WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.960 Tonight, we are coming to the final part of a short study that we've been doing on Paul's 00:00:10.960 --> 00:00:17.080 letter to the Galatians. The title of our series, as you can see, is Galatians' Freedom, 00:00:17.080 --> 00:00:24.120 and we've been looking at how that great theme of freedom runs through this letter of Paul. 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:31.280 We've come to the final chapter, and I want us to just read again, verses 11 to 15. 00:00:31.280 --> 00:00:36.359 See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand. It is those who want 00:00:36.359 --> 00:00:41.500 to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order 00:00:41.500 --> 00:00:46.719 that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ. For even those who are circumcised 00:00:46.719 --> 00:00:52.560 do not themselves keep the law, but they desire to have you circumcised that they may boast 00:00:52.560 --> 00:01:01.160 in your flesh. But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, 00:01:01.160 --> 00:01:06.879 by which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world, for neither circumcision 00:01:06.879 --> 00:01:15.920 counts for anything, nor uncircumcision, but a new creation. This theme of freedom in many 00:01:15.920 --> 00:01:21.719 ways sums up the whole of this letter. If you've never read Galatians before, or if 00:01:21.719 --> 00:01:28.519 you're maybe just joining us for the series, the basic background to the letter is this. 00:01:28.519 --> 00:01:34.000 Paul had come to Galatia and he'd preached the good news of the gospel to the people 00:01:34.000 --> 00:01:40.840 there and they'd received the message and come to faith in Christ. But after Paul left, 00:01:40.840 --> 00:01:47.599 other people came in and they started saying to these Galatian Christians, if you really 00:01:47.599 --> 00:01:54.239 want to be saved, it's not enough to just believe in Jesus. You have to also keep God's 00:01:54.239 --> 00:01:59.079 law. In fact, you have to actually become like a Jew and in particular, you have to 00:01:59.079 --> 00:02:04.599 be circumcised. And as we said earlier in the series, it's a bit like Derrick preaching 00:02:04.599 --> 00:02:09.400 something here in the morning and then me coming along in the evening and saying, well, 00:02:09.400 --> 00:02:15.639 Derrick was nearly right, but we have to add a few extra requirements to what he said. 00:02:15.639 --> 00:02:22.000 That's what happened to Paul. Other people came in behind him and added a whole additional 00:02:22.000 --> 00:02:31.519 set of requirements to the gospel message. And in this letter, Paul goes absolutely ballistic 00:02:31.519 --> 00:02:38.199 about this and reading through Galatians, Paul is pounding home the truth that salvation 00:02:38.199 --> 00:02:48.799 does not depend on the stuff you do. It is only and absolutely only through faith in 00:02:48.799 --> 00:02:56.679 Jesus Christ. And for Paul, it's not a matter of these Galatians choosing between a theological 00:02:56.679 --> 00:03:03.679 school or choosing between a different person to admire or a different church or denominational 00:03:03.680 --> 00:03:12.200 loyalty. It is a choice between the true gospel and a false gospel. It's a matter of life 00:03:12.200 --> 00:03:23.000 and death. Throughout the letter, Paul repeatedly emphasizes that this whole idea of trying 00:03:23.000 --> 00:03:29.480 to earn our salvation through obedience to the law is not going to save us. It's only 00:03:29.479 --> 00:03:36.199 in fact going to imprison us as Christians through faith in Jesus Christ. We are no longer 00:03:36.199 --> 00:03:45.799 prisoners under the law. We've been set free. And I was trying to think how we could summarize 00:03:45.799 --> 00:03:54.159 this. And the image I have in my mind is one of, if you imagine a mountain with beautiful 00:03:54.159 --> 00:04:00.879 green pastures at the top and a steep, rough cliff at the side, and you'll have to forgive 00:04:00.879 --> 00:04:05.400 me, I'm going to put up some pictures of this so you can see exactly what I mean. So there's 00:04:05.400 --> 00:04:13.039 the pasture, beautiful lush pasture at the top of a mountain. And down the side of it, 00:04:13.039 --> 00:04:20.560 you have this steep cliff. The pasture at the top is our salvation in Jesus. The steep 00:04:20.560 --> 00:04:30.759 cliff down the side is when we're lost in sin. The law is a bit like an electric fence 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:36.800 on the edge of the cliff. And so we have these, if you like, different areas for us. We're 00:04:36.800 --> 00:04:41.840 at the top is where we're safe in Jesus. Down the cliff is where we're lost in sin. And 00:04:41.839 --> 00:04:52.279 the law is an electric fence perched there on the edge. Trying to earn our salvation 00:04:52.279 --> 00:04:57.359 through good works is a bit like trying to climb up that cliff. We have to do it by our 00:04:57.359 --> 00:05:05.279 own efforts and we have to work our way up. But every time we sin, the electric fence 00:05:05.279 --> 00:05:13.279 gets electrified and it stops us. It prevents us from getting into a right relationship 00:05:13.279 --> 00:05:20.439 with God because we sin and disobey. If we didn't have any sin, it wouldn't be a problem. 