Fishkill Baptist Church
Sunday May 31, 2026

      • Isaiah 1:18KJV1900

      • Philippians 2:6–11ESV

  • His Mercy Is More
  • Doxology
  • Intro: Theme/Topic (What’s the problem, the question, etc.)
    Before the first wall goes up, a good contractor gets down low and inspects the foundation.
    Because beautiful work above ground means nothing if the foundation below it is compromised. And everything depends on what he finds.
    Now imagine a missionary coming home after years away over seas. He left with clear convictions and poured everything into his gospel work.
    But then he begins to hear rumors that cause him to question not his own work but whether his sending church has remained faithful. And so he asks:
    Did they hold the line?
    Because if something shifted back home — if there is now a crack where there used to be solid ground — then everything he worked for could be compromised.
    This is the tension the Apostle Paul carried into Jerusalem in Galatians 2. He has just argued so strongly that his gospel came directly from Christ — independent of any human source.
    But now Paul has to address a new question: If his gospel is so independent — could it be a different gospel all together?
    And everything depends on the answer.
    So, this is the Big Question we will explore today…

    Does the independence of Paul's gospel expose a crack in the foundation the church is being built on — and do false gospels still threaten it today?

    Let's read and find out.
    Scripture
    Grab your Bibles and turn with me to Galatians 2:1-10. If you need to use a pew Bible, you’ll find today’s text on page 1154. Once you’re there, please stand with me if you are able and follow along with me as I read...
    Galatians 2:1–10 ESV
    Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. But even Titus, who was with me, was not forced to be circumcised, though he was a Greek. Yet because of false brothers secretly brought in—who slipped in to spy out our freedom that we have in Christ Jesus, so that they might bring us into slavery— to them we did not yield in submission even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. And from those who seemed to be influential (what they were makes no difference to me; God shows no partiality)—those, I say, who seemed influential added nothing to me. On the contrary, when they saw that I had been entrusted with the gospel to the uncircumcised, just as Peter had been entrusted with the gospel to the circumcised (for he who worked through Peter for his apostolic ministry to the circumcised worked also through me for mine to the Gentiles), and when James and Cephas and John, who seemed to be pillars, perceived the grace that was given to me, they gave the right hand of fellowship to Barnabas and me, that we should go to the Gentiles and they to the circumcised. Only, they asked us to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.
    This God’s Word!
    Prayer
    Father, may Your perfect word revive our souls today and make us wise as we see Jesus lifted up in all His beauty. — AMEN!
    Intro: Formal (give context to passage, setting the scene, big idea)
    To understand what Paul is doing in this passage, we need to remember why he is writing this letter.
    Paul is writing to churches he planted in the region of Galatia — churches that are now being infiltrated by false teachers who are adding requirements to the gospel of grace.
    His singular goal in this letter is to defend the one true gospel against every impostor that would distort it.
    He begins in chapter 1 by making the most urgent and passionate case possible. He is astonished that they are so quickly deserting Him who called them by His grace and are turning to a different gospel!
    He then pronounces a double curse on anyone — man or angel — who preaches a different gospel.
    And then he spends the rest of chapter 1 making a bold argument: his gospel did not come from any human source.
    Not from men. Not through men. Not even from the apostles in Jerusalem. It came directly from Jesus Christ.
    It is an airtight argument. But it leaves one question hanging in the air.
    If Paul's gospel so independent from the other apostles in Jerusalem — how do we know it is the same gospel?
    That is exactly what Galatians 2:1-10 answers. And the answer Paul gives is decisive:
    The gospel foundation stood unified in Paul's day — and because everything depends on it, we must preserve it in ours.
    We will follow Paul’s argument in three points:
    First, we will see Paul consult with the Jerusalem apostles to test whether the foundation is unified.
    Second, we will watch Paul confront the false brothers who have infiltrated the Jerusalem church.
    Third, we will witness the Jerusalem apostles confirm that Paul's gospel and theirs are one.
    One gospel. One foundation. Let's see how Paul defends it.

