May it please Almighty God to
bless us as we meditate in His Holy Word this afternoon. Let's
turn to the Epistle of Paul to the Galatians, chapter 3, and
we'll read verses 2, 3 and 4. The Epistle of Paul to the Galatians,
chapter 3, and reading verses 2, 3 and 4. this only would I learn of you. Received ye the Spirit by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish,
having begun in the Spirit, Are you now made perfect by the flesh? Have you suffered so many things
in vain, if it be yet in vain? As we read through the epistles
or the letters that Paul wrote, we will find that he's always
concerned that those who he writes to are the recipients of living
faith. And they're not relying upon
their own works, they're not relying on the things of the
flesh, but they're relying upon that faith which is in Christ. And it was very relevant, of
course, in his day, Perhaps we might say it was clearer in his
day because of course in the Old Testament times the people
have been very concerned about keeping the law. But then in
Gospel times we've been blessed with a glorious picture of faith
in the Lord Jesus Christ and the gift of faith. And so this
third chapter commences as he addresses the Galatians and 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? Well, again, the apostle is so
concerned that the various churches that he writes to have a clear
view and understanding of the blessed life and work and death
and resurrection and ascension and intercession of the Lord
Jesus Christ. And of course such desires never
become old-fashioned, never become out of date. And we today are
wonderfully blessed with the New Testament especially the
epistles of the Apostle who demonstrate to us the wonderful glory of
the life and death of our Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ, and how
his Church, the Living Church, are blessed with faith to believe,
and how relevant it is for us in the day and age in which we
live to examine ourselves. We are encouraged to examine
ourselves. The Apostle says, examine yourselves,
see whether you are in the faith or not. And that means, of course,
the true faith. And that's what really the Apostle
is speaking to us here. When he comes and says in the
second verse, this only would I learn of you. There are many
things, of course, which needed to be taught and instructed,
but he says, this only would I learn of you, received ye the
spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. He just wanted this one thing,
this only would I learn of you, received ye the spirit by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith. And it's a big question
for us today to have the evidence that we have received the Spirit
of God through the hearing of faith. And that is through that
great and glorious hearing, it's been conveyed to us, the glorious
truths of the Gospel, and it's entered into our souls. so that we are those who are
true believers, not those who are false believers, not those
who just rest upon their own works, their own achievements,
their own understanding, but to be blessed with those who
are favoured by the works of the Spirit of God. Receive ye
the Spirit by the hearing of faith. Well, we've all heard
the Gospel preached. Every one of us has heard the
Gospel preached. And I suppose the question we
need to ask as to whether that word has entered into our hearts,
and whether it's had an effect there, whether there's been a
change whether our lives have been changed, whether we have
new ideals, new desires. What a blessing it is to know
the work of the Holy Spirit, because if we do know the work
of the Holy Spirit, what we can observe is that by the grace
of God, we are born again by that Spirit of God. And as the
Lord Jesus spoke to Nicodemus all those years ago, when he
said to him, you must be born again. You must know that wonderful
favour of the work of God in your soul. And that is God's
work within us. Because God's work gets the honour
and glory. If you and I were to rely upon
our work, we would claim the honour and glory. Now God is
a jealous God. And God will have the honour
and glory. And that's why it is so important
that we have the evidence that we have received the work of
the blessed Spirit of God through the hearing of faith. What a
mercy, what a blessing that is. When the Apostle Paul again wrote
to the Romans, as you know we meditated in the Third of Romans
this morning, but in the Tenth of Romans, he speaks very positively
about the preaching of the Gospel and about the difference. And
he tells us in verse 10, So you see we have here a very clear
distinction. It's not just a believing in
the mind, in our brain. It's a believing in a spiritual
way in our heart. And the scripture says, whosoever
believeth on him shall not be ashamed. What a mercy it is if
you and I therefore have received that spirit of God to believe
on him. And the apostle goes on, it's
instructive, in this chapter. For whosoever shall call upon
the name of the Lord shall be saved. That means whosoever shall
pray from our heart. And again, it's not praying just
from our head, just with a well-formulated prayer. It's just a true prayer
which emanates from our heart. And that is illustrated. Very
clearly when the Lord Jesus spoke that parable about the Pharisee
and the publican, and we're told the Pharisee prayed with himself. He was satisfied with his religion. He was satisfied really with
this statement, the works of the law. And that's what he was
depending upon. And he praised himself and thanked
God that he wasn't like other people. And you see, he was satisfied
with his religion. But by comparison, there was
the publican. The publican. And he cried, not
from his head, from his heart, a very simple prayer. God, be
merciful to me, a sinner. So what do we see there? We really
see the difference between someone who has received the Spirit by
the works of the law and the one who's received the Spirit
by the hearing of faith. Well, it will be a blessing for
us today if we're able to analyse our own heart our own experience,
