The Unchangeable Gospel in a World of Drifting

Holy Burden

📖 Mark 8:36–37 “For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?”

Introduction: The church of Galatia were being led astray by false teachers, and the very souls of the believers were at stake. Paul had no choice; he had to be strong in what he wrote, for Christ had taught that the value of a single soul was worth more than all the wealth of the world.

Have you ever marveled and felt utterly astonished with a fellow Christian, and where your spirit grieves and you feel godly sorrow? Unfortunately, I look out at the landscape of the Church, and I marvel that so many are so soon removed from Him who called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel.

The grace of a suffering Savior has called us, washed us in the blood of the Lamb, and filled us with the fire of the Holy Ghost, but some of us desire clever sermons, ear-tickling philosophies, and to gospels that have the form of godliness but deny the power thereof!

The Apostle Paul was not writing to a pagan city. He was writing to the church! To the blood-bought, Spirit-filled believers in Galatia. And he says in Galatians 1:6-10: “I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. 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. For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.”

What Paul is writing to the church of Galatia is not a suggestion; it is an apostolic roar! This is the sound of a spiritual father watching his children drink poison and screaming for them to stop! The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a piece of clay to be reshaped by every new generation. It is a rock, an unchangeable, eternal foundation of our lives, in our lives, and for our lives. And to move off that foundation is to build upon sinking sand. Like a house of cards, when you build upon a corrupted religion, a perverted gospel, everything will come tumbling down.

The Historical Emergency: A Perverted Gospel

The message of the gospel is that Christ died to rescue us from this present evil world, that is, from this world’s sin . . .

lawlessness that is wild rebellion,

corruption,

deterioration,

judgment,

doom,

unrighteousness,

aging,

death,

condemnation

Christ died that we might be delivered from sin and death and live eternally with God in a new heaven and earth.

📖 John 3:16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life”

📖 Romans 5:6 “For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly”

Let's understand the gravity of what was happening in Galatia. These were gentile believers. They had tasted the glorious liberty of salvation by grace through faith. The chains of sin fell off, the glory of God came down, and they were made sons and daughters of the Most High, not by works, but by believing in the finished work of the cross. But then came the "troublers." Men with religious pedigrees, men who looked and sounded spiritual, came from Jerusalem and began to preach a gospel with an asterisk. They said, "Yes, Jesus is wonderful... but... if you really want to be saved, you must also be circumcised. You must keep the law of Moses." They were adding human effort to divine grace. They were perverting, twisting, and corrupting the pure Gospel of Christ.

Paul saw this not as a minor theological disagreement but as spiritual treason. To add anything to the cross is to nullify the cross. To say that the blood of Jesus is not enough is the ultimate blasphemy. That’s why he uses the strongest language possible: "Let him be accursed." Anathema. Devoted to destruction. He says it twice to make it clear this is not a negotiation.

The Modern Deception: A Vision From Their Own Heart

📖 Galatians 1:7 says, “Which is not another; but there be some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ.” You say, “Brother, that was then. We don’t have Judaizers today.” Oh, do we not?

The spirit of the troubler is alive and well! It may not wear a robe or demand circumcision, but it still whispers, “Jesus isn’t enough.” It still adds performance to grace, charisma to holiness, and self to the cross. It preaches a gospel of convenience, not conviction.

I want to tell you that the prophet Jeremiah saw this in his day. 📖 Jeremiah 23:16 declares, “Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Hearken not unto the words of the prophets that prophesy unto you: they make you vain: they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.”

That’s the same troubler— but a different century, it is the same deception. They speak [they encapsulate] visions birthed in ego, not in the secret place. They preach dreams that flatter flesh but starve the soul.

Paul said it plainly: “There is no other gospel.” And today, we must say it boldly: If it doesn’t come from the mouth of the Lord, it’s not gospel—it’s poison.

Let the church rise with discernment. Let the pulpit burn with truth. Let the people of God reject every perversion and cling to the cross alone.

 Not the vision birthed from man’s heart today? Not the false gospels that ensnare you! 

It's the gospel of self-improvement that says Jesus is just a tool to help you become a better version of yourself. That’s not the gospel; that’s a demonic lie! Jesus didn’t die to improve you; He died to kill the old you and raise you to new life! 

It's the gospel of prosperity that turns the cross into a cash machine and the Savior of the world into a financial advisor. 

