[0:00] Galatians chapter 3. We've been talking through Galatians.
[0:12] We've been looking at various passages as we've been going through. Today we're beginning chapter 3. And we've been talking about no turning back. Paul's writing to the Galatians.
[0:25] You've come to the point, you've accepted Jesus as your Savior. You know him. You've seen how he works. You've seen how he changed his life. Why are you trying to go backwards?
[0:38] If you've seen what Jesus can do, why would you go backwards? And he's going to talk to them some more about that today. He's going to talk about continuing in the Spirit. Chapter 3, look at verses 1 through 5 with me.
[0:51] He says, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you.
[1:06] This would I learn of you. Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith?
[1:17] How did you get saved? Verse 3, Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain?
[1:32] He therefore that ministers to you in the Spirit and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Let's have a word of prayer.
[1:44] Father, I pray that you would work today in our hearts. We might be reminded once again, salvation comes by grace through faith.
[1:56] Lord, we talked about faith in Sunday school this morning. We'll talk about it some more next week. Lord, may we have faith in you. What you have said, you will do. What you have written in your word, you will do.
[2:08] And you tell us that we come to you by faith. Lord, we can see you working. We can base it on things you have done in the past. As we said in Sunday school, it's not a wish list, it's a conviction.
[2:23] God will minister to us if we have faith in him, if we will trust him. Lord, I pray that we do trust you.
[2:35] Lord, that we will put our faith in you and watch you do great and mighty things amongst us. Lord, that you will take the people of this church and you will just multiply us. Lord, that you will help us to grow.
[2:48] Lord, that you will take the people of this church and you will use them to take the gospel to those around them. And Lord, may they never question the importance of the gospel, the importance of what you have begun in their lives, and how you can fulfill your word and your will through our lives.
[3:06] Lord, help us to be the conduit through which you work. Lord, may we just open ourselves up and let you and your spirit flow through us to those around us.
[3:19] Lord, minister, I pray today in Jesus' name. Amen. You know, there's a few things more tragic in life than to watch somebody become a Christian and enjoy the things of Christ and be excited about the things of Christ and then start to go backwards.
[3:38] We've watched people do that in the past. You know, they get saved and they're excited and then they start to go back to the old life. They start to get caught up in the old life again. And Paul's writing to the Galatians today and he's concerned about them because they heard the gospel message.
[3:57] They accepted the gospel message but then they started to go backwards. They started to go to a false form of Christianity. One that says instead of just trusting in Christ, you need to trust in Christ and do other things.
[4:13] And he says, no, no, no. Don't do that. Remember we talked about the Judaizers? Look back at chapter 1. verse 6 and 7. Chapter 1, verse 6 and 7.
[4:26] It says, I marvel that you 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.
[4:44] He said, there's people coming among you who want to change what you've heard. What did Paul preach to them? Well, he preached basically what he told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 15.
[4:55] 1 Corinthians 15, Paul gives the gospel in a nutshell there. In verses 3 and 4, he says, I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received. How that Christ died according to the scriptures and that he was buried and that he rose again according to the scriptures.
[5:14] There's the gospel in a nutshell. Christ died, was buried, rose again. And Paul says, you're leaving that simplicity of the gospel to try to add other things to it.
[5:28] Don't go there. Don't let others influence you in that direction. He says, Galatians, you have a problem. And here's the problem of the Galatians.
[5:41] Look at verse 1. Oh, foolish Galatians. Stop right there. They were foolish. Paul is incredulous.
[5:53] What does that mean? He's just having a hard time believing that they could go backwards so quickly. That they could go backwards after everything that he has presented to them, everything he has given them, showing them what Christ did for them and how they could be saved through Christ just by trusting in him.
[6:12] And now they're going backwards trying to add other things to it. And he's like, I can't believe you're doing that. How could you be so undiscerning about what people are teaching you? I have taught you the word of God.
[6:25] I have taught you exactly what it means to accept Christ as Savior. I have taught you how to have him come into your life and save you.
[6:36] Why are you going backwards? They had foolishly listened to these Judaizers. And again, reminder, the Judaizers were people who said, yes, knowing Jesus is a good thing.
