TTR, this is Truth Time Radio, finally a radio station that understands dispensational truths and is committed, we're committed to sharing those truths with you.
I'm Trey Searcy, mic side and grace ready, set in defense of the gospel of grace, this profound life-altering truth that can help us kill off the weeds of doubt and hopelessness and start replacing them by growing grace, love, joy, freedom, and victory.
And we owe it all to our beloved Christ who, Colossians 2:14, slew the law on Calvary's cross.
Praise God, he blotted out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, he removed it by nailing it to his cross.
This morning, let's begin with Paul's second epistle to the church at Corinth.
Look with me.
Look with me here, if you will, in chapter 11, 2 Corinthians chapter 11.
Let's do, let's begin here at verse 13, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ.
(Verse 14) And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light.
(Verse 15) Therefore, it's no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Hey, if you believe the words on the page, you'll no doubt understand what we're faced with today.
Same thing Paul was, dealing with ministers of righteousness who actively engage in perverting the gospel.
Earlier in the chapter here, verse 3, Paul wrote, But I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
(Verse 4) For if he that cometh preacheth another (gospel) Jesus, whom we have not preached, or if ye receive another spirit, which ye have not received, or another gospel, which ye have not accepted, ye might well bear with him.
Listen, if you're not hearing about Christ, his shed blood, and his finished work, his finished cross work and resurrection, if you're not hearing about how to live by grace through faith, in your secured identity with Christ, and about God's unconditional, unmerited love towards you.
If not, then you're hearing another gospel.
The adversary is sneaky, he's no dummy, his communication skills are not slack, and neither are his workers.
The ministers of righteousness, they have special tailor-made sermons, Facebook and blog posts, all geared to appeal to your flesh, to give your flesh something to do.
He that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached.
Our defense against this deception, what is it?
It's to install sound Pauline doctrine.
Repetition is our best teacher, and by studying to show ourself approved, we're able to put these things to memory.
Turn to 1 Timothy chapter 4, Paul, you know, he's constantly warning his reader, constantly warning.
He's very persistent to warn the saints of dishonest and crafty men.
As the serpent beguiled Eve, right?
God counts the wisdom of this world as foolishness, and takes the wise in their own craftiness.
Okay, here it is, 1 Timothy chapter 4 verse 6, go to verse 6, If thou put the brethren in remembrance (there we go, put it to memory), if we put our brothers and sisters in remembrance of these things, guys, we'll be good ministers of Jesus Christ, nourished up in the words of faith and of good doctrine.
But watch verse 7, But refuse profane and old wives' fables, and exercise thyself rather unto Godliness.
The servants of Satan use craftiness and old wives' fables, profane and vain babble, anything they can do to sway the simple.
They distort the truth to gain followers, and they're full of greed and empty chatter.
They use faith for profit and subvert entire households.
As ambassadors, we preach and teach in an effort to get others to embrace the spiritual wealth found right here in Paul's unsearchable riches.
And what do we do?
We warn.
We warn of he that cometh and preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached.
Satan began his crusade back there to corrupt God's word back there in Genesis 3, and he hasn't stopped since.
Most so-called gospels we hear today are not something made up from thin air.
Now some are.
But most contain an element of truth.
For example, you might hear someone today present the gospel, but muddy it up by adding commandment keeping.
You might hear it with the addition of water baptism.
You may hear a presentation of the gospel mixed with sin confessing, turning from or stopping sins altogether, living a faithful life and so forth.
These additions render the gospel of none effect.
None whatsoever.
And on the flip side, now flip that over, some never get to the point of giving the gospel at all, saying things like, "To be saved, just believe in Jesus."
No one can be saved by only believing in Jesus.
Just what does that mean?
Needs a context.
Even believing on Jesus needs context.
Which is what Paul and Silas gave the jailer there in Acts chapter 16.
Or you may hear this one, "Just accept him as Lord and Savior."
Heard that before?
That's not the gospel.
We need to be accepted, not Jesus.
Accepted in the blood of Ephesians 1:6.
What about, "Just believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God?"
Well, that's good.
But this was meant for time past Israel, not for us in this dispensation.
We can't stop with just believing Jesus is the Son of God.
There's more to our gospel.
Perverting the gospel is done one of two ways, either misapplying time past doctrine with ours for today, or by men who have formulated their own man-made ways to be saved.
But without Jesus dying for every last one of your sins, having been buried and risen to give us new and eternal life in him, without that, hey, all you have is a perversion of Paul's gospel of Christ.
For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus, whom we have not preached,
or if ye have received another spirit, which we have not received, or another gospel, there it is, Paul's clear warning of another gospel.
There were men back there, just like we see today, masquerading as ministers of Christ, but preaching another gospel.
Another gospel, another spirit.
Lowercase s.
Not one ounce of salvific power found in these other gospels being preached.
Leaving people, and some sincerely seeking salvation no doubt, but leaving them with a false sense of security.