our own testimony, and to trace out the glorious work of the
Spirit of God in our soul. Something that we didn't produce,
God produced. God made a change. What a wonderful
thing it was, and what a wonderful thing it is to look back in our
lives and to see When that change occurred, the work of the Spirit
of God. And so says the Apostle, writing
then here, this only will I learn of you. That was the important
thing. Received you the Spirit by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith. And again, today, we
need the same question, don't we? Put to us. We don't want
to have a false religion. We don't want to be satisfied
with that which is of the flesh. We want to appreciate that which
indeed is of the Spirit and therefore we have the wonderful evidence
as indeed the Apostle wrote to the Ephesians when he said in
the fourth verse of the first chapter, according as He, that's
God, hath chosen us in Him before the foundation of the world,
that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having
predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to
Himself according to the good pleasure of His will, to the
praise and the glory of His grace wherein He hath made us accepted
in the Beloved. You see, there's no glory to
the flesh there. There is glory to our God. And as He goes on and says, in
whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of
sins according to the riches of His grace. Well again, it's
a wonderful subject, isn't it? We touched on it this morning,
and it's important to understand the glory of it, of this redemption
through His blood, the forgiveness of sins according to the riches
of His grace. And I believe if we are under
the blessed influence and work of the Holy Spirit, and only
you can tell that, between your soul and God, no one else can. No one else knows whether you
possess this great and glorious work of the Spirit. But one of
the proofs is, if that is of the Spirit, you will rejoice
in such a statement as this, in whom you have received redemption
through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches
of his grace. You will praise God, you will
thank God for his abounding grace that has come to you, unworthy
sinner that you are. My friends, we will all be on
level ground. We'll all recognise and feel
we're unworthy sinners. We'll all be together and say,
why me? O wretched, blessed God, why
such a wretch as me, who must forever lie in hell, were not
salvation free? What does that result in? It
results in glory to God. And our lives are for the glory
of God. then let's never forget that.
And it's wonderful if therefore we are able to recognise this
great and glorious truth that the Apostle tells us here, that
it is the great and wonderful work of the Holy Spirit. And
of course the Lord Jesus himself draws the same attention to us
with regard to his wonderful calling when he was on the earth
and speaking to his disciples in the upper room and in the
15th chapter of John's Gospel we read those wonderful words
in which he tells us, ye have not chosen me but I have chosen
you and ordained you that ye should go and bring forth fruit
and that your fruit should remain. Again, it's a very humbling thing,
isn't it, when we consider God has graciously chosen us. When we look around the world
and we see the billions of people and how many have been passed
by, and to think that God, in his wonderful love, has called
us out of darkness has given us to understand this great and
glorious truth of the Gospel that we can rejoice in, receive
the Spirit by the hearing of faith. That's not a work, is
it? That's by what God has done. Well, it's a very humbling truth,
but it's a very comforting truth. because what it proves to us
is it's not of the flesh it's not of our own will it's the
power of God and just ponder and realize it's the power of
God coming upon us convincing us of our condition of our lost
condition and leading us to the Saviour, the power of God. What a wonderful blessing to
have experienced the power of this Holy Spirit descending upon
us. Whereas at one time we were blind,
at one time we were deaf, But through the wonderful work of
the Spirit, it's spoken here by the hearing of faith. As we've
heard with new ears, our ears have been opened to receive the
Gospel. We may have heard the Gospel,
we may have listened to the Gospel for many years perhaps, but never
heard it. until the Lord comes and by His
Spirit opens our ears and what do we have to say with the hymn
writer the appointed time rolls on a pace not to propose but
call by grace it's a wonderful statement isn't it to think that
God doesn't propose God calls. And when he calls, we hear. What a mercy to hear the voice
of Almighty God. We might say, in the words of
the Son of Solomon, yes, the voice of our Beloved. beloved Lord Jesus Christ, who
forsook his home in glory to redeem our souls. How wonderful
it is to think of that. And we have these illustrations
in the Word of God to encourage us and to strengthen us and so
as he says this only would I learn of you received you the spirit
by the hearing of faith and really what he's pointing us to is what
he's spoken in the first verse that you should not obey the
truth that you should not obey the truth before whose eyes sorry
let me start again O foolish Galatians who has bewitched you
that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ
hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you. What a mercy it is when before
our spiritual eyes we view the suffering Saviour and we understand
the cost of our salvation. It was nothing trivial. It was
the life of the Son of God. Well, what a mercy that you and
I can, by his grace, remember his dying love. We're favoured
to be able to come round the table this evening, those who
have put on an open profession, to remember, remember what Christ
has done. What a wonderful blessing it
is that the Lord ordained us again. This is the work of the
Spirit to show this unto us. Receive the work of the Spirit
by the hearing of faith. To receive these symbols. These symbols which were shown
