Participants: Mark Howard & Jim Howard
Series Code: GBOTB
Program Code: GBOTB00001A
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00:24 Welcome to Books of the Book, my name is
00:27 Mark Howard and I am a Pastor in the Michigan 00:29 Conference of Seventh-Day Adventist. 00:30 I Pastor a church in Global Michigan where 00:33 I live with my wife Stephanie, my two children 00:35 Caleb and Ana Lisa. 00:36 I also am the director of the school of 00:39 evangelism for the Michigan Conference called 00:42 the Emmanuel Institute of Evangelism. 00:44 I'm really excited to be here with my 00:47 younger brother Jim Howard, who also is a 00:49 Pastor in Michigan. 00:50 Jim tell them a little bit about yourself. 00:52 My name is Jim Howard and I Pastor two churches 00:55 in Michigan, one is the Detroit Metropolitan 00:58 church and the other is the South Lyon Seventh- 01:01 day Adventist church and I also have a family. 01:04 I have a beautiful wife Sonia, and two children 01:06 Kayla and Lindsay and I am excited to be here 01:09 to talk about the book of Galatians. 01:10 I have beautiful wife too. 01:16 One thing, Jim and I have both had some 01:18 background growing up with some of the 01:21 Adventist background and had for some many 01:24 years been away from Christianity altogether. 01:26 About the same time, in fact we were baptized 01:30 on the same day back in 1992, sorry 1994. 01:33 I always get my dates mixed up, it's been a 01:37 little while back and the Lord has been gracious 01:40 to us in helping us to come to an understanding 01:43 of the gospel truth which is why we are so 01:45 excited to be here and talk about the book of Galatians. 01:48 The book of Galatians is a book that 01:51 I think is especially meant for the people 01:53 at the end of time. 01:54 It is highlighting the present power of the 01:57 Gospel and it is a book that has run into some 02:00 confusion too in these last days. 02:03 So we are going to dig into this book through 02:05 this series and I think it is going to 02:07 come alive for you. 02:08 Why don't we dive in. - yeah let's open it up. 02:11 If you have your Bibles at home we invite you to 02:14 get them out because you are going to need them 02:16 over the course of this presentation. 02:20 The book of Galatians is in the New Testament. 02:22 Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John the Gospels. 02:24 After Matthew Mark Luke, John, Acts, Romans 02:26 1 and 2 Corinthians and then the book of 02:28 Galatians you'll find it right there. 02:30 We are going right to Chapter 1. 02:32 Alright let's go right there. 02:34 Let's go to Galatians 1:6 and we will dive 02:37 right in because in verse 6, the apostle Paul 02:41 introduces the actual reason that he wrote the 02:44 letter of Galatians. 02:46 So right here in verse 6 it says, "I marvel 02:49 "you are turning away so soon from Him who 02:51 "called you by the grace of Christ to 02:54 "a different gospel. " And then he says, 02:56 "which is not another; but there are some 02:59 "who trouble you and want to pervert 03:01 the gospel of Christ. " 03:03 So apparently there was a perversion of the 03:05 gospel that was happening here to the 03:08 Galatians and the apostle Paul was wanting to 03:11 highlight the true gospel in the book of 03:14 Galatians and this is especially important for 03:17 Seventh-day Adventists. 03:18 We believe we have a special calling from God 03:22 given in Revelation Chapter 14 to proclaim a 03:25 message to the whole world, and I think we maybe 03:28 we should turn there. - yeah absolutely, absolutely. 03:32 Revelation 14:6. - yes Revelation 14:6. 03:35 It says there in Revelation 14:6, "then I saw 03:39 "another angel flying in the midst of heaven, 03:43 "having the everlasting gospel", there's not 03:46 been several gospels, but the everlasting gospel 03:49 " to preach to those who dwell on the earth. " 03:52 What is so powerful about that is the idea of 03:55 being everlasting gospel, destroys the concept 03:58 of the dispensational gospel 04:00 dispensational gospel in Christianity the 04:04 concept is that the gospel is the gospel. 04:07 This is why Paul is so emphatic, is the same 04:09 gospel in the Old Testament and it's the same 04:12 gospel in the New Testament, it is everlasting. 04:14 What I find fascinating also in Revelation 14 04:17 is that when we come to verse 12, with these 04:20 backdrops of these three messages. 04:22 The apostle John writes in verse 12 "here is 04:25 "the patience of the saints, here are those who 04:28 "keep the commandments of God and the faith of 04:31 "Jesus," and that addresses an issue when 04:34 we are dealing with the book of Galatians 04:36 because there is a lot of controversy over 04:39 what law of God, the 10 Commandments has in 04:42 connection with the gospel message. 04:44 There are those that think that now we have the 04:46 gospel we don't need the law, but here we find 04:49 in the very last moments of Earth's history, 04:53 we find a blending of the law and the gospel 04:56 together, those who have faith in Jesus are 04:58 the ones that keep the commandments of God. 05:00 That's right, that's right you know this is not 05:04 something that is without controversy because 05:07 there are many Seventh-day Adventists. 