00:05:20.439 --> 00:05:26.359 We could climb up no problem. But the fact that we all sin means that that fence is always 00:05:26.359 --> 00:05:34.239 getting electrified. The law keeps on stopping us. So if you're trying to climb up that cliff, 00:05:34.240 --> 00:05:41.120 the law is a horrible thing. It's like a catch 22. The harder we try to climb up, the more 00:05:41.120 --> 00:05:48.560 the fence keeps electrifying and we keep getting forced back down to the bottom. The key point 00:05:48.560 --> 00:05:55.139 that Paul wants to emphasize is that the message of the gospel is not climb harder. The message 00:05:55.139 --> 00:06:04.919 of the gospel is stop climbing and let Jesus rescue you. And the promise of the gospel 00:06:04.919 --> 00:06:12.759 is that Jesus is going to take you all the way to the top, pass the fence into safety 00:06:12.759 --> 00:06:22.120 where you are free to live a new life of joy and blessing and peace with God. That's the 00:06:22.120 --> 00:06:28.579 gospel message. But these false teachers who were coming to the Galatians were basically 00:06:28.579 --> 00:06:36.980 saying to them, you need to go back down that cliff and start climbing again. Paul says, 00:06:36.980 --> 00:06:45.180 no way to go back down that cliff would be to ruin the freedom and joy and peace that 00:06:45.180 --> 00:06:51.980 you now have in Jesus. And not only that, it would mean that the people in Galatia who 00:06:51.980 --> 00:06:57.939 were still to come to faith would be hearing a false gospel if the Christian believers 00:06:57.939 --> 00:07:05.140 there started to tell them that salvation was through works of the law. The gospel that 00:07:05.140 --> 00:07:12.220 these Galatians now preach must remain the true gospel. And of course, that's true for 00:07:12.220 --> 00:07:20.020 us and for every other age of the church as well. And so Paul is saying, as Christians, 00:07:20.019 --> 00:07:26.979 we're free from the law. But the question immediately arises, well, if we're free from 00:07:26.979 --> 00:07:35.099 the law, can we just do whatever we like? And Paul's answer to that is no. And there's 00:07:35.099 --> 00:07:39.219 a key statement about that in chapter five, which was the first verse that John read for 00:07:39.219 --> 00:07:46.500 us from verse 13. It says, you were called to freedom, brothers, only do not use your 00:07:46.500 --> 00:07:54.100 freedom as an opportunity for the flesh. But through love, serve one another. For the whole 00:07:54.100 --> 00:08:01.939 law is fulfilled in one word, you shall love your neighbor as yourself. Here you can see 00:08:01.939 --> 00:08:08.540 that Paul is saying that our freedom is an opportunity. But that opportunity doesn't 00:08:08.540 --> 00:08:15.579 mean doing whatever you like. It means being free to obey God and be all that he wants 00:08:15.579 --> 00:08:24.060 us to be. And all of that means that our relationship with the law now changes. If we go back to 00:08:24.060 --> 00:08:32.939 our picture, the same law that stopped us from climbing up now protects us and it keeps 00:08:32.939 --> 00:08:40.460 us from falling off that cliff again. It's a great reminder that freedom doesn't mean 00:08:40.460 --> 00:08:53.300 no law. The word for no law is anarchy. Freedom means living in harmony with the law. And 00:08:53.300 --> 00:09:00.180 that actually applies in every part of life. It applies in science. I'll spoil my freedom 00:09:00.180 --> 00:09:07.460 as a human if I ignore the laws of gravity or of healthy eating or of good hygiene. It 00:09:07.460 --> 00:09:14.340 applies in society. I'll spoil my freedom if I ignore the laws about driving or about 00:09:14.340 --> 00:09:23.220 paying my taxes or about personal conduct towards other people. And it applies spiritually. 00:09:23.220 --> 00:09:30.980 We will spoil our freedom if we ignore the law that God has given to us as a guide for 00:09:30.980 --> 00:09:36.019 how we should live. All of that means that as Christians we're not free to do whatever 00:09:36.019 --> 00:09:45.299 we're like. We're actually free to do something far better. We are free to love one another. 