way back in that upper room after the Lord had partaken of the
Passover for the last time. There was no need for Passover
anymore. We touched upon the Passover
this morning. No need for Passover anymore,
because now all those types and shadows had been done away. And now the Lord Jesus Christ
fulfilled those types and shadows by himself. And we are able to
remember the cost of the fulfillment of that great and glorious work,
to think of his broken body, to think of his agony, to think
of his shed blood, and all done in order to redeem our souls. Well, the Spirit, by the hearing
of faith. What a mercy then, if that Spirit
has entered in to our hearts, And whereas we perhaps have read
these things perhaps many times, perhaps they've had no effect,
but what a blessing when by the grace of God you and I bow down
and worship Almighty God. And that means we bow down and
worship Him as our Lord, our Master, our King, with that true
desire to follow Him, to do His will. You know, if we profess
to be true Christians, we have the wonderful example of the
Lord Jesus Himself. When He prayed to His Father
in those wonderful words, nevertheless, not my will, but thine be done.'
And he knew what was before him, the suffering Saviour, and to
think that he suffered on our behalf. Well, if the Holy Spirit
comes and opens our understanding by the hearing of faith, What
a wonderful blessing it is. What a wonderful mercy it is. And as the Apostle goes on to
say, Are ye so foolish? We are foolish, aren't we? We've
been foolish. We've turned away from the great
truth of God. We've often ignored it. And yet,
how merciful, how kind, how gracious is our God. Are ye so foolish? Having begun in the Spirit, are
you now made perfect by the flesh? You see, if we are blessed with
the work of the Spirit, then you see the continuance of that
will be with that godly and right desire that we might grow spiritually. We might grow in grace and in
the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. And growing in knowledge of our
Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ means to have fellowship with
the Lord Jesus Christ. You know the Apostle, when he
wrote to the Philippians He just gives us a little insight as
to what he considered to be precious and real and of great benefit
and of great blessing. And he tells us in the third
chapter, he says, What things were gained to me, those I counted
lost for Christ, yea, doubtless. and I count all things but loss. For the excellency of the knowledge
of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss
of all things, and to count them but done, that I may win Christ
and be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which
is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ,
the righteousness which is of God by faith, that I may know
him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings,
be made conformable unto his death, if by any means I might
attain unto the resurrection of the dead. We have there quite
a comprehensive statement of the Apostle Paul. And we really
see there the desire, the concern that he had, and the effect of
the spirit of the hearing of faith. It wasn't something which
was superficial. It was something which was real.
And it was something which he truly desired. And he compares
it with the things of this poor world and how he evaluates them
as really of no consequence, of no value, compared with the
knowledge of Christ, which is more precious than gold. Gold, you see, is probably the
most precious thing that you and I can think of naturally. But, you see, the knowledge of
Christ is far greater than that. Because the knowledge of Christ
is an eternal blessing. Temporal things we'll have to
leave behind. Temporal things will be burnt
up. Temporal things will fade away. But the great and glorious work
of the Spirit will not fade away. By the hearing of faith. Receive
ye the works of the Spirit by the hearing of faith. Will it
be a wonderful blessing for you and me today if we understand
something of the reality of fellowship with the Lord Jesus Christ. And fellowship with the Lord
Jesus Christ comes in a price. The Apostle counted that price
as dung and dross. Really, no comparison. and yet
he had that great desire. And it's very important to recognise
that he really brings it to a conclusion, as he says, that I may know him
and the power of his resurrection. Resurrection power is of the
Spirit. And the fellowship of his sufferings,
united to Christ, in his sufferings and be made conformable unto
his death. It's a good place to be in. It's a very clear favour and
evidence that we are born again in the Spirit to enter into this
situation. And as he concludes and says,
if by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the
dead. Any means, whatever the cost. And as you and I will remember
probably the Apostle's life, and he gives us that great list
when he wrote to the Corinthians of all the things that he'd suffered
upon this earth. when you and I compare ourselves
with what he suffered, well, there's really no comparison,
is there? And yet, you see, he was greatly blessed. Caught up
into the third heaven, saw things which were unspeakable to mention. Blessed indeed with these great
desires, these spiritual desires. What a wonderful evidence we
have that this man, had received the Spirit by the hearing of
faith, and not by the works of the law. And we can compare that,
can't we, in his life. Because remember, before that
Damascus Road experience, he was depending on the works of
the law. He thought he was doing God's
service. In fact, he was walking in a
contrary way. until the Lord came to the apostle
on that Damascus road and he saw that wonderful light from
heaven shining into his heart with such power and he fell upon
the ground and he was brought to that position where he came
and said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? What was that? Perfect submission. Perfect submission. He'd received by the Spirit,
by the hearing of faith. Yes, God had come to him at that
moment. What a change there was now.