[6:50] Knowing Jesus will lead you to salvation, but whenever they put a but, there's a problem.
[7:00] you need to also follow the law of the Jews. You also need to follow the rituals of the Jews.
[7:13] You also need to they said, Jesus is good, but and we hear those same things even today.
[7:25] See, we neglect sometimes the fact that God says, I will give you all you need. I will take care of you. I will strengthen you.
[7:35] I will bless you. I will guide you. And they compromise the gospel of grace. God's grace. God's riches at Christ's expense.
[7:50] And we start to try to add other things to it. In Ephesians, Paul wrote to them and he said this in chapter 5 verses 15 and 16. He says, See then that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time because the days are evil.
[8:10] See that ye walk circumspectly. What does that mean? Yep. Stand up and look around.
[8:20] too often. Too often, we walk around as Christians with our head down and just kind of, you know, okay, kind of get through this, kind of keep my head down and nobody will bother me.
[8:32] And then, he says, no, walk upright, looking around. The devil's going to come after you. If I'm down like this, I can't see what's coming in this way. But if I'm up like this, I can see what's coming after me.
[8:46] I can see the things that are happening on the horizon. And he says, walk circumspectly. Keep your eyes open to what the devil is trying to do. Look around. Redeeming the time because the days are evil.
[9:01] We don't have time to fool around. We don't have time to be nonchalant. He says, keep your eyes open to what the devil is doing around you.
[9:13] As I just mentioned a few minutes ago, as a Christian, we should have joy. We should be satisfied with the things that God is doing in our life.
[9:25] We should have, you know, just the utmost calmness about us because of what God is doing. But the problem is we keep our heads down and we become superficial.
[9:43] What do I mean by that? God says, I have given you everything you need for salvation. I have given you everything you need to have a Christian life.
[9:55] I have given you everything you need for comfort and joy. I have given you everything. But instead, we look for the highs. Well, Christian life is okay, but it would be better if I had this or this.
[10:12] We're like the dogs. Squirrel! We're looking for something else. We're looking for something that's shiny.
[10:23] We're looking for something better. Squirrel! No. He says, no. I have given you everything you need. Do we trust him?
[10:36] Do we follow him? We look for the spiritual highs. We look for the things that, well, it would be, our Christian life would be even better if we had this or if we had that or if we did this or if we did that.
[10:51] You know, a lot of churches have gone to the smoke and mirrors and all the other, and the music and all the other things. Let's make it much more hyper. Let's make it much more fun. Let's make it much more, but God says, you don't need all that.
[11:03] You need me. That's what you need is me. He goes on, he says, not only were they foolish, but they were fooled.
[11:15] They were fooled. He says, oh, foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? That word bewitched means charmed. Who has charmed you?
[11:27] Who has led you? Who has gotten you to go in that different direction? Who has gotten you to look at the feelings over the facts? So often, we want to live our life based on feelings.
[11:41] And again, that goes back to what churches are doing. They want you to leave there with a feeling. Well, feelings come and feelings go. Feelings last for a short time and then they're gone again.
[11:54] But the fact that Jesus Christ died on a cross to pay the penalty for my sin, Jesus Christ rose from the dead and lives forever more so that I can do the same.
[12:07] Jesus Christ went back to heaven so that I can go to heaven. Those facts should be all that we need. Jesus did this for me.
[12:21] Jesus did this so I can have this. Do I need all this and this and this and this? No, I need Jesus. He's what I need. I need him and his Holy Spirit working within me.
[12:35] Think about what Satan's goal is today. Satan's goal today is to get us based on feelings and how we do things according to feelings. He's trying to get us away from the doctrine and how do we feel.
[12:50] So much of what you read about in Christianity today or you hear about in Christianity today is shooting at feelings. I'm much more spiritual if I can speak in tongues.
[13:05] I'm much more spiritual if I can do this. I'm much more spiritual if I can have this thing. I'm much... No. 2 Corinthians chapter 11 verses 3 and 4 he says this but I fear lest by any means as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
[13:30] Stop there for a second. He says he beguiled Eve through his simplicity. How did Satan beguile Eve? Simple questions.