00:09:45.299 --> 00:09:56.019 In other words, we are free to do good. All of this teaching comes to a climax in chapter 00:09:56.019 --> 00:10:02.340 six. And here Paul really gets to the heart of what this whole issue in the Galatian church 00:10:02.340 --> 00:10:09.899 is all about. Up until this point Paul has been giving us a lot of very important theological 00:10:09.899 --> 00:10:15.620 teaching. And he's referred back to the Old Testament several times and Galatians is full 00:10:15.620 --> 00:10:22.820 of incredibly rich theological teaching. But here in this chapter everything becomes really 00:10:22.820 --> 00:10:30.740 quite really very personal and very practical. Paul is telling us that the truth of the gospel 00:10:30.740 --> 00:10:36.980 and the freedom that that brings should have a profound effect on the way in which we treat 00:10:37.620 --> 00:10:44.659 other people. And that whole question of how we treat others lies at the heart of chapter six. 00:10:44.659 --> 00:10:51.139 And in this chapter Paul draws a contrast between two massively important types of behavior in 00:10:51.139 --> 00:11:00.419 humanity. One of these types of behavior is one of the best things that we can do in experience. 00:11:01.379 --> 00:11:10.340 The other is one of the worst things that we can do or experience. Paul sets before us two things 00:11:11.620 --> 00:11:19.299 that will have a massive effect and I'm sure in many ways have had a massive effect on your life. 00:11:19.299 --> 00:11:29.219 Paul draws a contrast between using people and serving people. And I want us just to look at these 00:11:29.779 --> 00:11:43.620 together. For the very last part of this letter Paul takes up the pen himself. Up until this point 00:11:43.620 --> 00:11:47.459 he would have been dictating to a scribe who would have been writing down the letter for him. 00:11:47.460 --> 00:11:55.780 But as was often the custom for the very last section Paul takes the pen himself to write 00:11:55.780 --> 00:12:01.379 a final message. And we can see that very clearly because it says in verse 11 see with what large 00:12:01.379 --> 00:12:08.820 letters I'm writing to you with my own hand. Now that reference to large letters I'm not 00:12:08.820 --> 00:12:14.019 completely sure what it means. It might mean it might be a reference just to kind of just to 00:12:14.019 --> 00:12:21.299 to poor handwriting which could be related to an eye problem. Most people are generally 00:12:21.299 --> 00:12:26.899 agreed that it seems as though Paul had had poor eyesight. And if you look back in chapter four 00:12:26.899 --> 00:12:33.059 of Galatians you can see that there was some ailment that led Paul to come to Galatia in the 00:12:33.059 --> 00:12:38.340 first place and there's a hint that it was actually an eye problem. So it might have just been bad 00:12:38.340 --> 00:12:45.940 handwriting. It's probably more likely however that that phrase large letters is 00:12:46.980 --> 00:12:55.300 more like what we would call block capitals or underlining or writing in bold. He is highlighting 00:12:55.300 --> 00:13:01.300 something of immense importance. And either way whatever the reasons what he writes here is 00:13:01.300 --> 00:13:08.180 immensely important because in these verses Paul is getting to the very heart of what 00:13:08.179 --> 00:13:15.379 of why these false teachers had come to Galatia and were telling them to be circumcised. 00:13:16.419 --> 00:13:20.339 If you think about it for these Galatians they could easily have thought that these 00:13:20.339 --> 00:13:24.819 teachers should come in after Paul. It would have been very easy to think that they'd come to save 00:13:24.819 --> 00:13:29.859 the day. Paul had come with this great message but he hadn't actually given them enough and so they 00:13:29.859 --> 00:13:35.139 come in and they're like oh actually we're giving you the whole story and we're telling you the bit 00:13:35.139 --> 00:13:41.860 that Paul missed out and thankfully we can give you everything that you need. For the Galatian 00:13:41.860 --> 00:13:50.659 Christians they would have sounded very persuasive, very helpful and they probably came across as very 00:13:50.659 --> 00:14:00.740 holy. But Paul is saying to these Galatians Christians these false teachers are not helping you. 00:14:00.740 --> 00:14:09.220 They are using you. If you look at verse 12 and 13 you can see that the false teachers weren't 00:14:09.220 --> 00:14:13.620 actually trying to help these Galatians. They were actually trying to help themselves. They 00:14:13.620 --> 00:14:22.259 wanted to make a good showing in the flesh and the reason they did that was to avoid persecution. 