I'm reading Galatians 1 verses 1 to 10 this is the second ministry meeting on the Bible teaching on the book of Galatians and Paul says in verse 1 Paul an apostle not of men neither by men but by Yeshua HaMashiach Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead and all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of Galatia the assemblies of Galatia grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for our sins that He might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever.

Amen. I marvel that ye are so soon removed from Him that calleth you into the grace. Of Messiah unto another gospel which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of Christ the gospel of Mashiach but though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed As we said before, so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. Anathema, for do I now persuade men, O God, or do I seek to please men?

For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ, the servant of Messiah. And I'm going to stop here with these first ten verses of Galatians chapter 1. Now we have gone already through the first meeting together, Starting the first two verses, and in the previous ministry meeting, we have been introduced to the Apostle Paul. Shaul, his Hebrew name, Polos, Paul, his diaspora, dispersion man. And we have learned that many of the Jewish people have dual names. There is a Hebrew name, Shaul, there is a diaspora name, Paul. And Paul, because he lived in Tarsus, he was carrying more than that one name, Shaul, and then also Paul.

We have also learned from Acts chapter 9 how on the way to Damascus, Shaul, this Pharisee, Parush, Jewish man, Israeli man, Hebrew man, who loved the God of Israel and loved the Jewish people. But when he saw that those wayward Jews who believed that Yeshua was the Messiah have accepted him and followed him, Shaul thought, as before the God of Israel, that he's going to help God and that he's going to go to Damascus and he's going to capture all these Hebrew Christians, Messianic Jewish people, bring them from the synagogue and bring them to the city of Yerushalayim. So he took a letter with him from the high priest in order to go and bring these early Hebrew Christians back to Jerusalem, and he really persecuted them for a long time until, beloved brothers and sisters, on the way to Damascus, Yeshua, the Messiah from heaven, the glorified Messiah who died and was buried and rose and had been ascended to heaven.

And he said to Shaul on the way to Damascus, Shaul, Saul, Shaul, Shaul, why do you persecute me? And then at that moment, beloved brothers and sisters, the Lord touched his heart and Shaul had to understand. He said, who art thou, Lord? And from that time on, after he was stricken to the ground, he received, you might say, the salvation of the Lord, and he became what is known to us today as a born-again believer in the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And from there on, beloved brothers and sisters, Shaul Paul began to minister among the Gentiles, the Goyim, among the people of Israel, and Kings as he was called by the Lord to do so so it is amazing it is fascinating because already in the early days of the church age in which we live in today false teachings have crept in as it crept in in the history of our people Israel it creeps in into the body of Messiah and we today at the latter days of the church age at the end notice we live two thousand years almost after Shaul Paul wrote the letter to the galatian and we face the same problem today while in the early days those who imposed certain things upon the Gentiles were called Judaizers, today we have another problem called Gentilizers, in which the very same thing is happening today in the days of which we live in today.

So in the first 10 verses, beloved brothers and sisters, the Apostle Paul relayed to the Galatians three important facts as he opened his. Letter to the erring Galatians they have already began to err they have moved away from the truth of the gospel they began to move shift more to the right or more to the left assuming that salvation is not only by faith in the Messiah but you need to be circumcised you need to keep the law of or you need to keep any laws that we hear people tells us today and we have to be speaking in tongues or you have to be baptized or you have to keep the rules of a certain church group or congregational group and the apostle Paul Shaul determined to teach the Galatians the fact concerning the great salvation that had been provided by the Lord Yeshua the Messiah himself So in these first ten verses, Paul related the Galatians three important facts as he opened his letter to these erring Galatians in those days.

And we can learn from these letters today, these important principles. Now notice what he says here in these three, I should say in these ten verses, three points. Number one, in verses 1 to 5, Paul explained to the Galatians his God-given authority. In other words, he shows the Galatians that whatever he does and he says, he has a God-given authority, and it's not his own, but it is coming to him from none else but the Lord Yeshua the Messiah. Then in verses 6 and 7, Paul expresses his concern for the Galatian believers. They were already, they have accepted the Mashiach, the Messiah. They have recognized the grace of God.

So he is expressing to them his concern because they shifted. They began to turn away from that which they have already learned when he shared with them the gospel. And thirdly, in verses 8, 9, and 10, Paul, Shaul Paul, exposes his adversaries who perverted the gospel of Mashiach, the gospel of the Messiah, the gospel of Christ. So that's what I want to share with you this ministry meeting, these three, you might say, important facts. Paul explained his God-given authority, Paul expresses his concern for the Galatians, and Paul exposes his adversaries who perverted the gospel of the Messiah. Now, brothers and sisters, let me show you just a few things about the gospel before I'm going to continue on.