    Consultation: Paul Tests the Foundation

    Note that it has been fourteen years since Paul has been to Jerusalem. And he doesn't return now because he was summoned by his superiors.
    No — verse 2 says he goes in response to a revelation. This trip is God's initiative, not Jerusalem's invitation.
    Paul isn't going hat in hand. He is going as an equal — sent by the same Lord who sent them.
    And when Paul arrives, he meets privately with those he calls "influential" — almost certainly Peter, James, and John. And he lays his gospel out before them.
    Not as an act of submission to higher authorities. Not because he needs their approval. But because he needs to know something — something everything depends on…
    Here is what I preach. Does it match what you preach?
    That's the question on the table. And the stakes could not be higher!
    Paul says he does this to make sure he was not running — or had not run — in vain. To understand what that means, listen to what Paul writes just a few years later in Ephesians 2:20 — that the household of God is…
    Ephesians 2:20 ESV
    [The household of God] built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone,
    Understand that the teaching of the apostles — those who were taught directly from the risen Jesus Christ, is an essential part of the foundation that the church is built on.
    So, if the Jerusalem apostles were preaching a different gospel, Paul's mission work doesn't just slow down — it collapses. Because then it would be his word against theirs. A serious fracture in the apostolic foundation!
    And the people Paul preached the gospel to — the churches he planted, the souls he reached — would be left standing on something uncertain. Caught between two gospels. Unable to know which one to stand on.
    So, Running in vain was not Paul's fear that he had gotten the gospel wrong. It was his burden for the people in the wake of his ministry who needed something solid to stand on.
    This is Paul's building inspection moment. He needs to get down low and check the foundation — not because he doubts his own work, but because everything he has built is only as strong as what it rests on.
    So he lays his gospel side by side with Jerusalem's. Not to have his gospel validated — but to test whether the other apostles have held the line. To make sure there are no cracks.
    And here is what I want you to see — Paul's question is still our question.
    Are we still standing on the one true gospel?
    Now the best defense against a false gospel is not a memorized list of things to avoid. It is a deep, settled, joyful knowledge of the true gospel.
    This is exactly how treasury agents are trained to spot counterfeit bills.
    They don't spend their time studying fakes. They study the genuine article — so thoroughly, and carefully — that the moment something false crosses their path, it feels wrong immediately.
    Church, this is one very good reason why we cannot afford to move on from the gospel of grace into what some people call "deeper things" — as if such a thing existed.
    My hope for us is that we would know this gospel so deeply and so thoroughly that you would be naturally protected from impostors — not because you've been warned about every possible fake, but because you know the real thing too well to be fooled.
    This is why I am so committed to expository preaching through whole books of the Bible. Because we are not just collecting isolated truths. We are building a comprehensive, integrated knowledge of the whole gospel — so that when something false rolls through our door, it doesn't just look wrong. It feels wrong. Immediately.
    Now — before the Jerusalem apostles give their verbal assessment of Paul's gospel, they do something far more powerful. They let their actions speak first.
    Because words are easy. Anyone can say the right things when the pressure is off. The real test is what you do when the pressure is on — when something is actually at stake.
    That is exactly what we see in verses 3-5. And this brings us to my second point…