00:14:23.539 --> 00:14:29.860 Now at this stage in the early church it's helpful to remember that the primary source of 00:14:29.860 --> 00:14:34.659 persecution wasn't actually from the Romans, it was from the Jews. Often when we think of the 00:14:34.659 --> 00:14:40.340 early church we think of persecution coming from the Roman Empire and that did happen but that was 00:14:40.340 --> 00:14:47.139 really just at the very end of Paul's life that that began in any earnest under the reign of Emperor 00:14:47.139 --> 00:14:55.060 Miro. At this early stage the persecution of Christians came mostly from the Jews and if you 00:14:55.059 --> 00:15:02.739 go for example to the first half of Act 17 you can read all about it. So for these false teachers 00:15:03.459 --> 00:15:10.339 who in some ways had wanted to kind of align themselves with the Christian faith their insistence 00:15:10.339 --> 00:15:17.379 on circumcision meant that they could claim to be Christians while at the same time keeping in with 00:15:17.379 --> 00:15:26.419 the Jews and avoiding difficulty and persecution. And as they sought to do that these Galatian 00:15:26.419 --> 00:15:31.379 Christians who were they were forcing to be circumcised would have been a great demonstration 00:15:31.379 --> 00:15:34.659 of their commitment to the Jewish law. In other words they could say to their opponents look 00:15:34.659 --> 00:15:41.860 don't pick on us look at how we're getting these these Gentiles in Galatia to keep your law and 00:15:41.860 --> 00:15:49.060 to be circumcised. That meant that that these Galatians became a kind of badge of honour so 00:15:49.060 --> 00:15:57.060 that they might boast in the flesh of these new believers. But the whole reason they were doing 00:15:57.060 --> 00:16:07.220 that was to protect themselves from trouble. That means that that the actions of these false 00:16:07.220 --> 00:16:17.220 teachers were not acts of kindness they were acts of manipulation. And that's why Paul is telling 00:16:17.220 --> 00:16:26.660 these Galatians with big letters these false teachers are not helping you they are using you. 00:16:26.659 --> 00:16:41.139 Now all of this is raising a massive issue in life because to be used in any relationship 00:16:41.139 --> 00:16:50.419 is a horrible thing. It's something that I'm sure that that's that you've experienced in different 00:16:50.419 --> 00:16:56.419 ways that can happen in so many parts of life and it's awful because it involves a kind of 00:16:56.419 --> 00:17:02.659 really horrible betrayal of trust. Someone comes to us and asks us to do something and we do it 00:17:02.659 --> 00:17:08.180 because we think it's the right thing and we trust this person who's in front of us. And then we 00:17:08.180 --> 00:17:16.740 discover that that their motives were not what we thought they were and we've just been used by them. 00:17:17.779 --> 00:17:24.899 It can happen even among children. Someone might say oh give me your toy or give me a shot of that 00:17:24.900 --> 00:17:31.860 game and I'll be your friend. And in many ways using others is just really another way for another 00:17:31.860 --> 00:17:40.180 word for bullying and adults do it as well. It can happen at work. Bosses might try to squeeze 00:17:40.180 --> 00:17:45.780 every drop that they can out of their staff in order to improve their figures or their profits. 00:17:45.780 --> 00:17:52.500 Colleagues might dodge work and try to leave stuff for others to do or try to get people to do stuff 00:17:52.500 --> 00:18:02.819 that will help them and benefit them. And it can happen at church. It's incredibly easy 00:18:03.619 --> 00:18:11.700 to guilt people into doing stuff that will actually help us more than it helps them. 00:18:13.299 --> 00:18:18.180 And to be on the receiving end of that kind of using is absolutely horrible. 00:18:18.180 --> 00:18:28.340 And there are so many people who have been bruised because of that. But as with all of these things 00:18:29.700 --> 00:18:37.460 in scripture, as well as recognizing that we've probably all experienced the hurt of being used, 00:18:38.660 --> 00:18:45.539 we probably also need to ask the question have I ever used others? Have I ever 00:18:45.539 --> 00:18:54.819 got people to do stuff more because it helps me than because it helps them? And I look at myself and 00:18:55.859 --> 00:19:08.259 I think the answer to the question have I used others is probably yes. And my prayer is that I'd never do it again. 00:19:08.259 --> 00:19:15.700 It's a really easy trap for anyone to fall into. And the more responsibility we have, the more 00:19:16.740 --> 00:19:21.779 we are in a role of leadership or management in work or church or in any other part of life, 00:19:22.339 --> 00:19:30.980 the easier it is to do it. Our prayer is that God would keep us from that kind of behavior. 00:19:30.980 --> 00:19:36.900 These false teachers were using the Galatians to protect themselves and to make themselves look good. 00:19:38.180 --> 00:19:45.460 Paul responds directly to that behavior. And he says ultimately these people who are trying to manipulate others 00:19:46.579 --> 00:19:51.460 and use them as a kind of badge of honor that they can boast about, 00:19:52.019 --> 00:19:58.660 ultimately these people who are trying to manipulate others and use them as a kind of badge of honor that they can boast about, 00:19:58.660 --> 00:20:06.019 ultimately these people are going to have to stand on their own. He says if anyone thinks he's something when he's nothing, 00:20:06.420 --> 00:20:15.140 he deceives himself, but let each one test his own work, then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor, 00:20:15.700 --> 00:20:23.700 for each will have to bear his own load. If these false teachers want to claim that the law will save them, 00:20:23.700 --> 00:20:35.140 if they want to claim that they can climb up to God's standard by themselves, then they will have to stand on their own two feet before God. 00:20:36.019 --> 00:20:42.340 They can't claim credit from all the people that they've used and manipulated. 