We notice this same issue being problematic there in Galatia.
Paul wasted no time in addressing it.
Straight out the gate, straight out the chute, he gets right into it in chapter 1.
You'll notice it there in verse 6 he says, I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel:
(Verse 7) Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert (There it is), they pervert the gospel of Christ.
Here we see the same thing.
The same thing going on, guys.
The same thing that was taking place with the Corinthians.
Deception.
Deception among the saints.
Paul had already, he had previously been there with these saints, but shortly after he left, the work-trusting selphians, hey, they snuck in,
got past the guards at the gate, come right in behind him, preaching another gospel.
And what did the Galatian church do?
Oh, they stood up strong against it and said, "No, no way, we're with Paul.
Get out of here with that mess, man."
Right?
Wrong.
They fell for it hook, line, and sinker.
Just like some are doing today.
Satan's plan worked like a charm.
That's his endgame.
His goal as the god of this world is to keep believers off-balanced and unstable and to keep the unbelieving minds blinded so the light of the glorious gospel of Christ will not shine unto them.
How has he been so successful at doing this?
By keeping the preachers dishing out perverted messages to keep their congregations focused on the flesh.
The masses are so easily fooled.
Why?
Because it's just too difficult to believe that salvation is free.
A free gift.
No strings attached free gift.
In this but-now time that we're currently in, this but-now time that God is dispensing his grace, he made justification, now, here's some good news for you, he made justification purely by grace alone through faith alone without any works of any kind at any time.
And that's a hard sell.
That's a hard sell for a society who is used to hearing nothing but the opposite.
Catch phrases, you know, you know we see them all the time.
Nothing in life is free.
There's always a catch.
There's always a price to pay.
You've seen these, haven't you?
You always pay in the end, they'll say.
But Paul's gospel says something very different about our eternal life.
And Romans 3 tells us that we're justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
Freely.
Freely.
See that word?
A beautiful word to someone who's not afraid to be truthful with themselves.
In Romans 6, someone who admits that they can't do it without him, that their only hope is in Christ Jesus and not in anything they can do in their flesh, their performance, the bar's too high for us to reach.
Religion lowers the standard.
In Romans 6, he says The wages of sin is death, but the gift, the gift of God, is eternal life through Christ.
Amen.
We're justified freely by his grace.
Freely by his grace in Romans 3, and here in chapter 6 we have the gift of God.
Justified freely, free gift.
Justified freely, free gift.
Not a hard concept for those who are not self-serving.
Not a hard concept for those who are not afraid to face reality.
Admit their shortcomings.
And Philippians 3:3, who put no confidence in their flesh.
If there's one thing, if there's one thing Paul is clear on is that there's simplicity in Christ.
That's the reason Satan's out to corrupt the Acts 20:24 gospel of the grace of God.
We hear some today saying that the book of Acts doesn't have doctrine for the body of Christ.
Hogwash.
Our very gospel is found in the book of Acts.
In chapter 20, Paul calls it, "The gospel of the grace of God."
Where is this gospel of the grace of God that he mentions?
Acts chapter 13.
Let's read it.
Give me a second here.
Glad you chose us today.
Glad that you chose Truth Time Radio.
Here with an open King James Bible as we connect some dots.
Okay, so some say the book of Acts doesn't have our doctrine.
But you should never blindly take someone's word.
Test everything.
Chapter 13 beginning with verse 37, let's look at this, But he, whom God raised again (This is Jesus), saw no corruption.
Verse 38, Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins:
Verse 39, And by him all that believe (What?) all that believe are justified from all things, from which ye could not be justified by the law of Moses.
Ladies and gentlemen, here's Christ dying for our sins, the resurrection, and the justification from all things in three consecutive verses.
No wonder Paul said to prove all things and hold fast to that which is good.
Guys, you don't have to wait until 1 Corinthians chapter 15 to read Paul's gospel.
Here it is.
Clear back here in Acts chapter 13, yet some teach that our doctrine is not in the book of Acts.
It's this sort of sloppy, fast, and loose teaching that has listeners contacting us, asking questions, like, What gospel is Paul preaching here in Acts 16 to the jailer?
Well, if he preached his "my gospel" clear back there in chapter 13,
by the time you get to 16, where he encounters the jailer here, what gospel do you think he's preaching?
The same one he preached three chapters earlier.
His gospel was the gospel of the grace of God from the beginning.
Acts 16 verse 31, And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.
Verse 32, And they spake unto him the word of the Lord, and to all that were in (the) his house.
Now, what could the word of the Lord possibly be?
What's your guess?
Three chapters after 13 where he had already preached the death, burial,
and resurrection for sins, so the clear answer is, the word of the Lord is Paul's "my gospel," as it is in chapter 13, as it is in 1 Corinthians 15:1 to 4.
Believe on Christ.
Simple faith.
Faith alone in Christ alone was and still is Paul's gospel today.