    Confrontation: Paul Exposes the Counterfeit

    Here we see just how strategic it was for Paul to bring Titus along — a Christian, but also an uncircumcised Greek.
    This would be the major test. Because if these false teachers in Galatia really did represent the official position of the Jerusalem church, then how the apostles responded to Titus will tell us everything we need to know.
    And Paul reveals it plainly: the Jerusalem apostles did not require Titus to be circumcised. This is the action that spoke louder than any words could.
    Make no mistake — there was enormous pressure in that room to compromise. How easy would it have been for the apostles, out of fear of offending the false brothers, to lean over and say,
    "Titus, what's the big deal? Why not just get circumcised and keep the peace?"
    But it was a big deal! Because Titus standing in Jerusalem uncircumcised was the visible proof that the foundation remained unified.
    The apostles didn't just say the right thing — they put their convictions into practice under pressure. Like Paul, they desired to please God and not man.
    Now it's helpful to understand the nature of Paul's opponents — both in Galatia and in Jerusalem.
    Paul's language is sharp. He calls them "false brothers." These were people who claimed to be Christians. They professed that Jesus was the Messiah.
    And for them, faith in Jesus was a good thing — just not a sufficient thing.
    They taught that these Galatian believers were only half-baked — and not really part of God's family — unless they added circumcision to their faith.
    And this should be a sobering caution to us. Because so often in the church our eyes are fixed on the threats "out there" — laws that limit our religious freedom, or cults that openly oppose the gospel.
    But Paul is pointing somewhere else entirely. He is pointing to exactly what Jesus warned us about in Matthew 7:15 —
    Matthew 7:15 ESV
    “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
    And it's what Paul himself warned the Ephesian elders about in Acts 20:29-30 —
    Acts 20:29–30 ESV
    I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them.
    Now, I don't say this so that you'll start eyeing everyone around you with suspicion. I say it so that you will not be naive. Remember what Paul said back in Galatians 1:8 —
    Galatians 1:8 ESV
    But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel contrary to the one we preached to you, let him be accursed.
    And lest you think this is only a first-century Galatian problem — just recently I encountered a teaching, even locally, that insists there are two different gospels in the New Testament. As far as I know this isn't widespread, but it has gained some traction through certain teachers online.
    The claim is that Jesus and the original disciples preached one gospel to the Jewish people that required more than just grace, and that Paul preached a different gospel of grace-alone to everyone else.
    But as you can clearly see here in Galatians 2:1-10, Paul leaves absolutely zero room for that.
    And yet — even as we hold that line firmly — we must be careful how we respond to those who get it wrong.
    Because there is a real difference between someone who is a confused sheep and someone who is a wolf.
    Confused sheep receive correction and respond with humility. But wolves dig their heels in.
    With confused sheep, we correct gently and patiently. With wolves, we hold the line and do not yield.
    So Paul exposes his opponents for what they are. They’re not merely confused but false. They’re wolves in sheep's clothing.
    He says they were "secretly brought in" and "slipped in to spy out" the freedom of God's people — with the intent of robbing them of that freedom and dragging them back into slavery.
    This is infiltration language.
    Intentional. Covert. And hostile.
    This was not an honest disagreement. This was a direct assault on the gospel.
    Now appreciate Paul's response. He says they did not yield in submission — not even for a moment.
    This is pastoral protection under fire, with everything on the line. Because Paul tells us exactly why they stood their ground:
    So that the truth of the gospel might be preserved — For the Galatians, And for everyone who would come after them.
    Now I don't believe the gospel itself was ever really in danger of being fractured. Because it is God who works through His people for His purposes. Paul says in verse 8 that it was God who worked through both him and Peter in their ministries. — and God’s purposes can never be thwarted!
    False gospels cannot actually fracture the gospel foundation of the church — But will be shattered against it!
    What was at stake was not the gospel itself — it was people's clear access to it.
    Just as no one could ever reach up and extinguish the sun, Paul's opponents could never truly fracture the gospel foundation of the church.
    But they could blow fog into the pews. They could create confusion and block people's clear view of the light.
    So hear this, church: whenever we add anything to the gospel, we gain nothing. Instead, every time we add anything to the gospel, we lose!
    We surrender our very freedom in Christ. Every concession to a false gospel only clouds the sky over the very people we are trying to reach.
    This is why the work of gospel preservation is not mean-spirited gatekeeping. It is the most loving thing we can do — for one another, and for everyone who comes after us.
    We've seen what happens when this work is neglected. Think of universities like Harvard — founded on strong gospel convictions — schools that started with Christ at the center.
    A small compromise here. A quiet concession there. And today many of them resemble nothing of what they once were.
    No single compromise toppled them. The fog just rolled in slowly, until the light was gone.
    And this is why it is sometimes necessary for a church to divide.
    Now, I know that many people today look at the church, see all its divisions, and dismiss it altogether.
    For some, this is the very appeal of Rome Catholicism or the Orthodox Church — the claim that they never split, that they are somehow more original, more unified.
    So let me say a few things about that.
    First — When the church separates itself from error, it is not creating a wound. It is refusing to let the wound spread.
    Second — The evil in any division is never the division itself. The evil is in the error that made the division necessary.
    Third — Truth is by its very nature divisive, because it must always distinguish itself from what is false.
    So we must never fault the church simply for refusing to accept what is false. And these are actually the very convictions that have historically shaped who we are as a church.
    So the apostles proved their unity with Paul through their actions — requiring nothing of Titus, and standing with him against the false brothers.
    But Paul has not yet told us what they said. And the final confirmation of the foundation's unity will come in what they were about to declare. That is our third and final point.

