I please God to bless us together
this evening as we consider his word. Let's turn to the epistle
of Paul to the Galatians, chapter three, and we'll read the first
five verses. The epistle of Paul to the Galatians,
chapter three, verses one to five. Oh 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. This only would I learn of you,
receives either spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing
of faith. Are you 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? He therefore that ministereth
to you, the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he
it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. The Apostle Paul was clearly
concerned about the spiritual state of the Galatians. And really his concern was that
they had believed, and then they seemed to have, as it were, turned
aside. And they were relying on the
law, therefore they were relying on their own actions. And they
seemed to have forgotten about the blessing of living faith. And so the Apostle writes to
them in the words that we read together, and we might think,
well, surely that was appropriate for the church at Galatia, but
surely it's not appropriate for us today. Well, I believe it
is very appropriate for us today, because there is indeed a tendency
to turn away from the truth of God. And we may think, well,
I don't think that is so. Well, in this way, we don't seem
to continue in the life of faith. We seem to desire certain wonderful
revelations or sudden wonderful blessings, which of course the
Word of God doesn't promise at all. we need to be reminded that
we walk by faith and not by sight. And faith is to believe the truth
of God's Word. We are wonderfully blessed to
have the Word of God. What a full testimony it is of
the truth of God's Word. And it is there for us to read
and it is there for us to receive faith to believe. And as we may
possess faith to believe, we know it's a gift of God, so we
receive it. And then the word of God is applied
to our heart and it becomes precious. It is the word of God. There's
nothing special or nothing untoward, but it is the mercy and favor
of God toward us. Towards the end of this chapter
that we read together, the apostle tells us But before faith came,
we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should
afterward be revealed. We didn't possess that living
faith. And then we're told, wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, the
law of God. What does that mean? It means
that the law, the holy law, the righteous law of God speaks to
our hearts and we realise in a very simple way how we failed
and we are condemned under that righteous and holy law. We cannot
stand against it. It's like being at school and
we do need to go to school in the things of God, where God
teaches us. and God instructs us. And the
great blessing is to know that we are therefore, as it were,
at school. And so we're told here, wherefore
the law was our schoolmaster, to bring us unto Christ, that
we might be justified by faith. But it didn't stay in that condition. But after that faith is come,
we are no longer under a schoolmaster. We're no longer under the law.
For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. There's been a change. There's
been a wonderful change. And it's a change of the work
of the Spirit of God that gives us faith. And the faith is this,
for as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put
on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek,
there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male or female,
for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's,
then are ye Abraham's seed and heirs according to the promise. And so the law that God uses
to bring us unto Christ, to direct us to the condition and situation
that we are in. And the Apostle very clearly
tells us the wonderful favour that his people receive by the
quickening of the Holy Spirit, or at least being made alive.
And he tells us in the second chapter to the Ephesians, and
you hath he quickened who were dead, in trespasses and in sins. And so to realise and to know
that we have been convicted and convinced of our sins by the
Holy Spirit of God, it's the Spirit's work which comes to
us in this way like a schoolmaster and shows us our condition. And
that condition is such that the Spirit then works in our heart
and we are made spiritually alive. And then we can look back and
the Apostle describes what it was like. We're in time past. It's a good thing if you and
I can look back and say, well, I know what the man was talking
about. We're in time past. Ye walked
according to the course of this world, according to the prince
of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the
children of disobedience. Can you say that tonight? Yes,
I was like that. I was like that. And I wonder
if you are still like it? Well, the Apostle says, among
whom also we all had our conversation in times past, in the lust of
our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and the mind, and
were by nature the children of wrath even as others. We all
stand on level ground. We're all guilty before a holy
God, None of us can claim salvation through our own work, through
keeping the law of God. We fail. No one can do that. And then we have one of these
but-gods. Some wonderful but-gods in the Word of God. But God,
who is rich in mercy for his great love wherewith he loved
us, even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together
with Christ. By grace ye are saved. That means there's no merit to
ourselves. And just a few more verses we'll
read. And hath raised us up together
and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus, that
in the ages to come he might show the exceeding riches of
his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ Jesus. Well, I wonder tonight if any