Look, beloved brothers and sisters, God created you, He created me, He created all men. And I don't have to tell you, we all have sinned, we all fall short of the glory of God. If you remember, Adam fell in the Garden of Eden, he plunged the whole human race into sin. That's why the Bible says, for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God. This is not only today, it started when our father Adam fell into sin in the Garden of Eden. So we have a problem here is God on one hand sin has separated us from God that's why men by nature can never attain salvation and what we read in Roman chapter 3 in verse 23 the problem that you and i have the problem that Jew and Gentile have the problem that men and women have the problem that boys and girls have the problem that religious or secular have is that we have we are sinners by nature all have sinned and come short of the of the glory of God David our king the king of Israel said in sin did my mother conceived me you like it or you don't God is a holy God man is a sinful men that is what happened we had fallen unto sin from Adam on until today well sometimes we continue on men deserve to die because their wages of sin is death because God is holy and because we have sinned sin demanded judgment and Romans 6 23 Shaul Paul said elsewhere elsewhere the wages of sin.

Is death so just the same as Adam in his days he needed the forgiveness of the Lord and you and i today need it as well but man's problem and the penalty that sin deserved is judgment is death and separation from God but sometime we all realize that that we try to please God man is trying to attain salvation so we try you know we attending congregational meeting we think it will save us we are keeping laws and rules and we think that will save us or we are doing good deeds and we think if we're going to make some good works you see God is going to accept us or even knowing the Bible well we can quote verses from the Bible and we can add to that keeping laws keeping days keeping keeping all sort of man-made things we find ourselves never going to be able to reach us to the other side to the presence of the Lord because we are still sinners by nature and.

Isaiah said this to our people of old Israel in Isaiah chapter 64 all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags before the Lord it doesn't matter what we do it come from a sin nature of a Jewish man or a gentleman we all cannot attain God's holy requirement so God graciously what did he do he provided a way for salvation it's like a ladder whereby instead of man falling into eternal separation from him God provided the person of Yeshua the Messiah who came to die for the sin of Israel and the sin of the nations of the world and you remember what Yeshua said in John chapter 14 i am the way the truth and the life no one comes to the father but by me you remember what Peter said in act chapter 2 and act chapter 4 i should say there is no other name whereby we must be saved and that is the name of the person of the son of God who his name is.

Yeshua Jesus is yesus the Greek for the Hebrew word Yeshua and you shall call his name Yeshua the angel said because he will save his people from their sins Matthew chapter 1 and verse 21 well of course the question is where you and i are finding ourselves today do we believe what God says or do we reject what God says if we reject what God says we will find ourselves never going to be able to be drawn back to the Lord in restoration and we will find ourselves in suffering eternal separation from God and that's the question we all have to ask ourselves where you and i are today thank God that from what we understand that the vast majority of us as we know.

We have accepted the Messiah. We have crossed over from here to here, not on the basis of any good things that we have done, or laws that we have committed, or circumcision that we have held, but on the basis of the work of the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, who died for us on the shameful Roman cross some 2,000 years ago. And here is where Paul, Shaul, is now explaining or relating to the Galatians those three important facts. And I would like to share with you in this ministry those three important facts. So let's go back to Galatians chapter 1. And you notice in verse 1 to 5, Shaul Paul explained his God-given authority.

You see, people said about Paul, who is this man? He was not there when Yeshua was in the land of Israel ministering to the people of Israel he was not there when the Lord Jesus the Messiah chose those 12 disciples he was not there when the the Lord himself set up this order among the early believers in the city of Jerusalem who is that Shaul Paul why is it that he claimed to be such an apostle or such a great many you might say and they were accusing him that he was teaching things which were contrary to the word of God and contrary to the people of Israel's teaching as they have been taught from the Lord well Paul had to explain to the Galatians that he was not called by men but that he was called by the glorified Messiah himself the Lord Jesus and so you notice this in Galatians 1 verses one and two Paul explained to the Galatians that he is an apostle he's explaining notice he says here in verse one Paul an apostle the Greek word for apostle is apostolos in Hebrew the word is.

Shaliach shaliach is a messenger that was sent by the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and so he says Paul and apostle verse one not of men neither by men but by Yeshua the Messiah Jesus the Messiah and God the father who raised him from the dead you see he's saying to the Galatians who were already influenced by those that came and taught them otherwise that it is not enough for them to be saved through faith in Yeshua the Messiah but they need to be circumcised keep the law of Moses and keep all sort of rules of men and Paul is saying listen i'm an apostle and i was not called by men no men have sent me and i was not neither by men no one is the one who promoted me to become a shaliach a messenger and a pastor but not no one else except notice but by Jesus the Messiah Yeshua ha-Mashiach and God the father who raised him from the dead he immediately beloved brothers.