    Confirmation: The Foundation is One

    In verse 6 we begin to see what the Jerusalem apostles actually said.
    Notice that Paul has been calling them those who "seemed influential" ever since verse 2.
    This is because his opponents were likely name-dropping the Jerusalem apostles to give more weight to their own argument.
    But Paul moves in the opposite direction — saying: what they were makes no difference to me, because God shows no favoritism to titles.
    Remember what I said a few weeks ago: It is not the status of the messenger that validates the message — It is the truthfulness of the message that validates the messenger.
    So Paul's point is this: it doesn't matter who these men were in Jerusalem. I don't care if they were angels from heaven — if they preach a different gospel than the one I received directly from the risen Jesus, let them be accursed.
    No church... No pope... No council... No pastor... Has any authority in himself.
    Whatever authority anyone has— is given to them… Only as they are entrusted with the true gospel. And the moment anyone compromises that gospel… As Paul says in 1:8 — Let them be accursed!
    But don’t worry, the Jerusalem apostles are safe. Because at the end of verse 6, Paul says they added nothing to him.
    Nothing to correct his gospel. Nothing to supplement it. Nothing to complete it.
    And make no mistake — they were not authorizing Paul's gospel. That was above their pay grade. They simply recognized what it already was.
    Church, never forget this: no human authority stands over the gospel to validate it.
    And the moment anyone sets himself up as judge over the gospel, He has claimed an authority that belongs to God alone.
    This is also why we should be wary of any movement or leader today who claims an apostolic authority that places them beyond questioning.
    Friends, run from any church where questioning leadership is forbidden.
    So the Jerusalem apostles recognized — not authorized — Paul's gospel. But what exactly did they recognize as the two gospels were laid side by side?
    Verse 8 tells us: the same God who worked through Peter in his ministry to the Jews is the same God who worked through Paul in his ministry to the Gentiles.
    This is one of the very texts that gets twisted by those who teach there are two gospels. But the tragic irony is that this text teaches the exact opposite.
    The Jerusalem apostles were not recognizing two different gospels — they were recognizing one unified gospel sent to two different audiences.
    And so in verse 9, the pillars of the Jerusalem church — James, Peter, and John — gave Paul and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship as gesture of solidarity. Not a certificate of approval.
    And with that, the unity of the one gospel foundation is confirmed. Not because Jerusalem exercised authority over Paul — but because they recognized they were standing on the same ground together.
    This was the relief moment. The inspection was complete. The foundation held.
    And the request to remember the poor, in verse 10, is not a condition added to the gospel — it is an expression of it.
    Caring for the poor is not a supplement to grace; It is the fruit of grace.
    And Paul embraces it gladly. Because gospel unity expresses itself in love — never in additional requirements.
    Now, historically, the church has sometimes had to make stands that resulted in division. But remember — the evil is not in the division but in the error that makes it necessary.
    In the 1500s, the church split from Rome over a glorious and simple conviction — that the gospel was not for sale.
    That we are saved by grace alone, Through faith alone, In Christ alone, According to Scripture alone, For the glory of God alone.
    And our own church stands in that same heritage. [History to be confirmed and stated accurately — see note above.] When the truthfulness of Scripture was being questioned, and some were even beginning to deny that Jesus is truly God, faithful churches separated — not to create a wound, but to refuse to let one spread. Because the evil is never in the division. It is in the error that makes it necessary to preserve the gospel for future generations!
    Conclusion/Response (Gospel & Repent/Believe)
    So the inspection is complete. The foundation holds.
    Paul walked into Jerusalem carrying a question that everything depended on. And he walked out with the right hand of fellowship — and the assurance that there is…
    One gospel, One foundation, And one Lord building His church on it.
    Remember this is the main idea we’ve been driving through this entire sermon…

    The gospel foundation stood unified in Paul's day. And because everything still depends on it, we must continue to preserve it in ours.