[13:42] Did God really say just a simple little question? He didn't say well God doesn't know what he's talking about God doesn't do this and God doesn't know that and God doesn't...
[13:53] No, all he said was did God really say? Get her to question it. Get her to think about it. And then he says so that our minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ.
[14:08] Again, go back to that first Corinthians 15. Buried, died, rose again. the simplicity of the gospel.
[14:19] He says that's the gospel. Jesus did that for you. And if you believe that and you accept the gift that he has for you by his doing that, you have salvation.
[14:35] You have a home in heaven for all eternity. if you can just believe the simple gospel. Don't need to add anything to it. Don't need to put any bells and whistles with it.
[14:49] Just the simplicity. Then he goes on in verse 4. For if he that cometh preacheth another Jesus whom we have not preached or if he receive another spirit which he have not received or another gospel which he have not accepted, ye will bear with him.
[15:09] He says do not follow him. Bear him off. Just don't pay any attention. Just yes he's there but just kind of ignore him.
[15:21] He says because you have not received those things from us. You have not received those things from the spirit of God. The spirit of God has shown you so much more. Galatians 5 verse 7.
[15:32] I don't know if I put it up there. Yes I did. Okay. It says did ye run well who did hinder you or ye did run well who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth.
[15:47] You did run well. You knew what was right. You knew what was what God had said. You knew what you had been taught. You knew Jesus had done all this for you. Who got you off course?
[16:01] Who hindered you from following He says foolish Galatians who has fooled you? Who has bewitched you?
[16:12] Who has charmed you? Who has gotten you to take a different course? Then He says there in verse 1 that ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth crucified among you.
[16:28] You have been taught the word of God. You have been taught who Jesus Christ you have a problem. Paul again wrote to the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse 2 he says this For I determined not to know anything among you save Jesus Christ and Him crucified.
[16:45] That's it. I didn't need to know if you could speak in tongues. I didn't need to know if you got slain in spirit. I didn't know if you got this thing or that thing or the other thing. all I need to know is Jesus Christ and Him crucified because He did it for you to pay the penalty for your sins.
[17:05] Those of you who became members recently and others of you have dealt with in the past you know I ask basically one two questions. What did you do with Jesus? How did you get saved?
[17:20] How do you know you're going to heaven? And it all comes back to Jesus. And what He has done for you. It's not that I did this or I did that or I did this thing or I did that thing or I did...
[17:32] Who's Jesus? To you. That's the important question. See, even today 21st century things are so much different now than they used to be.
[17:46] But can I tell you the way you get saved is the same way. It's the power of Jesus going to that cross giving His life paying the price for our sin and then rising from the dead.
[17:59] The power of the cross makes all the difference. You notice we have our cross back in the middle up here now. And always remember when you look at that cross Jesus isn't on it.
[18:15] Keeping Jesus on the cross is contrary to what Jesus did for us. It's not that He stayed on the cross. He went to the cross and then left the cross. He went to the cross and then rose again.
[18:28] See, people try to devise ways to pick up where the cross left off. The cross never leaves off.
[18:43] The cross always has power to save us for all eternity. The cross continues. The cross is eternal.
[18:55] What Jesus Christ did was a once for all eternal thing that He did for us paying for our sins. He made the payment and we put our trust in Him.
[19:08] Salvation is ours. You think about it. I believe that Jesus died on the cross for me. I believe that He saved me because of that.
[19:20] And I believe that I need to do this and this and this and this in order to add to that salvation, to maintain that salvation, whatever.
[19:31] If I say I have to do the law, I have to do this and this and this, then I have to believe I have to keep all the law.
[19:45] And I cannot keep all the law. That has been proven over and over and over throughout history. We cannot keep all those laws. 600 and whatever of them that the Jews had.
[19:56] Nobody could keep them all. Not one person. Jesus says, you come, you trust in me. I will take care of it all.
[20:07] So, they had a problem because they kept trying to put the law back into their salvation. The priority is faith. The priority is faith.