00:20:43.940 --> 00:20:52.660 And the reason for that is highlighted very powerfully by Paul in verses seven and eight, where he says do not be deceived, 00:20:52.660 --> 00:21:03.620 God is not mocked for whatever one sows that he'll also reap, for the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, 00:21:03.620 --> 00:21:09.620 but the one who sows to the spirit will from the spirit reap eternal life. 00:21:10.580 --> 00:21:20.580 Ultimately, using these Galatian Christians to kind of gain some kind of religious credit is not just a case of manipulating them, 00:21:20.579 --> 00:21:25.059 it's actually trying to manipulate God. 00:21:26.659 --> 00:21:34.339 And Paul says do not for one second think that you can do that, because God is not mocked. 00:21:35.539 --> 00:21:43.859 You can't sow the seeds of manipulation and expect to receive a harvest of righteousness. 00:21:43.859 --> 00:21:57.779 And all of it is a brilliant reminder that there's just no nonsense or drivel or bluster with God. 00:21:59.299 --> 00:22:06.819 It's fascinating. That phrase, God is not mocked, that's the kind of phrase that we could actually kind of pluck out of the Bible 00:22:06.819 --> 00:22:16.819 and use in order to get people to do what we want. So we might say God is not mocked, so you need to do what I say. 00:22:16.819 --> 00:22:34.819 And what we're being shown here is that the whole reason Paul uses that phrase is to say God is not mocked, so don't ever use him to manipulate or use other people. 00:22:34.819 --> 00:22:42.819 And it's all reminding us that God is just absolutely straight and true. 00:22:44.819 --> 00:22:52.819 He has no interest in putting on a religious show. He's got no time for manipulative nonsense. 00:22:52.819 --> 00:23:00.819 He's got absolutely no patience with trying to show off or boast in front of him. 00:23:00.819 --> 00:23:12.819 If there's one thing that's true of God, it's that he's true. He is genuine, honest, open, fair, and he is absolutely straight. 00:23:12.819 --> 00:23:16.819 He has got no time for users. 00:23:16.819 --> 00:23:30.819 And that's emphasized by the fact that this whole idea of using other people is the very opposite of the kind of people that God wants us to be. 00:23:30.819 --> 00:23:38.819 Paul's opponents in Galatia were people who were using others to serve themselves. 00:23:38.819 --> 00:23:48.819 As Christians, we're to be the opposite. We are to use ourselves in order to serve others. 00:23:48.819 --> 00:24:01.819 If we go back to the key statement in chapter five, we see that at the heart of our freedom is the fact that it gives us an opportunity to serve people. 00:24:01.819 --> 00:24:10.819 You are called to freedom, brothers, only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 00:24:10.819 --> 00:24:16.819 That of course ties in with the concept of the fruit of the spirit, which comes at the end of chapter five. 00:24:16.819 --> 00:24:22.819 One of the key aspects of fruit is that it is for the benefit of others. 00:24:22.819 --> 00:24:34.819 As Christians, we are free. We are free to do good and at the heart of doing good is loving and serving others. 00:24:34.819 --> 00:24:37.819 So that in many ways is Paul's great theme. 00:24:37.819 --> 00:24:47.819 But coming into chapter six, he gives us three examples of what that looks like in terms of how we can serve other people. 00:24:47.819 --> 00:24:54.819 And it's actually very interesting what he chooses as his three examples. 00:24:54.819 --> 00:25:01.819 In verse one, he says we must serve the person who has mucked up. 00:25:01.819 --> 00:25:05.819 In verse two, he says we're to serve the person who's burdened. 00:25:05.819 --> 00:25:11.819 And in verse six, we are to serve the person who teaches us. 00:25:11.819 --> 00:25:18.819 Our freedom in Christ means that we can serve in all of these areas and I want to just look at each one in turn. 00:25:18.819 --> 00:25:23.819 Verse one, we are to serve the person who has mucked up. 00:25:23.819 --> 00:25:34.819 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. 00:25:34.819 --> 00:25:42.819 I think that this is one of the most important verses for the Christian church today. 00:25:42.819 --> 00:25:52.819 And the reason it's one of the most important is because often it can be one of the most ignored and forgotten. 