    So how do we do that? Let me leave you with four ways.
    First — know and treasure the true gospel. Our first and best defense against a false gospel is to know the real one so thoroughly that we can spot a counterfeit a mile away.
    Don't ever think you've graduated from the gospel into "deeper things." Only keep pressing deeper into the gospel!
    Second — guard the gospel through membership. Church membership is one of the primary ways we preserve the gospel together.
    It is a process of laying our gospel side by side with a prospective member and affirming that we are standing on the same foundation.
    This is exactly why, when we welcome new members, we extend to them a formal right hand of fellowship — the very gesture apostles extended to Paul.
    And on the rare and painful occasions when someone compromises the gospel and refuses to be corrected, that same love compels us to lovingly un-affirm what we once affirmed.
    Third — partner wisely. We must be careful not to create confusion by partnering with churches that have compromised the gospel. To do so would only blow the fog of confusion into our pews.
    Fourth — honor your leaders, but do not revere them as infallible. The gospel itself must remain our highest authority — and never the men who preach it.
    Your elders and I must always stand under the Word, never over it. So test what we teach. We would have it no other way.
    And church, this is not new ground for us. It is the ground we were built on.
    In the 1940s, the truthfulness of Scripture was under attack. And whole denominations and seminaries had begun to question the miracles of the Bible, and some no longer affirmed that Jesus was truly God or even that He rose bodily from the dead.
    And the Northern Baptist Convention — the denomination our spiritual forebears belonged to — no longer required its own missionaries to hold to these essential truths of the faith.
    Sit with that for a moment. Missionaries were being sent out to reach the lost — but without a gospel to preach.
    That was Paul's exact fear. Running in vain. Laboring for nothing.
    So in 1947, faithful churches refused to yield — not even for a moment. They separated from their denomination and formed what we know today as the Venture Church Network — the association our church has stood with since they first took that stand.
    And they did not do it cheaply. Many of them did it at the risk of losing their church buildings and their own pastoral pensions. They had skin in the game.
    They did this not create a wound. They did it to refuse to let one spread.
    Because the evil is never in the division — It is in the error that makes it necessary.
    And they did it for the same reason Paul did: so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved — for them, and for everyone who would come after.
    That's us. We are now standing on a foundation that someone fought to preserve.
    So let me ask you the only question that finally matters.
    What foundation are you standing on for your right standing with God today?
    Is it your hard work to get sober? Is it your morality? Your church attendance? Your Bible reading? Your volunteer record? Your baptism — or your membership?
    One day, every one of us will stand before God and face a single-question test:
    Why should I let you into heaven?
    And on that day, nothing on that list will hold your weight. Every one of those answers is a balsa wood foundation that will give way under your weight.
    There is only one answer that will pass that test:
    I have no business being here — except for the grace of God alone. Because Jesus Christ died and rose again to pay for all my sins.
    Church, there is no other gospel. There is no other foundation.
    May we stand united on this one foundation together — Just as Paul stood with the apostles in Jerusalem, And just as the church has stood for nearly two thousand years, through every necessary division…
    On the one gospel. The one foundation.
    Prayer
    Father in heaven,
    We thank You for the one gospel — the only gospel — given to us by grace, through faith, in Christ alone. We thank You for this firm foundation that no scheme of men nor power of hell could ever crack!
    Thank You for the faithful saints who have gone before us who have held the line — who refused to yield — even for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for us today.
    Now make us faithful in our generation. Help us to know this gospel so deeply that we treasure it, guard it, and pass it on uncompromised to those who come after us.
    And for any here who are still trying to stand on a foundation of their own making — would You open their eyes today to the finished work of Christ, and let them rest on the only foundation that will hold.
    We ask it all in the name of Jesus, our cornerstone.
    Amen.
    Closing Song: By Faith
    Closing Words
    "By faith." That's how every saint in that song lived. That's how the apostles stood their ground in Jerusalem. That's how our spiritual forebears held the line. And it's the only way any of us will ever stand before God — not by our works, not by our self-made foundations, But by faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
    Gospel Appeal
    So before you leave today, let me ask one more time — what are you standing on?
    If you have never trusted Christ as the foundation for your right standing with God — if you've been standing on a crumbling, self-made foundation— today is the day to step off it and onto the Rock of Christ— our firm foundation.
    You don't have to clean yourself up first. You don't have to add anything. The work is already finished. All that's left is to receive it by faith.
    If that's you — if you want to trust Christ for the first time, or you're not sure where you stand and you want to talk it through — there will be people up front who would love to pray with you and help you to trust Jesus.
    Don't walk out the door with that question unsettled. Come and talk with us.
    Next Steps Invitation
    And for those of you who do stand on this foundation — there is always a next step of faith in front of you. Maybe it's being baptized. Maybe it's becoming a member and receiving that right hand of fellowship we talked about today. Maybe it's getting plugged into discipleship, Finding a place to serve, or joining a Bible study.
    Whatever your next step is, we want to help you take it. Just tap your phone to the white tag in the pew in front of you, and it will take you to a short form. Just tell us what step you're ready to take, and someone will follow up with you this week.
    Missional Charge
    But hear this before you go, church. The gospel was never meant to stop with you. Paul didn't fight for the gospel in Jerusalem so it could sit safely in a pew — he fought for it so it could run. So it could reach the Gentiles. So it could reach the next city, the next generation, the people who hadn't yet heard.
    Someone fought to preserve the gospel so that it would reach you. Now it's your turn.
    So go this week and carry it. To your classmates and your neighbors. To the coworker with no foundation to stand on. To the friend who thinks they have to earn it. Don't keep the only news that saves to yourself.
    Pass it on — uncompromised, unashamed, and full of grace.
    There is one gospel. One foundation. And a whole world that still needs to hear it.
    Benediction
    Now receive this blessing as you go. (1 Corinthians 15:58)
    Therefore, my beloved brothers [& sisters], be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.
    Amen — You are sent — Go in peace!

      • Galatians 2:1–10ESV

      • Ephesians 2:20ESV

      • Matthew 7:15ESV

      • Acts 20:29–30ESV

      • Galatians 1:8ESV

  • By Faith
Fishkill Baptist Church
lori@fishkillbaptist.org
845-896-9386
http://fishkillbaptist.net
15 members