And sisters exhibit not for pride not because of his arrogance but in humility he says listen i was called by the glorified Messiah who died once and he was raised from among the dead by God the father he is the one that made me an apostle and you remember beloved brothers and sisters as we have already read in a act chapter 9 that Yeshua said to hanania in act chapter 9 i'm just going to read these verses for us in the earlier part he says the Lord said unto hanani he said in verse 15 go thy way for he this is Shaul Paul he is a chosen vessel unto me to bear my name before the goyim the Gentiles and Kings melachim in Hebrew and the children of Israel bnei Israel He is a chosen vessel.

The Lord is the one that has chosen him, for I will show him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake. So Paul wanted the Galatians to understand that he was indeed an apostle that was sent not from men, nobody sent him, not Peter or James or John from Jerusalem sent him. No it was a direct call from the glorified Messiah who is the one that died and he rose again and the Abba the father raised him from among the dead he's emphasizing this beloved brothers and sisters and notice also that in verse 2 he said and all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of galatia so in the first two verses Shaul Paul explained to the galatian that he is actually a shaliyah an apostle that was called by the Lord now brothers and sisters you know all of us who are believers truly believers are called to be messengers by the Lord himself we are called to we are called by the Lord to go to share the gospel to minister the things of the Lord but you and i can never be apostles in a sense the way that Shaul Paul or the other 12 apostles were because in order that one will be qualified for apostleship Acts one tells us that one must see the resurrected Messiah and what happened if you remember after.

Yeshua died and was buried and he rose again he appeared to the 12 apostles in the days before he left back to go to heaven and therefore they were qualified to be called an apostles because they have not only seen him in their lives but and in his life but they have seen him in his resurrection after his death and resurrection well it was the very same way with the apostle Paul with Shaul he did not walk with Yeshua in the time when Yeshua was here on earth in fact he rejected him he didn't want the early Hebrew believers to follow him but he saw the glorified Messiah on the way to Damascus and it was the glorified Lord Yeshua the Messiah who made him an apostle so he's not made an apostle by man he's not made an apostle of man but he was made a shaliyah an apostolos a messenger of the Lord with authority directly from the glorified Lord Jesus the Messiah and notice and God the father who raised him from the dead so he was.

Writing now to these Galatians in verses one and two and he was explaining to them that he has authority he is indeed a messenger and apostle that was sent by the Lord himself but now you notice as he moves along he explained the gospel now brothers and sisters listen to me it is so important to understand what is the gospel there is no gospel by the way the Hebrew word is besorah there is no besorah there is no good news or gospel if we have to do something in order to gain salvation if we have to do something keep laws be circumcised keep rules speak in tongues be baptized do something to earn our salvation then it's not news it's not good news because we find ourselves that after we were baptized we still fall in sin after we were circumcised we still fall in sin after we speak in tongue we still fall in sin after we keep certain rules and laws we still fall to sin and the wages of sin is death so there's no gospel if it's men's works.

And so the apostle Paul is explaining in verses 3 and 4 what is the gospel to the Galatians They already knew it, but it's so quickly some have come into their midst and told them, as we read in Acts 15 and verse 1, where some came down from Judea, saying, told the brethren there, that except ye be circumcised after the manner of Moshe, you cannot be saved. It's not enough to believe in Yeshua, they said. You're going to get circumcised, otherwise you are not quite saved. Can you imagine how this has frustrated the Apostle Paul and it's frustrating us and many, many people today who are not quite sure, well, I haven't arrived, I'm not quite there, I haven't kept enough things to get saved.

And Paul determined to stand for the principle that is taught in the Word of God. And that's why, notice, he explained the Gospel. And you and I need to internalize this into our own soul. So notice verse 3. He says, listen, grace be to you and peace. Chesed in Hebrew and shalom, grace and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus the Messiah, our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. And now notice how beautiful, beloved brothers and sisters, that it should touch our hearts every time we read such a passage as verse 4. Listen, Yeshua, our Lord, Yeshua the Messiah, the end of verse 3. And then notice, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father.

Now this is what touches our hearts when it's come to the gospel message. Who is the one that is able to give himself for my sins? Who? Who is the one that can give? Can I pay for my sins on my own? Can you pay for your sins on your own? The best of us have fallen short of the glory of God. So of Shaul, Paul, he says, listen, brethren of the local area of Galatia, many local churches in this local assembly, he says, listen, the Lord, Yeshua, the Messiah, gave himself. He willingly laid down his life. He offered himself as a sacrifice, not for his own sins, but for our sins.