00:25:52.819 --> 00:25:59.819 As Christians, what should we do when someone mucks up badly? 00:25:59.819 --> 00:26:05.819 So if someone's caught in a really bad scandal, what do we do? 00:26:05.819 --> 00:26:11.819 What do we do when we discover that there's some awful sin in someone's life that we didn't know about? 00:26:11.819 --> 00:26:17.819 What do we do if somebody makes a massive mistake in their Christian walk? 00:26:17.819 --> 00:26:22.819 Do we humiliate them? Do we kind of keep them at arm's length? 00:26:22.819 --> 00:26:27.819 Do we punish them? Do we blog about them? 00:26:27.819 --> 00:26:31.819 Do we kick them out of our church? 00:26:31.819 --> 00:26:35.819 No. 00:26:35.819 --> 00:26:42.819 We restore them and we do it gently. 00:26:42.819 --> 00:26:52.819 In other words, thinking back to our image of the cliff, if someone wonders too close to the edge, too close to the fence, 00:26:52.819 --> 00:26:58.819 our job is to bring them back and keep them safe. 00:26:58.819 --> 00:27:02.819 That will always involve talking to them. 00:27:02.819 --> 00:27:08.819 As we do so, we would want to warn them about the danger and horribleness of sin. 00:27:08.819 --> 00:27:16.819 Touching an electric fence is a bad idea and wandering into a path of sin and brokenness is a bad idea. 00:27:16.819 --> 00:27:25.819 We need to carefully and sincerely warn others when they're wandering too close to something. 00:27:25.819 --> 00:27:32.819 We'd have to, at the same time, make sure that we constantly assured them of our commitment to support and help them. 00:27:32.819 --> 00:27:44.819 Above all, we want to point them back to Jesus, reminding them that they are rooted and living in him. 00:27:44.819 --> 00:27:56.819 And of course, as Paul says, while we do that, we need to keep watching ourselves because it could just as easily be us. 00:27:56.819 --> 00:28:07.819 It's so important that we never, ever forget that sin and people are different things. 00:28:07.819 --> 00:28:17.819 They are separate, and if sin has found its way into someone's life and caused havoc, whether that's through immorality or addiction or hostility, 00:28:17.819 --> 00:28:24.819 we must never, ever think that the way to get rid of the disease is to get rid of the patient. 00:28:24.819 --> 00:28:40.819 The way to address the situation is to get rid of the disease, but to gently care for the patient and nurse them and protect them until they're restored. 00:28:40.819 --> 00:28:50.819 Sin is something that we want to keep as far away as possible because it's horrible and damaging and brutal. 00:28:50.819 --> 00:29:02.819 But sinners are people that we want to hold as close as we possibly can, and we want to always protect them. 00:29:02.819 --> 00:29:13.819 Our freedom doesn't mean that we can kind of look down our noses at people who have mucked up and think, oh, we're better than them. 00:29:13.819 --> 00:29:23.819 Our freedom means that we are to serve them by helping to gently restore them. 00:29:23.819 --> 00:29:29.819 Verse two, we're told to serve the person who is burdened. 00:29:29.819 --> 00:29:37.819 One of the brilliant things about church is that it brings together people from a whole host of different circumstances and backgrounds. 00:29:37.819 --> 00:29:46.819 So people who would probably not in any way come across each other in life are brought together and they discover that we actually have many wonderful things in common. 00:29:46.819 --> 00:29:52.819 So we all love Jesus. We all love the Bible. We all want to grow in our faith. 00:29:52.819 --> 00:30:01.819 We all want to reach out to the world around us, and we all carry burdens. 00:30:01.819 --> 00:30:11.819 It's so easy to think that everyone else is doing great and that I'm a complete failure because I'm struggling. 00:30:11.819 --> 00:30:21.819 And there can be a huge pressure to give the impression that we're getting on fine and that we're doing great with work and studies and family and our spiritual lives. 00:30:21.819 --> 00:30:27.819 But all that's just another example of the kind of false nonsense that God has no interest in. 00:30:27.819 --> 00:30:37.819 God knows that for every single one of us, we have burdens that are weighing us down. 00:30:37.819 --> 00:30:44.819 And that's why the church is to be a place where burdens are shared. 00:30:44.819 --> 00:30:47.819 And that can be done in loads of different ways. 00:30:47.819 --> 00:30:52.819 It can be through just listening to one another, giving someone a listening ear. 00:30:52.819 --> 00:30:59.819 It can be through practical help, a word of encouragement, face to face or in a text or whatever it may be. 00:30:59.819 --> 00:31:02.819 It can be a commitment to pray for one another. 00:31:02.819 --> 00:31:08.819 It can be just by being a constant, steady, faithful friend to someone. 