Paul says, you did run well. Who did hinder you that you should
not obey the truth? This persuasion cometh not of
him that calleth you. A little leaven leaveneth the
whole lump. I have confidence in you through
the Lord that you will be none otherwise minded, but he that
troubleth you shall bear his judgment whosoever he be. And
I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer
persecution? Then is the offense of the cross
ceased. I would they were even cut off,
which trouble you." Now, the churches at Galatia were in sin. They had been entangled in bondage. Some sinning by putting themselves
under the law. Others sinning by by being puffed up towards those
that had been beguiled into that when they hadn't. And so each
were doubting, each were disputing the other, and a little leaven
had puffed them up. But Paul calls them his brethren. You notice that throughout the
epistles no matter what was going on in the church, no matter how
bad it was, he refers to them as brethren. He had spent the
first part of the letter pointing them to Christ, declaring that
all of God's elect were crucified in Christ, and therefore through
the law, we're dead to the law, that we might live under God.
And the life we now live, we live by the faith of the Son
of God who loved us and gave himself for us. And so he besought
them to stand fast in this liberty wherewith Christ has made us
free and be not entangled again with this yoke of bondage. And
he encouraged them to wait for the hope of righteousness by
faith. And he encouraged them to walk
by faith which works by love. And so now, In this passage,
he encourages them by telling them he had confidence in them.
I have confidence in you through the Lord that you will be none
otherwise minded, that your mind will be set on Christ, single
for Christ. Now that is faith working by
love. He wanted to encourage them.
He wanted to help them. He wanted to restore them. That's how we're brought to faith
in Christ in the beginning. And so believing on Christ and
having all confidence in Christ, when brethren are sick and when
they're falling into bondage and when they're in sin, we want
to encourage one another that we trust their brethren, that
the Lord's working. Our confidence is in what Christ,
our head, shall do for our brethren. Now first of all, I want you
to see this confidence is from personally knowing the power
of the Lord Jesus Christ in calling us who are ungodly sinners. That's how come Paul had this
confidence. He said there in verse 7, you
did run well. Now the Lord sent Paul preaching
the gospel of Christ to the Galatians and the Spirit gave them faith
in Christ. And they began running the race, looking to Christ. They were Gentiles, they'd never
been under the law, but there was plenty of idolatry they had
and plenty of sin they had. And they laid aside the weight
and they began running the race, looking only to Christ. That's
running well. That's believing Christ, obeying
the truth, looking to Christ the truth, trusting Him alone,
and walking by faith in Him. And he knew they'd been hindered.
That word hindered means turned back. It's what it means, turn
back. It's like the road's been broken
up and you've been turned back. To turn from Christ to confidence
in our flesh in what we have done or what we haven't done.
We had both these conflicts going on at Galatia. Some trusting
what they were doing under the law, some trusting that they
had it come under that. That's like some trusting in
some good they've done and how they abstain from bad and, you
know, trusting in anything good we've done or something we haven't
done. That's sin. And people think
that when you turn folks to themselves and to the law, that that's going
to result in progressive sanctification. This word hinder means turn back.
It's regressive is what it is. It turns you away from Christ
to you and your works and your flesh and what you have done
or haven't done is to go backwards. And Paul said here, a little
leaven leavens the whole lump. A little makes the whole lump
puff up. Now the sin here was the Judaizers doctrine. preaching
the leaven of the Pharisees that Christ warned us to be aware
of. And what they were doing was they were making something
necessary for the sinner to do to be accepted of God, to be
a child of God. Now they had much truth in what
they preached, I'm sure. They didn't deny that salvation
is by grace and that salvation is through faith in Christ and
that Christ is the righteousness of His people. But they said,
but except you add your works of law and your obedience to
it, you can't be a child of God. And a little leaven, you know,
you put a little leaven in dough and it just puffs up the whole
lump. And a little leaven puffs up the whole. They even accused
Paul of preaching circumcision. Probably because he had circumcised
Timothy. But he said, if I preach circumcision,
why am I still being persecuted? Then the offense of the cross
is ceased. If I gave the sinner something to do, the offense
is gone. I wouldn't be persecuted. But
this leaven that entered in, and when sin is leavened, whatsoever
is not of faith is sin. And all sin is leavened. And if the Lord hasn't given
a broken heart and humbled his child, it will puff up. And like these that had come
under the law and thinking what they were doing was good, it
wasn't good. Spiritually, they were breaking
the whole law of God. Spiritually, they were committing
adultery against Christ, trying to come to God by their works.
They were committing spiritual murder, spiritual covetousness. It was all breaking of the law.