You see, this is something that we cannot even fathom, that someone will be penalized for all the sin and sins which you and I, I and you committed during our life, from the day that we were born until the day that we will die. And that's why, beloved brothers and sisters, the apostle Paul, notice he emphasized, gave himself. You remember what Yeshua, before he died, he said in John chapter 10, and I want to read these verses to you. John chapter 10, he says, listen to this beautiful verse. He's speaking about himself as the good shepherd. He says i am the good shepherd John 10 11 the good shepherd giveth his life for the sheep he was the true shepherd of Israel he is the good shepherd of the sheep he is the one that laid down his life his life gave it over for the sake of the sheep in John chapter 10 verse 17 before his death Yeshua said therefore doth my father love me because I lay down my life that I might take it again no man taketh it from me but I lay it down of myself I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it again this commandment have I received of my father you see beloved brothers and sisters there is something that happened here that was already predicted by the prophets of Israel that in the fullness of time the Mashiach will come and he will lay down himself willingly.

You remember what Isaiah said? All we like sheep have gone astray. Isaiah 53 and verse 6. We have turned everyone to his own way, but the Lord laid upon him the iniquities of us all. And that's why the Apostle Paul is explaining and emphasizing the gospel that God the Son as man gave himself. But notice what it says in the second point in verse 4. He gave himself for our sins. It is your sins and mine that we deserve to pay for because of our falling nature. But here come a man, God the Son as man, Yeshua from Nazareth. And he give himself for my sins and for yours.

Did I earn that? Did I keep any laws in order to earn that? Did I get circumcised in order to be saved? Did he save me on a basis of circumcision on law keepers and rules of men? It was totally from God. In fact, the only thing we have brought to the table is our sins. Jesus, the Messiah, paid it all. All to him we owe. And that's what Paul is seeking to explain to the brothers and sisters in the region of Galatia. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15 for a moment. There's a greatest explanation of what is the gospel that Paul explained elsewhere in the book of Corinthians when he wrote to these Corinthians who had so many trouble in their midst.

He said to them in 1 Corinthians 15, verse 3, I deliver unto you, first of all, that which I also received. You see, Paul is saying, I receive it from the Lord. I'm not telling you my ideas. I receive from the Lord what I am telling you, the people of Corinth. How, verse 3b, how that the Messiah died for our sins according to the Scriptures. Which Scriptures? There was no New Testament when Shaul wrote to the Corinthians. He was writing to them according to the Hebrew Scriptures because the Hebrew writers have predicted that the Messiah in the fullness of time will come and he will pay for sins.

That's why he said, I'm telling to you what I receive, how the Messiah, Christ, have died for our sins according to the Scriptures. And then he continued, and that he was buried, verse 4, and that he rose again the third day according to the Scriptures. Here's the gospel. Here's the Besorah, the good news, that the Mashiach of Israel, the one that was promised to the people of Israel, came in the fullness of time and paid for the sin of this world. Israel did not recognize him as a nation, but the early few Jewish believers did, And they were called to become missionaries, you might say, apostles that will spread the message of the gospel of the grace of God throughout all the nations of the world.

And you and I are today beneficiaries of what these first early apostles have done. And so notice that it says here, after he says that he gave his life for our sins, but not at the next thing that he says. In verse, and I'm back in Galatians chapter 1 and verse 4, in the second half of the verse, he said that he might deliver us from this present evil world. Beloved brothers and sisters, the world in which we live in today, this present day, the world system is an evil system against God and against his anointed one. And when the Galatians, as much as you and I, have turned our hearts to Yeshua, Jesus, the Messiah, he delivered us from this present evil world.

And for us, for the believers, we are only passing through and we are soon to go to meet the Lord and be with him for time and eternity. This world is heading to judgment. There is a day come in which God will judge this world in righteousness in the coming days. But every one of us that have turned our hearts to the Lord, that repented of our sins, recognized that we sinned against God. And there is nothing that we can do to avail us for our salvation. We, when we have turned to the Lord, we have been transferred from one world to another, you might say.

We became sons and daughters of the Father. Remember 2 Corinthians 5, 17? All that are in Christ Jesus, in the Messiah, Yeshua, are new creation. All things have passed away, all become new. So Paul is so determined to explain, to express, and to explain his authority to be the one that shared the gospel with the Galatians and elsewhere in Asia Minor. And he was so sad to hear of what happened to the first century believers in Galatia. Apparently, those who oppose Shaul Paul and those who sought to bring the believers into some sort of merits and work system and circumcision and laws keeping, They followed him wherever he went.