His first ever recorded sermon, Acts chapter 13, and he, right out the gate,
comes out preaching the gospel of Christ, which is the gospel of the grace of God.
He only received one.
That's why he wrote, "gospel," singular, not, "my gospels," plural.
Be careful who you listen to.
Check your sources carefully.
Many say they're like those of Berea, but are they?
Are they really giving a thorough examination of what they're being told?
Or allowing themselves to be swept up by someone's credentials?
By a personality perhaps, and not bothering to check behind the person?
Some are unbalanced in their presentation and refuse correction.
2 Corinthians chapter 11:(15) Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works.
Do note, now think about this, notice that Satan's ministers are not ministers of evil.
Paul doesn't call them that.
They're not ministers of worldly ungodliness.
Paul called them ministers of righteousness.
What did they minister that made Paul call them ministers of righteousness?
Well, they, they ministered human effort is the way to righteousness necessary for salvation.
Just like some today they say trust in Christ and his finished cross work,
hey, that's not enough.
Their message will have you under a curse because the strength of sin is the law, 1 Corinthians 15, which is why the law works wrath.
Romans 4, adding righteous works to the acts Acts 20:24 gospel of the grace of God only pollutes and perverts it.
Galatians 1:7, Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you,
and would (Do what?) pervert the gospel of Christ.
And in verse 3, Paul opens the chapter here with the words, Grace be to you and peace from God the Father, and from our Lord Jesus Christ,
Notice he said, "Grace and peace."
This grace and peace he mentions is what the ministers of righteousness
pervert.
And watch verse 4, Who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world,...
What's he referring to when he says, "deliver us from this present evil world?"
Is it being delivered from the bar rooms and the pool halls?
Maybe the casinos perhaps?
No, he's talking about being delivered from the perverted gospel being taught by the ministers of righteousness who come along and destroy the gospel of grace with their preaching of human righteousness, human effort.
They're selfianity selfians who preach another Jesus whom we've not preached.
There's no Romans 1:16, "power of God unto salvation" in their preaching.
It's powerless.
Ministers of righteousness are those who, Colossians 2:(18), "beguile you with enticing words."
Ministers of righteousness are those who teach others how to be righteous.
Having missed the fact that we were made righteous.
It's a gift.
Titus 3:7, we're justified by his grace.
We can't be childish and continue to get tossed to and fro by the winds of doctrine.
There's only one doctrine, and it's Paul's.
There's only one faith, Ephesians 4.
In 2 Timothy he said, "I've kept the faith."
What faith?
The faith of Christ.
In Colossians 2:6 he said, As ye have therefore received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk ye in him:
(Verse 7) Rooted and built up in him, and stablished in the faith,...
What faith?
The faith of Christ.
That's the only faith capable of stabilizing anyone today.
Paul tells me to only let my conversation, Philippians 1:27, only let my conversation be as it becometh of the gospel of Christ:
...And to, "stand fast in one spirit, with one mind striving together..."
for the what?
"...the faith of the gospel;"
The faith of Christ.
We've got to continue in the things we've learned, 2 Timothy 3:14.
In Galatians 1:15, our apostle, the apostle Paul, he said, But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace,
And over there in Titus chapter 2:(1) it says, (Only) "...speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:"
He said, (Titus 2:10) we're to adorn the doctrine.
How do we do that?
Adorn the doctrine?
We put it in order.
We make it presentable.
Give it a straight cut by rightly dividing the word of truth.
Okay.
Time has slipped away.
I've enjoyed going over some things with you guys.
If you want more of this, go download our app at truthtimeradio.com.
But if you're here today and you're trying to escape the yoke of bondage
that's been placed there by the religious system, the one they have you under, think with me.
Just think.
Christ, Galatians 3:13, redeemed you from the curse of the law.
Mmm, that's good.
And now, there's no condemnation left to condemn you, Romans 8:1.
So, who is it?
Just ask yourself, who is it that could dare to bring any charge against you?
Verse 33.
No one.
No one.
Now, hopefully, I'm not becoming your Galatians 4:16 enemy because I'm here
telling you the truth.
But if it be, it be, right?
Wasn't that what Gamaliel said there in the book of Acts?
When he was there advising the Jewish council, he said, "But if it be,
if it be of God, you can't overthrow it."
So, we'll just keep pressing on and preaching the word of truth rightly divided and letting the chips fall where they fall.
If your soul is weary from your uncertainty of your salvation, listen,
the Word left heaven and become flesh.
Jesus died on the cross for the sins of the world.
He was buried but rose to defeat death on the third day.
You can end all that uncertainty right now by resting your faith in the good news.
And you'll Romans 3:24 be justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.
And after you're placed in him, you're granted irreversible identity and your life is hid with Christ in God.
So, stop wrestling, stop wrestling with your salvation by right now, this very moment, going ahead and placing your trust in the finished cross work
and resurrection of Christ.
Do it before it's too late.
Grace and peace.
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