[20:20] Dana's getting it. There we go. By faith, we are saved. Galatians received the righteousness of Christ and his Holy Spirit at the time of their salvation.
[20:33] Let me read that sentence to you again. Listen to what I'm saying. the Galatians received the righteousness of Christ and his Holy Spirit at the time of their salvation.
[20:46] When we get saved, the moment we get saved, we receive the righteousness of Christ and the Holy Spirit. We've had people in the past who did not believe in the righteousness of Christ.
[21:05] can you imagine? It is the righteousness of Christ that when God looks down from heaven, he used to see Steve Hersey, the sinner.
[21:23] But Steve Hersey, the sinner, asked Jesus Christ to come into his life and to save him for all eternity. Now when God looks down at me, Jesus Christ has moved in and God sees Jesus Christ and his righteousness in me.
[21:41] How do I, how am I going to be able to present myself to God? It's because of the righteousness of Christ in me. How did that get there? Because when I asked Jesus to come into my life, his Holy Spirit came and took up residence in me.
[21:56] All of that happened the moment I said, Jesus, I believe you paid the penalty for my sin. You gave me the way of salvation.
[22:08] I'm trusting in you. And he says, here you go. My righteousness, my spirit, part of you. How do we know we're saved?
[22:21] Holy Spirit is working within us. Holy Spirit is showing us. you know, if we go back to doing the things of the law, if we think we have to have the law as part of it, we just said, no, everybody can keep the law, what happens?
[22:44] If I accept Jesus, I have him. If I accept Jesus, I have his righteousness. If I accept Jesus, I have his spirit. If I accept Jesus, I have hope.
[22:56] And peace. If I say I have to keep the law and I know that I cannot keep the law, where's my hope? Where's my peace?
[23:08] It only comes through Jesus Christ. Romans chapter 8, verse 16. Romans 8, 16 says, the spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit that we are the children of God.
[23:21] He says, I bear witness with you. I show you that you are the children of God. 1 John 4, 13. Hereby know we that we dwell in him and he in us because he hath given us of his spirit.
[23:39] I dwell in God. God dwells in me. How do I know that? Because the spirit dwells in me. When I got saved, his spirit came to live within me. Notice the title of this one.
[23:50] It's not up there but the beginning of it was continuing in the spirit. God gave us his spirit and it remains in us and continues working in us. By faith, we continue in the spirit.
[24:04] It's the next one up there. Look at verses 3 and 4. Are ye so foolish having begun in the spirit that ye are now made perfect by the flesh?
[24:16] Have ye suffered so many things in vain? If it be yet in vain? He says, look, the Holy Spirit came into you, saved you. You think, really, that it's going to improve, be made better because of the flesh?
[24:33] Our flesh is sinful. He says, it's not going to get better. You need to keep trusting in Christ. The good works that we do, they're not good works that we do.
[24:45] It's the good works of God working through us. You remember talking about salvation in Ephesians 2, 8, 9. For by grace are ye saved through faith and that not of yourselves.
[24:59] It is the gift of God, not of works lest any man should boast. And then, he says, for we are his workmanship. That's verse 10. For we are his workmanship, created in good works.
[25:14] He does it through us. It's not our good works that are going to save us. It's our good works through Christ working through us.
[25:24] It shows that we love him and we care for him and we want to follow him. I've talked a lot in the last few days about walking in the spirit. Galatians chapter 5.
[25:37] I don't think I put it up there. Flip over a page. Galatians chapter 5. Look at verse 16 and 17. Galatians chapter 5 verses 16 and 17. It says, This I say then, walk in the spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.
[25:54] For the flesh lusteth against the spirit and the spirit against the flesh. And these are contrary one to another so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. He said you cannot walk in the spirit while trying to live your life doing the law.
[26:08] Trying to do things through the flesh. Trying to do things in your own way. It's not going to work. What does work? Look at verse 5. He says, back in chapter 3.
[26:21] Chapter 3 verse 5. He therefore that ministereth to you in the spirit and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law or by hearing of faith?