But in Galatia, it stuck. It didn't stick in other places because they were far more biblically sound, but in Galatia, it stuck. And Paul heard about the condition there, and he writes this letter out of so much concern for the welfare of the Galatians. So, beloved brothers and sisters, notice verse 5, to whom be glory forever and ever. In other words, Paul did not want his own glory, but he wanted the glory of Yeshua the Messiah. And that's why in verse 5 he's saying, glory is not mine, but it is to belong to the Lord Yeshua the Messiah himself. Now if you just turn with me to the 6th chapter for a moment, Galatians 6, you notice that those who came and taught otherwise, they sought their own glory in contrast to the apostle Paul in Galatians 6 and verse 12 he said to them this is at the end of the book we'll get to it at some point of time he said to them as many as desire to make a fair show in the flesh they constrain you to be circumcised only lest they should suffer persecution for the cross of the Messiah for neither they themselves who are circumcised keep the law but desire to have you circumcised that they may glory in your flesh they want to do glory in the fact that they were successful to influence those non-Jewish believers in getting them to be circumcised so they will glory in their own flesh you see we got another one who is circumcised or others today will say oh we got another one who we a human influence to speak in tongues.

Or we got another one that we have set upon him our rules and our laws and our views on on how a man seek to live for the Lord and beloved brothers and sisters Paul was so determined to stop this and to emphasize the gospel. He says, listen, they want a glory in you for their own glory, but here in contrast, I seek the glory of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah. That's why, brothers and sisters, Paul gave us in the New Testament, in the Brit HaChadasha, 13 letters. If we don't believe what Paul wrote, we might as well take aside Romans, 1st Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1st Thessalonians, 2nd Thessalonians, 1st Timothy, 2nd Timothy, Titus, Philemon.

Take all these and set it aside and you will find out that half of your New Testament is gone. And if you want even more, the whole book of Acts from chapter 9 on, with exception, The whole book of Acts is the life of Shaul Paul and his journeys as he shared the gospel. If you take half of the book of Acts, what you got in the Brit HaChadashah. And that's why Paul is so strong in emphasizing the importance of understanding what Yeshua has done. And can you imagine what a man will have to stand before God one day and to say, God, you were wrong?

I know that I need to do this in order to satisfy you, God. If you only listen to what I have to say, God will show us where we are and what we are. And He will expose us. And He will show us that we all fail. And if He wouldn't be Yeshua the Messiah who died for our sins, we would have no hope. Religion doesn't save. Only the Mashiach, the Son of God, saves. Now he moves along, and as I mentioned, in the first ten verses, Paul and Shaul relate to the Galatians three important facts as he opened this letter to the erring Galatians.

And in the first five verses, he told them, he explained to them that he received a God-given authority. He is an apostle, not because of men, not because anybody sent him, but because Yeshua the Messiah is the one that has sent him. And by the way, if we don't believe Paul, how can we believe Moshe? We were not there. How can we believe Isaiah? And how can we believe Jeremiah? And how can we believe Ezekiel? And how can we believe the early days of Genesis if we began to play with the Word of God? We can't believe anything anymore. Because the Bible would have no authority if we don't accept what we have in the written Bible.

The word of God now in verse 6 and 7 Shaul Paul expresses now his concern for the Galatians and you notice brothers and sisters what he does he was astonished he was really astonished it says in verse 6 and notice what he says i marvel that you are so soon removed from him that call you into the grace of the Mashiach of Christ and to another gospel which is not another but there be some that trouble you and would prevert the gospel of Messiah the gospel of Christ see in verses 6 and 7 Paul shows that he's so much concerned for the welfare for the spiritual welfare of the Galatians, that he was shocked, that he was so surprised that just after he left explaining to them and leading them to Yeshua, the Messiah, simply by faith in the work of the Messiah and no more, then somebody else come in.

He said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Jesus is not enough. Yeshua, but add some additional thing in order to be actually saved. You're not quite saved. You haven't arrived. And that's why Paul was so surprised. He says, I'm marveled. In the Hebrew word, it's I'm tameha. Tameha is the Hebrew word, I'm puzzled. I'm shocked. I'm surprised that you are so soon removed. Notice it says, removed from Him. This is removed from God. Removed from God. In other words, God who had this plan, the plan of salvation originated not by men. Men never think of such a thing. Men always think of a way to be right with God.