00:31:08.819 --> 00:31:17.819 It can be through keeping in touch, giving support to someone who's struggling, meeting up one to one or maybe in twos and threes. 00:31:17.819 --> 00:31:24.819 In every possible way, we should always be seeking to give each other a hand. 00:31:24.819 --> 00:31:27.819 Jesus gave that amazing promise where he says, 00:31:27.819 --> 00:31:33.819 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, everyone who's burdened, come to me and I'll give you rest. 00:31:33.819 --> 00:31:46.819 I think one of the ways in which Jesus keeps that promise to give us rest is to provide us with brothers and sisters around us who can help carry our load and stand alongside us. 00:31:46.819 --> 00:31:51.819 Our freedom as Christians doesn't mean that we're never going to be burdened. 00:31:51.819 --> 00:31:56.819 There are many things that are tough as we walk through this life. 00:31:56.819 --> 00:31:59.819 Our freedom doesn't mean that it's always going to be easy. 00:31:59.819 --> 00:32:06.819 Our freedom does mean that we're able to serve each other by sharing the load. 00:32:06.819 --> 00:32:17.819 And then we have verse six where we're told, Let the one who's taught the word share all good things with the one who teaches. 00:32:17.819 --> 00:32:19.819 And this verse kind of seems a wee bit surprising. 00:32:19.819 --> 00:32:22.819 It almost seems out of place. 00:32:22.819 --> 00:32:32.819 Why would Paul kind of throw in this sentence about having, sharing good things with the one who teaches you? 00:32:32.819 --> 00:32:40.819 Well, if you think about it, this is actually an immensely important verse for the Galatian church to hear. 00:32:40.819 --> 00:32:47.819 As we've been saying, they've been on the receiving end of manipulation from false teachers. 00:32:47.819 --> 00:32:53.819 In that kind of situation, when somebody misteets you, it would be very easy for them to think, 00:32:53.819 --> 00:32:57.819 We are never going to listen to anyone ever again. 00:32:57.819 --> 00:33:01.819 Paul is reminding them that that's not the answer. 00:33:01.819 --> 00:33:09.819 Instead, they are to maintain good relations with the rest of the church and with those who will teach them the truth. 00:33:09.819 --> 00:33:15.819 And it's important for us to think about this because we can very easily make the very same mistake. 00:33:15.819 --> 00:33:24.819 We can have a bad experience of something and as a result, we just write it off completely. 00:33:24.819 --> 00:33:35.819 And that's especially true in the church. I have met many people who've had a bad experience in church 00:33:35.819 --> 00:33:41.819 and they've written the whole thing off as a result. 00:33:41.819 --> 00:33:45.819 Paul is reminding us that that is not the answer. 00:33:45.819 --> 00:33:51.819 If we respond to bad teaching by refusing to ever be taught again, 00:33:51.819 --> 00:33:54.819 we're just making a bad situation even worse. 00:33:54.819 --> 00:33:58.819 It's like being ill and going to a bad doctor and then saying, 00:33:58.819 --> 00:34:03.819 Well, I'm never going to get any more medical care ever again. 00:34:03.819 --> 00:34:08.819 Paul is reminding the Galatians that they must stop listening to this false teaching, 00:34:08.819 --> 00:34:14.819 but they also must keep listening to true teaching. 00:34:14.819 --> 00:34:17.819 And that brings us back to what we said at the very start. 00:34:17.820 --> 00:34:23.820 The difference between true and false teaching is not a matter of different opinions or different understandings. 00:34:23.820 --> 00:34:28.820 It is a matter of life and death. 00:34:28.820 --> 00:34:33.820 Our freedom doesn't mean that we don't need anyone to teach us and that we can think what we like. 00:34:33.820 --> 00:34:38.820 Our freedom means that we are able to learn the truth together. 00:34:38.820 --> 00:34:42.820 As Jesus himself says, as we read at the very start of the service, 00:34:42.820 --> 00:34:49.820 if you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples and you will know the truth. 00:34:49.820 --> 00:34:55.820 And the truth will set you free. 00:34:55.820 --> 00:35:07.820 So in this chapter, Paul is drawing a really important contrast between using people and serving people. 00:35:07.820 --> 00:35:15.820 And he's saying that the people who are using others are the ones who are condemned. 00:35:15.820 --> 00:35:23.820 The people who are serving others are the ones who are truly free. 00:35:23.820 --> 00:35:35.820 And as we said, it's a very practical chapter and there's some really helpful and important things that we must all try and remember. 00:35:35.820 --> 00:35:43.820 But as we finish, I just want to close by highlighting two theological points. 