It was sin. And then those that had not fallen
into that, they were puffed up about it. So it just spread through,
and so the whole lot was puffed up, and here's what they were
doing. They were seeking vain glory, they were provoking one
another, and they were envying one another. And so Paul knew
this persuasion didn't come from Christ. It didn't come from Paul. who God used to call them, and
it didn't come from Christ, and he knew that. The means used
were unbelievers. They were legalists. They were
intentionally, maliciously turning them from Christ to their works,
that's what they were trying to do. And Paul knew who was
behind the wheel worshiper. He said to the Corinthians, I
fear, lest by any means, and he will use any means, as the
serpent beguiled Eve in the garden. So your mind should be corrupted
from the simplicity that's in Christ. That singleness of mind
on Christ, knowing He is all our acceptance. He's our completion. We're righteous in Him. But Paul
believed they were brethren. Even though this was the case,
he still believed they were brethren. He kept addressing them as brethren.
And he does that in all the epistles. He believed they were bought
with the precious blood of Christ. That Christ actually shed his
blood for them. He believed they were his purchased
possession as all God's elect are. And so he saw them as those
Christ laid down his life for. And so Paul laid down his life
for them. He knew they were counted as sheep for the slaughter, but
his confidence was this, and all these things were more than
conquerors through Christ that loved us. His confidence was
Christ. He knew that death, nor life,
nor any other thing shall be able to separate us from the
love of God which is in Christ, and that was his confidence.
And so Paul encouraged him. He strengthened that he was,
you know how the Hebrew writer says, strengthen the feeble knees
and the hands that hang down, make straight paths for your
feet. That's what Paul was trying to do for the brethren by preaching
Christ to them and turning them back to Christ. And he had this
confidence because Paul knew what a sinner he was. He knew
what a sinner he was. He knew where he was when Christ
called him. He'd been entangled in that yoke
of bondage. He was dead in trespasses and
sins, but he was full of pride and thought his righteousness
was good deeds. He was persecuting the church.
He held the coats of men while they killed Stephen, a believer. Look over at 1 Timothy 1. He said in verse 14, He said, the grace of our Lord
was exceeding abundant with faith and love which is in Christ Jesus. This is a faithful saving worthy
of all acceptation that Christ Jesus came into the world to
save sinners of whom I am chief. Howbeit for this cause I obtain
mercy that in me first Jesus Christ might show forth all longsuffering
for a pattern to them which should hereafter believe on Him to life
everlasting. Now unto the King eternal, immortal,
invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and
ever." Paul knew it wasn't by his might that he came to the
Lord. He knew it was by the Lord and
he knew that whole time that he was in sin, the Lord had been
long suffering to him. And the Lord showed a pattern
in Paul how the Lord deals with his people. And it made Paul
deal with his brethren the same way. He wanted to see the Lord
by his power bring them down to the dust just like Paul was
brought to the dust by Christ. He wanted to see them granted
repentance by the Lord like he had been granted repentance.
He wanted to see them brought to look only to Christ like the
Lord had done him. And so he preached the gospel
to them. Now, knowing they were in sin
as believers, he could enter into that too. Because he could
say by experience, in my flesh dwells no good thing. He had
experienced himself how his own sinful flesh brought him into
captivity. and how the Lord alone delivered
him. He had experienced that power and that grace of the Lord
being able to break the heart and turn you back to Christ and
make you see your flesh hasn't contributed and it hasn't taken
away. You're complete in Christ. And
that's how he makes you to mortify the flesh. And so Paul declared
this message to them and telling them he had the same confidence
for them in the Lord Jesus Christ. He knew that the Lord would work
in them and strengthen them. Here was his confidence. It was
the same thing he told the Philippians in Philippians 1.6. He said,
being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun
a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.
Even as it's meat for me to think this of you all, because I have
you in my heart." This was faith in Christ and love. He had them
in his heart and he had confidence that they were his, they were
the Lord's. It looked bad at Galatia. It looked real bad.
But his confidence was in Christ. And because he knew Christ is
present in his people, he's present in his church working because
he knew that. He did what he told the Philippians
in Philippians 2.12. He said, my beloved, as you've
always obeyed, not as in my present only, but now much more in my
absence, work out your own salvation. These daily affairs you have
with one another in the church, work these out with fear and
trembling. Why? For it's God which worketh
in you, both to will and to do of his good pleasure. So Paul
was, he was dealing with them in fear and trembling. He wanted
them to know. He didn't want to cast them down
and destroy them. He wanted to edify them and get
them back on the path running to Christ and looking to Christ.