I've got to do something, you see. I'll keep certain days. I'll keep weeks and months, I'll keep certain rituals, and I'll please God, you see. But again, beloved brothers and sisters, when it's come to the gospel, it's not what you and I keep, it's what the Messiah himself has done for us. And Paul is saying, listen, I marvel at you that you are so soon removed from him. That is God that called you into the grace of the Messiah. And then he said, and to another gospel. Besorah Zarah or Besorah Acheret in Hebrew. Another gospel, another news. You see, what is going on in the world in which we live in today, because there are many religious groups in this world, some of them is part of Christendom, that give us various messages.

You can hear it on the radio, you can watch it on the television, you can read it in the newspaper you can open magazine you can go on the internet and there's so many messages that are spread in a world in which we live in and because we are human and because we have seen nature we sometimes even as believers if we are not careful we are so quickly are shifted and begin to wonder maybe he's right and maybe they are right and maybe i should go there and i should do this instead of looking at what God gave us in his word in other words he said i marvel that you are so soon removed from him from God God beloved brothers and sisters we read this morning in our reading today in a Psalm that was read for us in Psalm 146 praise ye the Lord not man praise the Lord o my soul while i live will i praise the Lord i will sing praises unto my God while i have any being and he continue put not your trust in princes.

Nor in the son of man in Ben Adam in human race in people in whom there is no help his breath goes forth he returneth to his earth in that very day his thoughts perish you know brothers and sisters what sometimes is fascinating is that we look to man to try to fix our understanding of the Word of God instead of looking to the God of the Scripture who taught us that men at his best with all his religious activities cannot avail us for salvation. The best of us. Shaul was the Pharisee of Pharisees. He kept all that which God had given our people of Israel plus the rabbinical and Pharisaic views that he lived in his life every day and he find no peace to his heart.

He needed forgiveness that will be provided when a Messiah will die for his sins. So he says, I marvel how quickly you move from God. And we can't blame the Galatians. Because we are no different. We are just the same. We look there and we find that we're trying to find, oh, there it's a better way. Oh, he teaches something greater. Oh, if I'll keep this, I will be more happy spiritually and I'll grow and I'll be... And then we find out that even those that try to influence us to do it, they don't keep it themselves. They fail themselves. And here is that what the Apostle Paul, he's so strong, he says, Listen, I marvel how soon you remove from him that call you, listen, into the grace of the Mashiach, of Christ.

Unmerited favor, undeserved favor of God towards us. Grace, sometimes we sing, grace, grace, God's grace, grace that is greater than all my sin. Marvelous grace of our loving Lord, our loving Mashiach. He says, how is it possible? Well, apparently it is possible because we are gullible, because we are not sound, standing on the promises of God, standing on the truth of the word of God. We shift from one place to another, and we don't understand and stay focused. And so he says, how come you are moved from him that called you into the grace of the Messiah into another gospel? And what, brothers and sisters, another gospel is anything, anything that will be said to be added to the work of the Messiah.

Yeshua's death and resurrection for my sin plus baptism. Yeshua's death and resurrection plus speaking in tongue. Yeshua's death and resurrection plus getting circumcised. Yeshua's death and resurrection plus keeping the law. Yeshua's death and resurrection plus men's works and church practices. Yeshua's death and resurrection plus what I can do in order to gain my salvation. This is another gospel. That is that which dishonor God we're saying to God God you did your part and now I'm going to do my part and God says all what you do come from a sin nature and unless you are guided by the Spirit of God all even your good your righteousnesses are as far is, I can tell you, a filthy rag.

Those of us who are believers already for years know how much we fail the Lord every day. We seem to climb up a little bit on a mountain and we are kind of spiritual-minded and it didn't take too long and we find, oh Lord, here again. I have an evil thought. I have an evil desire. I shouldn't have said what I said. I shouldn't have done what I've done. I have this and that and this and the other. Had our salvation depend upon our performance, where would we be, beloved brothers and sisters? That is another gospel. Just turn to chapter 3 for a moment, Galatians 3.3. We will go over that with the Lord's help.

He said to them in verse 3 of chapter 3, Are ye so foolish? Have ye begun in the Spirit? Are ye now made perfect by the flesh? In other words, you began your salvation by trusting in the Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, and you have been allowed to be led by the Holy Spirit of God. Now do you think if you're going to do this and do this and keep this and keep this, that will help you spiritually as if you're doing it, binding yourself into that and not being led by the Spirit of God? Then you begin in the Spirit and you think you're going to continue and conclude your life as a believer in your flesh activity?

Is that what's going to make you more spiritual? Paul is saying to them. If you turn a little bit to the next verse, chapter 4 and verse 10, and here's something that we have to be very careful, even us who are Messianic Jewish people, he said to them in chapter 4 and verse 10, he said, you observe days and months and times and years. I'm afraid of you, Paul is saying, lest I have bestowed upon you labor in vain. In other words, they assume that if they keep certain feasts and holidays, if they are adding or helping in their salvation. As if that, if you fail to do that, God is not going to be pleased with you.