05:10 - well it wasn't without controversy in Paul's 05:12 day. - that's why he wrote the letter. 05:14 Even today we are dealing with the same thing 05:17 because I know many former Seventh-day Adventists 05:20 they recognize the Seventh-day Adventist church 05:22 teaches the law of God is still the will of God 05:25 for Christians in the New Testament times. 05:28 They get some well-meaning advice that hey 05:32 read the book of Galatians. 05:34 If you read the book of Galatians you will see 05:36 why we don't need to keep the law anymore. 05:39 I've read testimonies of former Adventists who 05:41 have been pointed to the book of Galatians as their reason 05:44 for leaving the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 05:46 That is right the book of Galatians has become 05:48 the key defense, or reason for a lot of people 05:53 in not accepting the abiding nature of the 05:57 Ten Commandments law. 05:58 I know a young Adventist Pastor, a former Adventist Pastor 06:01 at this point, who Pastored a church of 500 06:04 members who said in his testimony as he left 06:07 the church, that he had taken his church 06:10 through a 20 weeks study in Galatians and that 06:13 enlightened them all to the reality because 06:16 of the gospel the law was an important anymore. 06:18 They use the book of Galatians to make that 06:21 point, but I think it is evident and will be 06:23 very evident in our study together that is 06:26 exactly the opposite of the point that the 06:29 apostle Paul is making in the book of Galatians. 06:31 That's right, I think what we need to do is 06:34 dive right in to these first five verses of 06:36 the book Galatians, because in those first five 06:38 verses we find the apostle Paul not only 06:41 introducing himself, but also giving a little 06:44 glimpse into the everlasting gospel that is 06:46 going to be the theme of the book of Galatians. 06:48 So let's look at Galatians Chapter 1:1-5 06:52 together and it says, 06:53 "Paul, and apostle (not from men nor 06:55 "through man, but through Jesus Christ and God 06:57 "the Father who raised Him from the dead), 06:59 "and all the brethren who are with me, 07:01 "to the churches in Galatia; Grace to you and 07:04 "peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus 07:08 "Christ who gave Himself for our sins, that He 07:11 "might deliver us from this present evil age, 07:13 "according to the will of our God and Father, 07:16 "to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen. " 07:19 Now I have heard it said that these verses, 07:22 these first 5 verses in the Bible, if there 07:24 weren't any other verses in the Bible that 07:27 there is enough here, sufficient to save 07:29 anyone in the world. 07:31 That is right it is a powerful passage and let's 07:33 just highlight his key points here. 07:35 We have got the message, the first thing he 07:37 talks about is Grace and peace. Notice! 07:38 "From God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. " 07:41 So already you see a union of purpose between 07:44 Father and Son, contrary to, I run into a 07:47 number of Christians whose concept is, even 07:51 among Christians that God the Father stands 07:55 against us and Jesus is the Son that stands 07:57 for us and because of Jesus' sacrifice 07:59 then God can love us. 08:00 Almost like one is pitted against the other. 08:02 Kind of like a good God in a bad God. 08:04 And Old Testament God where God was mean and 08:06 vindictive and the New Testament where 08:08 - right. But here Paul says Grace to you from 08:10 the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ. 08:13 You see a concerted effort on the part of God 08:15 the Father, God the Son and then He goes on to 08:17 say who gave Himself for our sins. 08:19 Which is a powerful transaction and we are 08:21 going to talk about that is we go on. 08:23 "That he might deliver us from this present 08:25 "evil age, according to the will of 08:28 "God the Father. " 08:29 So God the Father it is His will that we be 08:31 delivered, not only Jesus' will. 08:32 So you have this message of grace and peace, 08:35 you've got the union of Father and Son, 08:38 you have this transaction of Christ giving 08:40 Himself for our sins and a deliverance from 08:43 sin in this present evil age. 08:45 These are the things we are going to 08:46 try to unpack here. 08:47 Wow it sounds like the whole gospel in these 08:49 three verses. - It absolutely does doesn't it? 08:50 I think what we will do is start right at the 08:53 beginning at first 3 where it says Grace to you. 08:56 Because the word grace, if you look in the 08:59 Bible it is combined with the gospel. 09:02 In fact it's called in Acts 20 the gospel 09:05 of the grace of God. 09:06 The grace of God becomes the embodiment of 09:08 the gospel, so we need to understand that 09:10 first and foremost. 