So he said, I have confidence in you, brethren. His confidence
was that Christ was their master and they were Christ's servants.
To their own master they stood or fell. And so he encouraged
them. He's telling them by this, saying,
I have confidence in you through Christ. He's saying, you shall
be held up. God's able to make you stand. That was his confidence. He said,
I have confidence in you through the Lord that you'll be none
otherwise minded. He talked about waiting for the
hope of righteousness by faith. And he had that hope in him. And he was waiting for Christ
to come then. in spirit through the word and
turn them back to Christ their righteousness from their works
and their sin and their being puffed up to bring them down
to see Christ as all. To have one mind to love and
esteem each other better than themselves. To have one mind
for Christ and one mind for the brethren. One mind to lay aside
this sin and run the race looking to Christ alone. And his confidence
was Christ would make them stand fast in one spirit, with one
mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel, and nothing
terrified by the adversaries. Now, he not only had this confidence,
he made sure they knew it. He made sure they knew it. He
strengthened them by encouraging them that he had confidence in
them through the Lord. He let them know that he believed
that they had consolation in Christ. By saying this, he's
saying that he believed they had the comfort of love, that
they had the fellowship of the Spirit, that they had bowels
and mercies. His confidence was Christ would
make them like-minded, having the same love, being of one accord
and of one mind, so that they would let nothing be done through
strife or vain glory, but in lowliness of mind, each would
esteem other better than themselves. looking not every man on his
own things, but every man also on the things of others." In
other words, he trusted that Christ, when he said that you'll
be none otherwise minded, he trusted Christ would give them
the mind of Christ that he had. So as bad as things were there,
and they were bad, he called them brethren. And his word to
them was the same as in all the places he preached. He's saying
to them, seeing where we have all this cloud of witnesses,
let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which does so easily
beset us, and let us run with patience, perseveringly, the
race that's set before us, looking to Jesus, the author and finisher
of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured
the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at God's right
hand. Paul said in Philippians 3.13,
he said, I don't count myself to have apprehended. But this
is what I do. Forgetting. Forgetting those
things that are behind. I reach forth unto those things
which were before. I press toward the mark for the
prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. This is
what Paul wanted for them. He wanted for them. Now, as for those who were intentionally
troubling them, as for those that were turning them from Christ,
those that were self-willed and insistent on furthering this
divide, willfully attempting to separate them from Christ
and from one another, Paul also trusted them to Christ. He said
in verse 10, But he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment,
whosoever he be. that judgment's from Christ.
He said, verse 12, I would they were even cut off which trouble
you. These were those who weren't
broken in heart. They weren't. They had not mourned and repented
and left off this sin. And faith which works by love
doesn't seek to cut off brethren. You're not hoping your brethren
get cut off. That wasn't what Paul was doing.
These men proved that they weren't seeking unity with the brethren. They were seeking to divide them.
They were wanting to expose sin and keep talking about it and
talking about it and talking about it until they just divided
and divided and divided. And Paul said, now would they
were cut off. I would, they were cut off. But
he left them to our same sovereign master, and he said he would
deal with them. You know, the Lord was stern
toward the Pharisee. It was the only ones he was stern
to, the obstinate, stiff neck, stiffen up their neck. They hadn't
mourned, they hadn't been broken, their heart wasn't broken. They
wanted to see people cut off. That was the whole thing with
the circumcision. They wanted to see, cut this out, cut that
out, cut this out, and if you don't measure up to us, we'll
cut you out. The Lord was very stern with
those who had not mourned and sought mercy at his feet. That's the leaven Christ warned
us to beware of. He said over in Isaiah 58, if
you want to look there, Isaiah 58, 3, Wherefore have we fasted, say
they, and thou seest not? Wherefore have we afflicted our
soul, and thou takest no knowledge? The Lord says, Behold, in the
day of your fast you find pleasure, and you exact all your labors. Behold, you fast for strife and
debate. It wasn't a fast from the sinful
flesh at all. It was feeding the flesh. That's
flesh that wants to be a proud Pharisee and judge one another. And he said, you smite with the
fist of wickedness. You shall not fast as you do
this day to make your voice to be heard on high. Is it such
a fast that I've chosen? Christ was tender. Christ denied
himself for his brethren. Look at verse 6. It's not this
the fast that I've chosen, to loose the bands of wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, that
you break every yoke? Is it not to deal thy bread to
the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to
thy house? When thou seest the naked, that
thou cover him, that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
You take a man who's wounded. The church is a place for the
wounded. We're not trying to cut people out. We want to see
sinners under the gospel. If you take a man who's wounded,
he comes into an emergency room. Now, if he comes in there wounded
in an emergency room and he starts wielding a gun and he's trying
to shoot everybody, he's going to have to be cast out. But if
he comes in there wounded, looking for the physician to heal him,
then they're going to heal him. They're going to do what they
can to heal him. And much more tenderly, the difference with
the church is we have the wound. If you had the wound yourself
and knew how it hurts, you'd deal so much more tenderly to
care for that wound. That's what the church is. It's
a place for the... And that's how the Lord dealt
with us. When we were His enemies, Christ said in Psalm 35, 14,
I behaved myself as though He had been my friend or brother.
