February  2, 2024 

Don’t Stop Fighting! 

Pastor Vincent Russ 

Galatians 1:6-9(NIV)

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — 7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse! 9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse! 

I am so tired of hearing about so-called saints walking away from Christianity. It’s so crazy that we are living in a time where more, and more people are turning away from their first love. Turning away from the faith that they once believed. The faith taught to them by their Pastors, parents, grandparents, great grandparents, relatives, and friends. The very faith they themselves decided to follow, the faith that allowed them to witness, first hand, the move, and the power of the precious Holy Spirit, yet somewhere along the way, decided that it was no longer good enough for them, they needed something more. 

I echo the words of the late Malcolm X,”Oh, I say and I say it again, ya been had! Ya been took! Ya been hoodwinked! Bamboozled! Led astray! Run amok!”

Or even better what the Apostle Paul said “I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which is really no gospel at all.” 

Perhaps some of you are experiencing this awful desertion in the life of some of your friends, or maybe even your own family members. I am, and it is heartbreaking. 

People are putting their faith in crystals, worshiping the ancestors, burning sage, and other herbs to cleanse the room of negative and evil vibes. 

Witnessing our brothers and sisters getting involved in such practices can almost make a person want to give up on those we love. 

Nevertheless, my encouragement is, “Don’t stop fighting”. No matter how impossible it may seem, Don’t stop fighting, no matter how hopeless it may looks family, don’t  stop fighting! 

Paul evangelized the Galatians and started the church at Galatia. Not too long after he left, some false teachers began to introduce a new doctrine and convinced many that circumcision was still necessary, as an addition to the belief in Christ for salvation. 

This caused Paul to become very angry, so much so that in chapter 3, he calls them foolish, and believes they were bewitched. Yet he didn’t see it as a hopeless situation, he didn’t give up on them, and we can’t give up on those we love, and others in our sphere of influence. 

Galatians 6:9 And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart. 7bEvidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. 8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!

Paul wanted to make this point crystal clear so he repeated the statement twice. So now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let them be under God’s curse!  Paul says here, this even applies to me!  If for some reason I lose my mind and begin teaching you something different. 

These words should give us confidence to keep fighting for the souls of our brothers and sisters, understanding that those who preach a different gospel are under God’s curse, they are cut off from the things of the true and living God, their words have no power, and their understanding of the truth has been darkened. 

Unfortunately, there are going to continue to be people that are on mission to pervert the gospel of Christ. And they will appear to sound very convincing, especially if we are not grounded in the truth. So it is imperative that we remain vigilant. No matter how bold they come, what apparent success they may have, or how sincere they sound, just know that they are sincerely wrong, we are to walk away and not heed any of their instructions. 

We need to never forget that God is not surprised by this kind of behavior. 

Paul states in 2 Timothy 4:1-5 I charge you therefore before God and the Lord Jesus Christ, who will judge the living and the dead at His appearing and His kingdom: Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine, but according to their own desires, because they have itching ears, they will heap up for themselves teachers; and they will turn their ears away from the truth, and be turned aside to fables. But you be watchful in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry. 

All this is a timely reminder, as we close out our consecration, that by all means—Don’t Stop Fighting!