00:35:43.820 --> 00:35:52.820 The first is to say, if you've been badly used, 00:35:52.820 --> 00:35:58.820 if you've been on the receiving end of that kind of manipulation in whatever circumstance it may be, 00:35:58.820 --> 00:36:08.820 if you've been on the receiving end of that awful behavior that these Galatians were subject to, 00:36:08.820 --> 00:36:25.820 the one thing I want you to know is that no matter how much other people may use or manipulate you, God never will. 00:36:25.820 --> 00:36:28.820 God will never do that. 00:36:28.820 --> 00:36:35.820 People will, and so much of the world's behavior, including its religious behavior, is stained by manipulation. 00:36:35.820 --> 00:36:41.820 Galatia is not the only church where people have been used. 00:36:41.820 --> 00:36:45.820 It's happened again and again and again and it's horrendous. 00:36:45.820 --> 00:36:54.820 We've probably all experienced it in one way or another, but please remember that even though people do that, God never will. 00:36:54.820 --> 00:36:59.820 God is not a user. 00:36:59.820 --> 00:37:07.820 In God's eyes, you are not some commodity to be used. 00:37:07.820 --> 00:37:16.820 In God's eyes, you are a precious, beloved child who needs to be set free. 00:37:16.820 --> 00:37:28.820 And God's great goal is to bring you home to be with Him in His new creation, where all the horrible manipulation of the world will be gone forever. 00:37:28.820 --> 00:37:36.820 And we will have amazing freedom to be everything that God created us to be. 00:37:36.820 --> 00:37:44.820 And the reason we know that is because of the second thing I want us to notice. 00:37:44.820 --> 00:37:53.820 God is calling us away from the slavery of using others in order to serve ourselves. 00:37:53.820 --> 00:38:01.820 And instead, He's calling us to the freedom of using ourselves to serve others. 00:38:01.820 --> 00:38:11.820 And the reason He can call us to do that is because that is exactly what He has done for us. 00:38:11.820 --> 00:38:17.820 And that brings us back to the statement that Paul writes with his own hands. 00:38:17.820 --> 00:38:28.820 He speaks about what these false teachers are doing, how they're abusing the Galatians just to make a good showing in their flesh and so that they can avoid persecution. 00:38:28.820 --> 00:38:36.820 And as they do that, they're hypocrites because even those who are circumcised do not themselves keep the law, but they're just doing it to make a boast in the flesh. 00:38:36.820 --> 00:38:47.820 And then Paul says, Far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ. 00:38:47.820 --> 00:38:51.820 Paul's boast was not in himself and it was not in what he made other people do. 00:38:51.820 --> 00:38:57.820 His boast was in nothing except the cross of Jesus Christ. 00:38:57.820 --> 00:39:05.820 And on the cross we see the greatest act of serving love that the world has ever seen. 00:39:05.820 --> 00:39:09.820 Because on the cross Jesus was used. 00:39:09.820 --> 00:39:11.820 He was scorned. 00:39:11.820 --> 00:39:18.820 He was mocked. He was manipulated. He was abused. He was crucified. 00:39:18.820 --> 00:39:27.820 And the reason He did it was so that He could restore the people who have mocked up. 00:39:27.820 --> 00:39:34.820 He did it to give peace and rest for all people who are crushed by burdens. 00:39:34.820 --> 00:39:41.820 He did it to show us the truth and to give us the teaching that will transform the world. 00:39:41.820 --> 00:39:47.820 On the cross Jesus used himself to serve others. 00:39:47.820 --> 00:39:52.820 He used himself to save you. 00:39:52.820 --> 00:39:59.820 He did it all to set you free. 00:39:59.820 --> 00:40:07.820 And now Jesus is calling us away from a life of slavery where people are used and manipulated. 00:40:07.820 --> 00:40:15.820 And He's calling us to follow Him into a life where we are free to be like Him. 00:40:15.820 --> 00:40:19.820 Where we are free to do good. 00:40:19.820 --> 00:40:25.820 And I hope and pray that every one of us when we hear that call from Jesus, 00:40:25.820 --> 00:40:30.820 I hope our only answer is yes. 00:40:30.820 --> 00:40:35.820 Let's pray. 00:40:35.820 --> 00:40:41.820 Father we thank you so much for the freedom that you give us in Jesus. 00:40:41.820 --> 00:40:49.820 And we pray that in every way possible we would use that freedom as an opportunity to serve others. 00:40:49.820 --> 00:40:56.820 Help us to always restore those who've made mistakes and to do so with gentleness. 00:40:56.820 --> 00:41:06.820 Help us always to share the burdens that we all carry and to bear one another's burdens in every way that we can. 00:41:06.820 --> 00:41:13.820 And help us always Lord to maintain and to be carefully listening to your teaching. 00:41:13.820 --> 00:41:20.820 To maintain a good relationship with one another in the church as we learn more about your truth. 00:41:20.820 --> 00:41:23.820 About the truth that sets us free. 00:41:23.820 --> 00:41:26.820 Thank you so much for your goodness. 00:41:26.820 --> 00:41:30.820 We pray O God that your blessing will be upon us all. 00:41:30.820 --> 00:41:45.820 In Jesus name, Amen.