Very few people have an experience like that. Most people probably
have more of the experience like Lydia had, where we're told,
as she attended to the words of the Apostle, the Lord opened
her heart to receive them. It doesn't say it gave her a
great, wonderful, natural understanding, nothing wrong in that, but the
Blessed Spirit opened her heart. And that's what all of us need,
the work of the Holy Spirit to open our heart, to receive the
great and glorious truth of God. And so, as he comes on and says,
are you so foolish having begun in the Spirit? Are you now made
perfect in the flesh? He didn't want the Galatians
to change their course. He didn't want them to move across
to their old ways, to go back to that. No, he wanted them to
stay in that position that God had placed them in and therefore
he asked the question, are you so foolish? He says, have you
suffered so many things in vain, if it yet be in vain? We should expect to suffer in
this world. We should expect a life of opposition. The Lord Jesus tells us, doesn't
he, when he was on the earth in the last chapters in the epistle
of John, he tells us there what we are to expect. things that we want but nonetheless
they are good things and they are blessed things and we should
be thankful that we have a God who does come and give us these
wonderful blessings and he tells us it is through much tribulation
that we shall enter the kingdom. Somehow we often seem to think
that's for someone else. Well, he doesn't say that. No,
it's for all of his people. These things I've spoken unto
you, that in May, he might have peace. And remember, peace by
his cross, as Jesus made. fellowship in his sufferings. These things have I spoken unto
you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall
have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world. It's wonderful, isn't it? to
have such a saviour. It's wonderful to be able to
rejoice, therefore, in his finished work. And therefore, have ye
suffered so many things in vain? If it be yet in vain, but of
course it's not in vain. If they are used for our spiritual
good, if they are used for the enlarging of our spiritual life,
and if they are used to bring us closer to Christ. You know the hymn writer says,
isn't he? As we've sung, go for a closer
walk with God. Sometimes we can sing those words
quite glibly, not realising what they entail. Nonetheless, it's
a good desire and a right desire Because a closer walk with God
entails fellowship with God. It entails spiritual life. It entails eternal blessings. And therefore we should desire
that and to recognise that, well, we are called to suffer. And as we read down this third
chapter, as we came to that account of Abraham. And Abraham, so then
they which are of faith are blessed with faith for Abraham. Abraham's
faith was tested. If we're blessed with light faith,
our faith will be tested. And so he goes on, for as many
as are of the works of the law, remember the apostles speaking
against relying on the works of the law, for as many as are
of the works of the law, are under the curse. Why? For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that continueth not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. That's the truth. That's the law of God. But that
no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident. For the just shall live by faith. You see, faith is not something
which is tangible to our natural mind. It's not something that
you and I can grasp. It's that which God gives to
us. And the law is not of faith.
But the man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us. For it is written, Cursed is
everyone that hangeth on a tree. So we can realise Christ took
our place. Now then, receive ye the Spirit
by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. By the
hearing of faith directs us to Christ, paying the price for
our sin, hanging on that cross at Calvary. What a great and
glorious Saviour we have. What a wonderful and glorious
Master we have. Are we willing to serve that
despised and crucified man, realising the cost of our salvation, realising
what the Lord passed through. Oh, my friends, let us never
underestimate the enormous cost. And so the Apostle goes on to
say that the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through
Jesus Christ, that ye might receive the promise of the Spirit through
faith. Well, what a mercy today, if
you and I can understand why the Apostle was so concerned
that the Galatians might understand the great difference between
receiving the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing
of faith. And may you and I be blessed
with living faith to believe the truth of the gospel and rejoice
in Christ Jesus and have no confidence in our flesh. Amen.