of us can come in with that What he says, he shows exceeding riches
of his grace. That means totally unmerited
favor. He shows us his riches. And what
are those riches? In his kindness toward us through
Christ Jesus. For by grace are you saved through
faith and that none of yourselves It is the gift of God, not a
works lest any man should boast. Well, we have a wonderful statement
now with regard to those who were dead and those who'd be
made alive by the Holy Spirit, those who have received the blessed
gift of the Holy Spirit and that blessed gifts to believe on the
Lord Jesus Christ. And the definition of faith,
of course, is given in that 11th chapter to the Hebrews, where
we read, now faith is the substance or the ground of belief, the
substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. It's not something that our natural
mind can grasp. It's that which God gives. And
when we receive it, there is that wonderful evidence of the
work of God in our hearts. And it's because he's given us
faith to believe the truth of the gospel. Well tonight how
important for all of us to have the evidence that we do possess
living faith given by God. But the apostle here is addressing
those Galatians. Now they had possessed the faith
to believe. They had possessed it. But then
he comes and he speaks them in these terms. Oh foolish Galatians,
foolish people, who hath bewitched you? But bewitched you really
means not doing those things which are obvious. Bewitched. The devil would come alongside
them and had bewitched them that ye should not obey the truth
before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth,
crucified among you." Now the Apostle Paul had very clearly
set before them the crucified Saviour. And my friend, as the
blessed Spirit of God has set before us through the preaching
of the Gospel, a crucified Saviour, have we believed? Have we possessed
faith to believe that that crucified Saviour was crucified so that
we might receive the blessed gift of eternal life. Not a works, was it? But as we
stood, as it were, at the cross. And we saw there the crucified
Saviour suffering and dying, groaning so that we might possess
eternal life. Now the Apostle speaks in this
way, telling the Galatians, you've had this set before you, you've
had this set before you, and now what's the condition? Who's
turned you away? What are you looking for? What
are you expecting? Oh foolish Galatians, who hath
bewitched you? You see they've been blessed
with simple faith. My friends, what a blessing it
is if we've been blessed with simple faith. Simple faith. Faith is simple. Now, all those worthies who were
blessed with living faith that we read of in that 11th chapter
to the Hebrews, and of course it's a wonderful list, isn't
it? But what we read is this. They were able to do all those
wonderful things by faith. By faith. By faith. You read down the list. It was
by faith. God gave them that faith. And
they were able then to believe God and to do wonderful things. And so it's no different today.
God gives faith. And it's by faith that we believe,
and it's by faith that we continue, and it's by faith that we serve
God. You know, in most of those cases,
there wasn't a wonderful revelation, was there? In one or two cases,
there was, but nonetheless, in many cases, there was not. And
by faith, they went forward. By faith, they overcame, not
because of their own strength, They were dependent upon what
the Lord had done. By faith they looked to the Saviour. And so here we are today, faced
with this challenging statement really to us, isn't it? O foolish
Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the
truth? My friends, the truth is the
Word of God. Thy word is truth, says the Saviour
himself in the 17th of John. Thy word is truth. And here the
Apostle is speaking to these Galatians that ye should not
obey the truth. That was the criticism that the
Apostle had. And they were not obeying the
truth. They appeared to have dispensed really with faith. You see, we are to obey the truth. We are to be blessed with faith
to obey the truth. And that means we're not to look
to ourselves. And that means we're not to precondition
the situation. We are to go in the strength
of the Lord God. That's what the Apostle did,
didn't he? He went in the strength of the Lord God. How many occasions
he did, didn't he? He went in the strength of the
Lord God. It didn't always follow out a clear and easy path. We're
not promised an easy path, but we are promised a good end. We
are promised a good end. We don't want to find that we
travel through as a disobedient servant, do we? We don't want
to find that this is true of us. The Lord speaks to us and
says, oh, foolish person. Who has bewitched you that you
should not obey the truth? Now, my friends, the devil today
is very active in bewitching people, turning them away so
that they do not obey the truth. That means they do not follow
the word of God. They are content to plot on in
their own path, sometimes waiting and expecting some wonderful
vision, as it were, or deliverance, and it's not promised. And yet
they perhaps go on for years, go on for their life perhaps,
as it were in bondage. In bondage. Yes, they're chained
down. There's no liberty. There's no
freedom. You know, this Book of Galatians
is sometimes spoken of very simply, it says, freedom in Christ. My friends, that's where the
blessed freedom is. If we look into ourselves, there
we'll find there's no freedom. Because all we'll see is failure. But if we look to the Saviour,
what shall we see? Victory. And remember, we are
complete in Him. Not in yourself, not in myself.
So the Apostle tells us ye should not obey the truth before whose
eyes, spiritual eyes, Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth,
crucified among you. Well have we got spiritual eyes?