[26:32] How is God able to work in me? How is God able to do the things that he's been doing in me? By the power of the Lord. The power of the Lord working in us.
[26:46] See, if we're going to continue to grow, if we're going to be of spiritual service to God, if we're going to do the things that he wants us to do and live the way we should, we need to have his power in our life. How do we get that power?
[26:59] The power of the spirit, the reception of the spirit comes through Jesus Christ. John chapter 16 verse 13. It says this, How be it when he, the spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself, but whatsoever ye shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come.
[27:23] There's a phrase in here we tend to miss a lot. Look at that verse up there and look at what it says. we have taken our focus many times today off of Jesus and put it elsewhere.
[27:47] Did you notice what it said there? When he, the spirit of truth has come, he will guide you into all truth, for he shall not speak of himself. The Holy Spirit's important.
[28:01] The Holy Spirit comes to live within us. The Holy Spirit's going to guide us, but he's not going to speak of himself. He's going to keep pointing to Jesus. He says, but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak, and he will show you things to come.
[28:19] Jesus. It's all about Jesus. He's following Jesus. Keep your eyes there. The Holy Spirit helps us. The Holy Spirit, take the word of God given to us by God.
[28:30] Jesus, it says, he's the word. So, he's the word. Holy Spirit guides us in all truth. He's going to show us what this book means as it talks about Jesus.
[28:43] So, the reception of the Spirit, God gave us. Jesus gave us the Spirit. He said, I've got to go back to heaven so that I can send the Spirit to be a part of your life and help teach you and lead you and guide you in all truth.
[28:56] The revelation of the miraculous. God does miraculous things in our life. When we follow the Spirit's leading and we focus on Jesus and who he is and what he has done, then the fruit that we will see is what it should be.
[29:18] Souls being saved, people coming into repentance, offerings that we give of ourselves, they are the fruit of the Spirit. As believers, what are we commanded to do?
[29:36] We're commanded to abide in Christ. See, we're supposed to take the gospel. As we abide in Christ, we go out and we share the gospel of Christ with others. We show them Christ by the way we live.
[29:48] We tell them of Christ by the way we talk. We do everything to show them Jesus Christ. that's our job, to abide in him.
[30:00] Did you know your job is not to save people? Jesus saves them. Your job is not to win souls.
[30:12] Jesus does that. Our job is to abide in Christ so those things can happen. To live for him, to live allowing him to live through us so that people can see him.
[30:28] John 15 5. I am the vine, ye are the branches. He that abideth in me and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit. For without me ye can do nothing. If we're not abiding in Christ and Christ abiding in us, he says you're not going to accomplish one little thing.
[30:45] It has to be Christ abiding in us. 1 Corinthians 2 4. It says and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of men's wisdom but in demonstration of the spirit and of power.
[31:01] Paul says what I deliver unto you can only be delivered as Christ gives me strength. As Christ works through me. That's what I'm trying to do is give you what Christ has given to me.
[31:14] That's what we are to do as we go out to the people in the public. we are to give them what Christ has given to us and shown us. See, through the law, men had no hope.
[31:28] But through Christ, we have an eternal hope. Through Christ, we have the promise of salvation. Through Christ, we have the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives.
[31:42] He says, Galatians, you've been foolish. You've been bewitched. You've been put on a path that is wrong. He's reminding them that their hope comes through Jesus.
[31:55] He's reminding them that Jesus is still alive. Jesus is ready to reclaim them. Jesus is ready to take them and use them as long as they are willing to follow him in what he says.
[32:12] Not on their own ideas, not on their own thinking, on his. and he says, I've done it all. I've paid it all. I've done it all.
[32:23] All you need is to abide in me and trust me. And I will take care of the rest. Are we doing that? As Christians today, are we living our lives with the understanding that Jesus lives within us?
[32:42] Jesus is going to fill us. Jesus, through the Holy Spirit, is going to minister through us to the world around us.
[32:54] It is all about him. You want to have hope in this world? Focus on Jesus, which reminds me of a song we're going to sing here as we close this morning.
[33:07] My hope is Jesus. Let's stand. Let's stand.