09:12 What we want to do throughout our study time 09:15 here, and you'll notice this as we unpack the 09:18 book of Galatians. 09:19 And not just the book of Galatians, but the 09:23 different passages of the apostle Paul in 09:26 different letters wherein some cases he 09:28 amplifies parts that he has written in 09:31 Galatians and we will get to see in greater 09:33 detail the meaning of what he has to say. 09:35 That's right because he is writing to the 09:37 Galatians about a message he has already given 09:39 them, so we are getting bits and pieces but 09:42 we can fill in some of the gaps as we look at 09:44 what he has written in other places and see 09:47 the message of the Gospel grace 09:49 he has presented in other places. 09:51 I think what we need to do is to take that cue 09:54 and go to the book of Ephesians because I would 09:56 like to look at the grace of God in a place 09:59 where it's amplified and it is Ephesians 2, 10:01 so just to the right of Galatians is the book of 10:05 Ephesians and in Ephesians Chapter 2, 10:09 he starts right in the beginning of the chapter 10:12 by describing the human conditions. 10:14 "And you He made alive, who were dead in 10:18 "trespasses and sins", I'm in Ephesians 2:1. 10:21 "In which you once walked according to the course 10:24 "of this world, according to the prince of the 10:27 "power of the air, of the Spirit who now works 10:29 "in the sons of disobedience, among whom we 10:32 "also have all conducted ourselves in the lust 10:35 "of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the 10:37 "flesh and of the mind, and were by nature 10:40 "children of wrath just as the others. " 10:42 He doesn't paint a very pretty picture of 10:44 humanity does he? - no not at all. 10:46 He says that we were dead in trespasses and sins. 10:50 You know you cannot be very dead, you can't be 10:53 more dead than dead, the idea is that they had no 10:56 good inclinations, there was nothing with which 10:59 they could commend themselves to God. 11:01 And we should include all of us in that it is 11:04 in me too, there is nothing as sinners that 11:07 we have inside of us by which we can commit 11:10 ourselves to God. 11:11 Only through Christ can we have that. 11:13 That is what is brought into play when you get 11:16 to verse 4, because after describing the human 11:19 condition of being dead in trespasses and sins 11:22 it says but God. 11:25 Those are two very powerful words, "but God who 11:29 "is rich in mercy," Mercy is that desire to 11:32 give you something better than what you deserve. 11:35 "Who is rich in mercy because of His great love 11:38 "with which He loved us. " That is the source 11:40 here of what is about to come. 11:42 "Even when we were dead in trespasses," we have 11:45 nothing to commend ourselves to God, "made us 11:48 "alive together with Christ (by grace you have 11:51 been saved)" and that by grace you have been 11:54 saved in the new King James that is in 11:56 parentheses, it is a parenthetical statement 11:58 that basically is saying the same thing as 12:01 made alive together with Christ. 12:02 So by giving us that grace, that grace isn't 12:08 just something that changes 12:10 the ledger in heaven. 12:12 The grace of God actually makes us alive 12:15 spiritually. - that is right, that is right. 12:17 So grace, the idea that is being conveyed here, a lot 12:20 of times we use the term unmerited favor which 12:23 that simply means undeserved. 12:25 The idea of grace, what grace is conveying is, 12:28 and this is what Paul lays out here as he shows 12:31 the human condition and then he comes, as you 12:34 said in verse 4, but God He is contrasting, He is 12:36 saying in essence that there is nothing 12:38 you have that deserves this goodness. 12:40 There is nothing that you have that deserves it, 12:43 but God in contrast, but God even though you don't 12:45 deserve it, because He's rich in mercy. 12:48 Because of His goodness, He is going to offer 12:50 you what you don't deserve in salvation. 12:53 By offering to make you alive where you are dead now. 12:57 - Amen, Amen and so we have unpacked this 13:00 idea of the grace of God being unmerited favor 13:03 of God, not just the unmerited favor but the 13:06 unmerited favor that results in a tangible 13:09 raising up of spiritual life. 13:11 That means being born again, God coming into 13:13 the heart and giving us a new nature. 13:15 What we want to do is go back to Galatians 13:18 where it says Grace and peace to you and 13:21 unpack what it means. 13:22 That the peace of God can be ours because that 13:25 is equally part of the gospel. 13:26 Well peace is where it really comes alive Jim. 13:30 This is where we find the power to connect 13:33 with the grace so I am really looking 13:35 forward to this. 13:36 That is right, so what we are going to do is 13:38 take a short break and as soon as we are done 13:40 with that break we are going to dive right in 13:41 to Galatians Chapter 1 and understand 13:44 a little bit more about the grace and peace 13:46 that is ours through God the Father 13:48 and the Lord Jesus Christ. |
Revised 2014-12-17