That's what the Galatians had to go and experience. Notice a little bit, one more verse that I marked for myself here in chapter 5. And notice these verses in verse 2, 3 and 4 listen to what Paul said behold I Paul say unto you that if ye be circumcised you Galatian Gentiles it was given to Israel the Jewish people were commanded by the law to be circumcised but you Gentile believers if you be circumcised Messiah shall profit you nothing look at verse 3 For I testify again to every man that is circumcised that he is a detour to do the whole law. Messiah is become of no effect. And to you, whosoever of you are justified by the law, ye are fallen from grace.

He doesn't talk any evil about the law because the law is not the problem. The problem is men the law is holy Romans chapter 7 the law is spiritual Romans chapter 7 but we are sold under sin and that's why circumcision law keeping days keeping human merits all the baptism and speaking in tongues and all what we are told in order to save one it's of no avail and it's an affront to a living God who gave us his son to pay the price for our sins. So as we have expressed, and I now want you to go back to our chapter and he said to them now in chapter 1, Galatians 1, verses 6, we read verse 6, he says, he said to them, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that call you into the grace of the Messiah into another gospel and then he continue and listen what he says in verse 7 which is not another but there be some, notice here the early church the early assemblies have experienced there be some that trouble you and would pervert the gospel of the Mashiach I would like to say that that in days of old some might call those Judaizers today we might call them Gentilizers after 2000 years that passed and today because the vast majority of the church are made out of non-Jews and today we are influenced by all sort of things that are pulling us out of the A, B, C of the gospel message.

Some that trouble you and not as pervert, that word pervert is distort or twist the gospel of the Messiah. You know when that person is going to have to stand one day before the Lord and he will have to tell the Lord after the Lord will show him or them their failure in their own lives that they couldn't do what they expect from others to do the Lord will expose them and he will show them that it is only the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah alone that saves a wretched soul as yours and mine what shall wash away my sin nothing but the blood of Yeshua His death, burial, and resurrection is the only ground, beloved brothers, whereby we are accepted by a holy and a righteous God.

Otherwise, all other ways, all other things are sinking sand, sinking sand. No good deeds, no love keeping, no circumcision, no baptism, no speaking in tongues, no church affiliations or whatever it is will ever avail the believer for the person for salvation, the sinner for salvation only the precious precious blood of Yeshua the Messiah avails for justification so now let me finalize these thoughts here remember what we said that Shaul Paul related to the Galatians three important facts as he opens his letter to the airing Galatians in verses 1 to 5 Paul explained his God-given authority, I am an apostle. In verses 6 and 7, Paul expresses his concern for the Galatians.

He said to them, I marvel how you have moved so quickly from God, who have called you into the grace of the Messiah, into another gospel, which is really not another, it's not a news, it's not good news, it's a bad news. Because anything that we have done because cause of our sin nature brought the judgment of God upon us we cannot earn our salvation Paul is. Saying to them and now he's finalizing his thoughts in verses 8 9 and 10 he exposes his adversaries who pervert the gospel of the Messiah he exposes them they really they don't bring the gospel of God but they bring another gospel Besorah Zarah it's like bringing on the altar Esh Zarah a fire, remember how that the sons of Eli offered strange fire on the altar and God had to deal with them to teach that salvation based upon circumcision, law-keeping, rules of men, speaking in tongues, being baptized, doing good works, and to say that that is salvation, this is bringing false teachings.

That is exactly what he is emphasizing now. So notice in verse 8, Paul warns the Galatians, and he said to them, notice verse 8, But though we, even me, I, Paul, though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you, then that which we have preached unto you, listen to the word, let him be anathema. This is the Greek word for accursed. The Hebrew word is cherem. Cherem simply means devoted for destruction. If any, notice, let me repeat that, and Paul is speaking about himself. If we, I and those that are with me, or any angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you, then that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.

Let him be anathema. By the way, the word anathema in the Greek here is mentioned six times. In the Brit HaChadasha, in the New Testament. One of them, the Apostle Paul, used in Romans chapter 9 and verse 3 about himself because of his love for Israel. I'm willing to be accursed from the Messiah for my brethren, my kinsmen, according to the flesh. He said, Romans chapter 9 and verse 3, lest anybody will blame him that he didn't love his people, Israel. He was willing to be cut off from the Mashiach for his people Israel. No one could accuse Paul Shaul who didn't love God and love the people of Israel.