Have we seen by faith the suffering Saviour? These people had. These people received that faith
to view the Lord Jesus Christ And now we see that they departed. They'd gone backwards. They'd
been bewitched. They should not obey the truth. And so the Apostle then homes
in on this, and he questions them really. They are rhetorical
questions. And he brings before them the
next few verses. And he says, this only would
I learn of you. Well, can you answer me this
question? received you the Spirit by the works of the law or by
the hearing of faith? Faith cometh by hearing, as we
read in the Romans. And as we might look back in
our lives, how have we received the Spirit? Has it been by the
works of the law? Has it been by keeping the law?
by doing the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. God has given us faith to hear,
hear the truth of God. Well, tonight, have we heard
the living word of God? And if so, have we received the
Spirit? You see, if we've heard the truth
of God has entered into our hearts, it's because of the blessed gracious
and glorious work of the Holy Spirit. And that's a very blessed
and a very solemn consideration. To think that if we receive that,
you see, our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. And again,
we must not deny the work of the Spirit of God. We must not
try and question that work if that work has been begun in your
heart and my heart. I know we are to try the spirits,
I know we are to examine ourselves, but we are not to deny the work
of the Spirit of God within us. And so the Apostle asked this
question, received ye the Spirit by the hearing of faith? Is that how you have received
the Spirit? Or do you have to say tonight,
well I haven't received anything? And be very careful how you answer
that question. Never deny the blessed work of
the Holy Spirit. It's a wonderful thing to receive
the work of the Spirit of God. It may only be perhaps just a
little, but don't forget, The Word of God tells us, a little
that a righteous man have is better than the treasures of
many wicked. It's not the quantity, it's the
quality of living faith that the Lord gives to receive the
Spirit of God. And how humbling it is if you
and I have the evidence of the blessed work of that Spirit,
because if it is so, then we come under the category of that
second chapter to the Ephesians, and you hath he quickened, who
were dead in trespasses and in sins. Oh, infinite blessing,
my friends, to be under the work of the Holy Spirit. And therefore,
it's good to answer a question like this. Received ye the Spirit
by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? And bless
God if we come and say, well, it was the work of the Spirit
in my heart and the Lord came to me and he gave me that living
life, that life which I could not give myself. Oh bless God
then for the evidence. And so the apostle is stirring
us up, oh foolish Galatians, and asking this question, received
you the Spirit by the works of the law or by the hearing of
faith? Well, again, what a favour it
is if God has given you and me living faith to believe the great
truths of the word of God. And so the apostle then tells
us, are you so foolish? Are you so foolish? Having begun
in the spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? I'll be looking to some outward
means, some fleshly situation. The flesh is very deceitful and
never forget that in spiritual life God will always have the
honour and the glory. And I believe that very often
we perhaps do not receive something that we think we need, something
we think we want, because if we did, we would glory in our
flesh. We need to ponder that very carefully.
If the Lord granted our request in certain things in our lives,
it may be in providence, it may be in grace, but sometimes if
God granted those things which we requested, Would it bring
glory and honour to God, or would we claim any glory and honour
ourselves? The heart is deceitful above
all things, and desperately wicked. We must always remember, therefore,
that our lives are for the honour and glory of God. John the Baptist
said, he must increase, but I must decrease. Well, you and I need
much grace to say that. It's alright in theory, it's
not quite so easy when we are called to walk it out. But it
is relevant and it is important and it is wonderful if that is
our real desire, if God brings us into that condition, that
the Lord might increase and that we might decrease. And that will
be then to honour and glorify the Lord's work. When the Lord
first began with us, did it emanate from ourselves? It always emanates
from God. It always emanates from God.