It's the gospel of cheap grace that says you can live in sin, love the world, and still claim the promises of God. That’s a vision from the heart of a man who wants fire insurance, but denies the sanctifying fire of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

These gospels please people. They draw crowds. They build big buildings. But Paul asks the terrifying question: "For do I now persuade men, or God?" If your gospel is popular with the world, it is enmity with God! In other words, “If the message you're preaching makes the world comfortable, it probably makes God uncomfortable. A gospel that pleases everyone is not the gospel of the cross—it’s a counterfeit.”

The believers were deserting God, and removing themselves away from God. To remove yourselves from God means to turn away from God, deserting God is the opposite of repentance, it is walking towards damnation.

“Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat” (Mat 7:13)

“And because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold” (Mat 24:12).

How God Moves: The Sanctifying Fire

How did God deal with the crisis in Galatia? He raised up a man, the Apostle Paul, who was not seeking a promotion or a book deal. He was a man utterly captivated by the glory of God and jealous for the purity of the church. God’s correction was a sharp, uncompromising word of truth. It was surgery, not a gentle massage. It was meant to cut out the cancer of legalism to save the body. That is sanctification! It is the process of being set apart for God’s exclusive use, and it starts by being set apart from false gospels.

And how is God moving today? I tell you, God is not impressed with our programs or our personalities. He is looking for a pure people, a holy Bride for His Son. The Holy Spirit is moving across this land, not to make us comfortable, but to make us holy. He is exposing the gospels of man’s heart. He unsettles the settled, disturbs the comfortable, and calls His people out of compromise. How many of us have allowed compromise to enter our relationship with the Holy Spirit or jeopardize the knowing who our Lord and Savior is? Where the little foxes spoil the vine. The sanctifying work of God today is a call back to the ancient standard—the unadulterated Word of God!

An Illustration: The Eliezer Call

This brings me to what I call the Eliezer Call. In Genesis 24, Abraham, old and full of years, calls his most trusted servant, Eliezer. He gives him a holy mission. "Go to my country, to my kindred, and take a wife for my son Isaac." And he makes him swear a solemn oath: "Thou shalt not take a wife unto my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I dwell."Do you see it? Eliezer is a type of the true preacher, the servant of God. Isaac is a type of Christ. And the bride is a type of the Church. The mission, the Eliezer Call, was one of absolute purity. He had one job: Find a pure bride from the right family for the son of promise.

Imagine if Eliezer had compromised. Imagine if he stopped halfway and said, "You know, these Canaanite women are beautiful. They're sophisticated. They would bring a lot of culture and worldly influence to Isaac's tent. Let’s just mix a little of that in. A Canaanite gospel." He would have been accursed! He would have failed his master and polluted the covenant line.

The Eliezer Call is ringing out today! The Father is speaking to His faithful servants, by the power of the Holy Ghost, and He is saying, "I am sending you out to find a Bride for my Son, Jesus! But I charge you, do not get her from the daughters of this world! Do not let her be stained with the gospel of Hollywood, the gospel of psychology, or the gospel of political correctness. Go back to the source! Preach the old story! Preach the blood, preach the cross, preach repentance, preach holiness! Prepare a Bride who is looking for the Bridegroom, not a bride who is in love with the world!"

Conclusion

Galatians 1:10 – “For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.” 📖 James 4:4 – “Know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.” 📖 Luke 6:26 – “Woe unto you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets.”

You say, “But I just want to preach a gospel that people like.” Let me tell you something—if your gospel makes the world feel good in its sin, it’s not the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Here’s the truth in plain language:

“If the message you're preaching makes the world comfortable, it probably makes God uncomfortable. A gospel that pleases everyone is not the gospel of the cross—it’s a counterfeit.”

Paul didn’t suffer beatings, shipwrecks, and prison so he could be popular. He preached a gospel that pierced hearts, not padded egos. And today, we’ve got pulpits trying to win applause instead of souls.

James said it straight: friendship with the world is war with God. Luke said if everybody’s cheering for you, you might be preaching what false prophets preached.

So I ask you—are you preaching to be liked, or preaching to see lives changed? Are you serving Christ, or serving comfort? Because the real gospel doesn’t entertain—it transforms. It doesn’t blend in—it stands out.

This is how God is sanctifying us. He is calling us to make a choice. Whose servant are you? Are you pleasing men, or are you pleasing God? Are you drinking from the pure well of the Gospel of Christ, or have you been sipping from the polluted streams of another gospel?

This morning, the call is simple. Come back to the cross. Come back to the simple, powerful, life-changing truth that you are saved by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone. Repent of adding to His work. Repent of listening to the troublers. Repent from the noise and false gospels. And answer the Eliezer Call to be a part of a pure, spotless Bride, waiting for the return of her King.