He's willing to be accursed. The same word he's using, let him be devoted to destruction. And that's why I noticed that in the Tanakh it's mentioned about 31 times the Hebrew word is cherem. Cherem, anathema, accursed. And you remember in the book of Joshua, when our forefathers, the people of Israel, were going to enter into the promised land, the first city that they've entered in was Jericho, Jericho. And God warned Israel, when you're going to Jericho, you will not touch the unclean thing in that city of Jericho, because this city is accursed. And you will not touch the accursed thing that which is devoted for destruction any other cities when Israel defeated Israel took the spoils to themselves but when it's come to the city of Yericho Israel could never take the accursed thing and you remember what happened in chapter 7 Akan took of the accursed thing and because he took from the accursed thing which God already told Israel this is devoted for destruction.

The city of Jericho is a city of curse but I can't took anyways violating the word of God. And from that time on Israel could not defeat their enemies. And they fled from the people of Ai. They were defeated. They could not successfully win you might say take over that which God had forget for Israel the inheritance of the land and then finally Akan was found out and sadly the Lord destroyed he killed him and his family because Akan violated the word of the Lord and you know what that tells us that when we take from the gospel message and we tell Yeshua Yeshua your death is not quite enough you see you didn't quite make it you see you died thank you but I got to do something myself I got to get circumcised I got to keep rules and laws I got to keep days and weeks and months I got to keep holidays, feasts in order to be saved you didn't do quite enough Lord I have to add to your work God is going to have to deal with us on that to keep things in order to be saved is a violation of the word of God and look what's going on in the world in which we live in today where there's all sort of views.

About not enough Jesus the Messiah but we need something else and that's why Paul says let him be accursed now he doesn't talk here about someone who want to keep certain days and certain holidays or feasts and so on as we practice here and there but we never teach that those are for salvation we do it because it's far better to do things that are based upon the principles of Scripture than to introduce things that are not fine, that are pagan, that aren't biblical. But we don't say to anyone, you must do that, otherwise you are not saved. Not at all, beloved brothers and sisters.

And that's why he says, let him be accursed. And as long as Israel continued without to deal with this sin, they never won a victory, and they were defeated. And you know, sometime, and I want to make a spiritual lesson, as long that we tell God that it's something that I did and I do in order to earn my salvation, I am an affront to God, and spiritually, I will never grow and mature and enjoy what the Lord has done for me. But once I, as it were, casting, casting ourselves before the Lord, I said, Lord God, be merciful to me, a sinner. I don't come to you on the basis of my merit, just as I am, without one plea, but that your blood was shed for me.

That's the ground upon which God can accept, a sinner who repents. Notice in verse 9, Shaul Paul is reemphasizing what he just said about the condemnation against anyone who preach any other gospel. And he says in verse 9, as we said before, so say I now again, he repeats, if any man preach any other gospel unto you than that he have received, let him be cherem. Anathema a curse and by the way you notice in verse 8 he said if we in verse 8 he said if angel and in verse 9 he added he said if any man or any person if any person any angel and even if we will teach anything otherwise as God is concerned let him, let them let them be devoted to destruction let them be, leave them alone God will deal with them you make sure that you embrace the grace of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah now notice finally in verse 10 he concludes with the third important fact that he exposes his adversaries who perverted the gospel of the Messiah, the gospel of Christ.

And notice what he said in verse 10. As for me, Paul, he presents his own personal position. In order what he said. For do I now persuade men, or God, or do I seek to please men? For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of Christ, the servant of the Messiah. Notice, four times he used the word I here in this verse. For do I persuade men, O God, or do I seek to please men? For if I yet please men, I should not be the servant of the Messiah. You see, we cannot serve the one who paid for the sin of this world and tell others that he is not enough.

That we need, in addition to his death, burial, and resurrection, we need to do something on our own. Whether it is what the early believers said in past days 2,000 years ago, or what the people in the latter days of the church say to us today. To pervert the gospel will bring about the judgment of God. So Jesus the Messiah died in vain if we need to add to what he has done. So, beloved brothers, this is very, very strong where the apostle Shaul Paul is emphasizing this today. The three important facts that Paul opens the letter with to the erring Galatian believers who needed to be corrected.

And the Lord is ministering through the apostle Paul to them through this letter. Listen, I have an authority, Paul said, I'm an apostle. I am concerned for you, Galatians, I love you and I care for you. But I would like to emphasize the judgment will come upon those that share or teach otherwise because they are eventually perverting the gospel of the Messiah. So may the Lord help us to sink this into our heart and ask the Lord to help us to understand it because the only ground of our salvation is the finished work of our Lord Yeshua, the Messiah, the gospel of the grace of God.

May the Lord help us and bless his word. Can we say Amen?