And my friends, God continues His work. God continues His work. God doesn't stop halfway. God
continues His work. And that work will be completed
we pass out of time into eternity. And so here we have this question,
having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Well the answer is, of course,
no it cannot be. We can't be made perfect by our
sinful flesh. It must always be the work of
the Spirit of God. And so here these Galatians,
you see, were being taken to task because, as it were, they'd
moved aside from the narrow way. And they were putting their own
religion, as it were, on the line. They weren't following
the Word of God. They weren't walking in that
way, that way of faith. Remember in that long account
in 11th of Hebrews, by faith, by faith. That's how we receive
the truth of God's Word. And very often, my friends, God
speaks to us in a very different way to what we might expect. The Lord leads us in a very different
way to what we might expect. But we can be sure of this. It's
the right way and it's a way wherein God's name is glorified. It's a lesson we need to continually
learn in our spiritual life. If we journey on, day by day,
are you so foolish? Looking to ourselves, trying
to improve ourselves. It's good of course to try and
live a holy life, I'm not speaking against that at all, but we have
to be very careful as to what our motives are, what our true
motives are. That God may give us grace to
look at our motives, Why are we doing things? Why
are we not doing things? What is our motive in that? What's the situation? Has God
given us faith? Do we possess faith? Are we now
leaning to the flesh? Or are we relying on our God
who gives more faith? That's what the position was
here. with these Galatians. And my friends, the day and age
in which we live, surely there are many Galatians about. Many
Galatians. And it's good to have these questions
put to us, so that we can analyse our own soul, our own life, and
to see where it applies to us. I expect we've read this many
times, haven't we? And we've probably thought, oh
well that applies to the Galatians. My friends, the Word of God is
written for the Church of God, and it's written for you and
me. And we ought to stand under God's searchlight and see whether
it applies to our soul, my soul, not anybody else. We're very
fond of pushing words to other people, aren't we? But you see,
don't forget when David stood before Nathan, And he thought
he was alright, but Nathan told him, thou art the man. You're
the one boy. Bless God when the word of God
comes and speaks to our hearts. We can't escape. We're convinced,
we're convicted. And it may be like this, that
we've found that we've almost given up. Given up believing
that God gives us faith and we move on. You walk on. Remember, we walk by faith. It doesn't mean you're standing
still. You walk by faith, not by sight. That's the way the Lord has ordained
for all of us. Are we so foolish, having begun
in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? We can
never be made perfect by the flesh. And so he says, have ye
suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? Well, the
Galatians had suffered. Their path hadn't been easy.
And had it led them closer to Christ? Had they been blessed with more
faith? To believe that all things work
together for good, to those who love God, and to those who are
called according to his purpose. You see, his people are called
according to his purpose. And my friends, his purpose is
that you and I, sinful creatures that we are, might bring honor
and glory to our God. Honor and glory to our God. I
wonder if that is our chief concern. I wonder if you and I get up
in the morning, whether our concern is for the honor and glory of
our God, and our lives that day might be for that purpose. It's a good thing, isn't it,
if that is so. And in order to put it in perspective,
to remember the enormous cost of our salvation. The Apostle
is directing the Galatians to remember that. He tells them,
before whose eyes Jesus Christ has been evidently set forth,
crucified among you. Crucified before them. The Apostle
has described it to them. what had occurred, and why it
was. So in our lives, my friends,
to think the cost, the enormous cost to almighty God, to the
blessed Saviour, to redeem our souls from the curse. As we read together, For as many
as are the works of the law are under the curse, for it is written,
Cursed it is every one that continues not in all things which are written
in the book of the law to do them. So we, you see, are cursed. And we know that the Lord Jesus
Christ took that curse, took that curse when he was nailed
to that cross. Well, what a wonderful thing
then tonight. if our hearts are moved by the
Holy Spirit. My friends, it's only the work
of the Holy Spirit that moves us to realise the great truth
of these words and to acknowledge they do apply to us, they apply
to me, they apply to you. So that you and I might be concerned
to be truly light shining in this dark world, following a
despised and crucified Saviour not pleasing ourselves, not planning
ourselves, casting all our care upon Him, for He careth for us. What's that? It's walking by
faith. Walking by faith. What a blessing
it is. It's a wonderful place, you know.
It's a place of peace, to cast all your care upon the Saviour,
believing He cares for us. And so have you suffered so many
things in vain? If it be yet in vain? Well, they
had suffered in vain, perhaps. It hadn't really worked for their
good. And yet we know that the things
that the Apostle suffered, they were for the furtherance of the
Gospel. Yes, they weren't in vain. And
as you and I may suffer, are they for the furtherance of the
Gospel? in this dark age in which we live? Have ye suffered so
many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? So is it he therefore
that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you?
Doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Clearly it's by the hearing of
faith. It's not by the works of the
law. And the Apostle tells us about
Abraham, the father of the faithful, those who have been blessed with
like-blessed faith. He says, even as Abraham believed
God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness, Wonderful,
you know to receive faith to believe God Faith to believe God with reference
to our salvation You might think sometimes it
refers to temporal things and it can do But the principal thing
of course is to believe God with regard to our salvation And as
the Spirit of God may have quickened our souls, brought us into life,
to realise that wonderful truth that is referenced to ourselves,
Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love, and therefore
with loving kindness have I drawn thee. You know, if you and I
have ever been drawn to the Saviour, if we've ever felt Lord Jesus
Christ to be precious, it's because of his everlasting love toward
us. That's amazing, isn't it? Everlasting love, from eternity
past to eternity, never fails, his love. What a blessing then,
to have such a saviour, and that love was Shown to us so clearly
when he was crucified upon the cross at Calvary in order to
redeem our souls. The cost of our salvation. Let
us never underestimate, my friends, the Saviour was not ashamed of
us, was he? Was not ashamed of us. We're ashamed of him. Ashamed of Jesus, that dear friend
on whom my hopes of heaven depend? Well, has the Spirit of God given
you that hope that your hope depends upon the Saviour? And
are we still ashamed of Him? Well, my friends, may we be given
that faith To take up our cross and to follow Him. Take up our
cross, remembering He took up His cross. He took it up willingly
and He had to endure an agonizing life, an agonizing death. He
took it up, didn't He? So willingly. Well, may you and
I be blessed then with living faith to view the suffering Saviour
and therefore to have that faith to follow Him whatever the cost. Whatever the
cost, my friends, it's going to be light in comparison with
what the Saviour endured, isn't it? Whatever the cost. And there is a cost. to follow
in the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a cost. But you know,
it's a very blessed place because it brings us into union and communion
with him. As I often speak, the Apostle
Paul desired to be blessed with fellowship with his sufferings. And we might think, well, I don't
think I want that. Well, it may not work out in
a way you might think. You might think that it means
being crucified as enduring something terrible. Not at all. It may
be very different. The Lord knows how to accomplish
that in our lives. But it is a time of favour. And the evidence and the outworking
of that is a wonderful blessing. It brings peace to our hearts
because we then possess that living faith to believe that
we are one of the Lord's children because he's dealing with us
in love to our souls. Love to our souls. That's the
important thing, isn't it? And so here we have this statement
then. He therefore that ministereth
to you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you, doeth he
it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith. A favourite will be, my friends
tonight, if you and I are given the blessed gift of living faith. Well, all the patriarchs were,
weren't they? And all the Church of God are
blessed with living faith. And don't forget, we journey
on through life. We journey on through life. The
Apostle Luke, and spoke, and he says, towards the end of the
24th chapter, that very beautiful chapter, and he says, Then he said unto them, O fools,
and slow of heart, to believe all the prophets have spoken,
ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into
his glory? And beginning at Moses and all
the prophets, He expanded unto them in all the Scriptures the
things concerning himself. Well, these are the words of
the Saviour. And so were these words, that
are the words of the Saviour in this chapter here, when he
speaks like this, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye
should not obey the truth, whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently
set forth crucified among you. Well, we need to look into our
hearts and to be able to discern where that is so, and our response
to that situation, and whether we have then turned away from
the simple truths of the Gospel, that we might be brought back
to be blessed with that simple faith, that living faith, that
real faith. And remember, when God gives
that faith, And when we walk by faith, when God gives us that
ability, and we do walk by faith, we don't stand still, we walk
by faith, there is then the answer of a good conscience. There is
that walking with God. There is that communion with
God. And so we can come in with these.
So then they which bear faith are blessed with faithful Abraham,
everyone. who is blessed in that way, is
blessed with that living faith, faith for Abraham. Now, this
faith that Abraham received, even as Abraham believed God,
and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Righteousness. We spoke, didn't we, this morning
of it. What a blessed gift it is. And it's accounted for righteousness
if we believe God. And it's the faith that he gives
to believe. Know ye therefore that they which
are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. What a blessing
it is to be numbered amongst those children of Abraham and
to recognize the wonderful favor that Christ hath redeemed us. From the curse of the law being
made a curse for us, for it had written, is every one that hangeth
on a tree. Now the truth is, that if the
Lord has blessed us with life in our souls, quickened us into
life, then this is true. He's given us faith to believe,
and he's given us faith to believe this is true. Christ hath redeemed
us from the curse, being made a curse for us. He stood between,
in garments dyed in blood, The Lord Jesus has taken the curse
upon himself. He's redeemed us. Oh, that we
might have faith to believe that. See, that's really what the apostle
was speaking here to these Galatians. Yes, they'd been blessed and
now they'd gone away really. Oh, to be brought back. Brought back to have that faith
to rest in the finished work. of the Lord Jesus Christ. Oh,
it's a great resting place that is. It's a wonderful blessing
to rest in his finished work, not in your work, and it's simply
God gives faith to believe these great and glorious truths and
to thank God that the blessing of Abraham might come on the
Gentiles through Jesus Christ, that we might receive the promise
of the Spirit through faith. My friends tonight, may we each
be blessed with living faith and to possess that faith through
our lives and to walk by faith day by day, trusting in the Lord,
following his way, following his word, so that his name might
be honoured and glorified and we might have the answer of a
good conscience and peace with God. Amen.