I bowed down heavily as one that mourneth for his mother. That's
the compassion He had on us when we were enemies in our minds
by wicked works. He loosed the bands of wickedness
and the heavy burdens and let the oppressed go free by bearing
our sins. He dealt His bread to the hungry,
feeding us the gospel, Himself the bread of life. He brought
us the poor that were cast out to His house. He found us naked
and covered us in His own righteousness. He didn't hide Himself from His
own flesh. And He continues to do it to
us every day. This is how He deals with His
brethren. You know, if we could see our sin, brethren, I mean,
when we're doing the best things we ought to do. If we could see
how far short we come of the glory of God, and see how merciful
the Lord's being with us all the time, constantly. And how tenderly and mercifully
He's dealing with us. I believe Paul saw that in himself. I believe he saw how the Lord
was dealing with him. And it made him deal with his brethren
that way. Well, you say, well, these brethren
weren't dealing with one another that way. They were being puffed
up towards one another and sure there was things said to one
another. Paul's point to them is, set
aside, forget it, start running this race looking to Christ.
That was his desire. And he said, and I have confidence
in you through our Lord Jesus that you'll be none otherwise
minded. And because Christ continually works that in his people, Colossians
121, Paul said, you that were sometime alienated and enemies
in your mind by wicked works. Just think about that, brethren.
We were aliens. We considered God and our Lord
Jesus our enemy. And our wicked works, were works
whereby we thought God was well-pleased with us. You know the bad thing
about all sin is besetting sin, but it's besetting sin. It pulls
you out of the path. You run it. Here's why prideful
self-righteousness is so much worse. It turns you around going
completely backwards because not only is it sin, we think
it's righteousness. And the Lord, when we were in
that shape, He came in the body of His flesh through death. He
put all our sin away. And He shall present you holy
and unblameable and unreprovable in His sight if you continue
in the faith. running this race looking only
to Him, putting no confidence anywhere else. Paul's confidence
wasn't in them, just in them. His confidence was in them through
the Lord. If you run this race by faith,
grounded and settled, and be not moved away from the hope
of the gospel, which you've heard. So brethren, when brethren sin,
the goal is to restore. The goal is to edify. Paul had
power, but he said, I don't have this power to destroy, I have
this power to edify. And this is the fast that the
Lord's pleased with. What is it? What kind of fast
is it? It's fasting from the lust of our sinful flesh. Just
as much as we lust to sin some sin, we lust to lord over our
brethren. as if we're better. Both of them
are the lust of our flesh. And to fast from that, the only
way we can fast from the lust of our flesh is putting all our
care in Christ, speaking to our brethren of Christ, and trusting
Christ to work in one another. That's a fast. That's starving
yourself of everything you would do naturally in your flesh, and
everything this world would do. And that's God's way. And I pray, brethren, He give
us grace. I want grace. I need grace to to encourage
you, and I pray for grace for you to encourage me. That our
confidence, we let each other know that we, I don't doubt you
and I don't dispute you. I have confidence you're the
Lord's, and I have confidence you're the Lord's through Christ.
I have confidence He'll keep you, and keep you settled on
Him, your mind single for Him. That's my confidence. All right,
brethren, let's stand together. Father, we thank you. Our great
God, our Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you for
your way you've worked in your people in the past and recorded
it for us in the scriptures and the way we were made to behold
our salvation entirely in Christ. Lord, help your people everywhere.
There are so many things in this world right now that
are causing your people to be puffed up and that would divide
us, but let us encourage each other that we have confidence
in one another through Christ. You're the only one, Lord, that
can keep us single-minded, and we ask you to do that. We ask
you to keep us looking to Him and set
aside whatever is not of faith. Keep us humble. Keep us from
being puffed up. Keep us hearing the truth of
your word in spirit and in truth, looking only to him. Make us
help me, Lord. We ask it in Christ's name. Amen.