Brother, if you will, please
begin turning to Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. Before we start there, I want
to lead into this section of Galatians because it's attention
catching. If someone addressed me this
way, it would catch my attention. I think we should understand
why it's written that way beforehand. And Corinthians 12 says, For
as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members
of that one body being many are one body, so also is Christ. For by one spirit we are all
baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether
we be bond or free, and have been all made to drink into one
spirit. We are one body. The body of
Christ is. We love our members. That's my
right hand and I love my right hand. We care for our members. We guard the members that are
wounded, don't we? We put medicine on those wounds
of our members. And sometimes that medicine stings,
doesn't it? We are one with Christ. How often I forget that. How
many times do I look to myself instead of my Savior, who I'm
one with? How often do I depend on my actions
instead of His sovereign providence, the God Almighty, who loves me,
who's one with me? I forget that often. The Scriptures
are so clear on what Christ has done for His people. They're
so clear on His power in all things, all things. So clear
that He will lose none of them. And they're so clear that all
things are for our good and His glory. It's clear. How prone
am I to wonder? How quick do I forget that? Do you know what I am when I'm
constantly looking to Christ for all things? I'm His. I'm kept by Him. When I look
to anything other than Christ, I'm a fool. If I look to myself,
if I look to actions, if I look to experiences, to ceremonies,
to anything, I'm a fool. That's foolish, isn't it? I know
what the Lord's done for me. I know that we're made one with
Him. When I don't look to Christ for redemption, that's a fool. When we don't look to Christ
for sanctification, that's a fool. When we don't look to Christ
for perseverance, for preservation, to keep us to the end. It's foolish.
Scriptures say so, don't they? Our master told those men walking
to a mass with him, they were distraught about Christ's death.
They said, oh, what are we going to do? And he said to them, he
said, oh, fools and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets
have spoken. This came to pass by those prophets,
didn't it? What they had spoke, that's how
the Lord played it out. Ought not Christ to have suffered these
things? Shouldn't he have done this? And to enter into his glory,
that's for the Lord's glory, isn't it? Christ's glory. Christ
preached Christ to those fools, to us fools. He's so kind to
us. Christ told the saints many times,
fear not, I'm with thee. Comforts us. But those prophets
he spoke of, what did they declare in the Old Testament? Anything
change? Isaiah wrote, Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith
your God. Speak ye comfortably to Jerusalem
and cry unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity
is pardoned. For she hath received of the
Lord's hand double for all her sins. Christ accomplished everything
for us, and we received double for all of our sins. He bought
us, and He made us holy. He gave us that new spirit in
the eyes of the Lord that has never sinned and cannot sin.
Someday we'll be made like Him. I can't imagine that. I try to
think on those things during the day. This world will pass
away. What will that be like? To be
with Christ in the flesh, to see Him face to face, and Him
comfort us, and to know Always I'm one with Him. To not be foolish,
to not foolishly look to other things other than Him. The Master
said, and everyone that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth
them not shall be like unto a foolish man who buildeth his house upon
the sand. Any foundation that we attempt
to build on other than Christ, We attempt to stand on other
than Christ. We attempt to rely on. It's just
sand. It's vanity. Foolishness. Foolishness
is what it is. So what happens when we know
this truth? We see Christ in His glory. We see His accomplished
work. We see what He's done for us.
How He's loved us. How patient He is with us. And
we turn away from it. What happens? If we're the Lord's
people, He corrects us, don't He? He sends a frail vessel to
preach the gospel to us again. Same way we heard it the first
time, that's how it's going to happen this time. That's how
it'll happen next time when this happens until the end. It stirs
up our pure minds and points us to Christ. And these Galatians
here, they were in serious error, serious error. And Paul was used
to the Holy Spirit chasing them. chasing the Lord's people, to
correct them, correct what was happening, to turn them from
going to that law and turn them back to Christ. So what is this
fool? There in Galatians 3 and verse
1, Paul writes to them, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched
you? Who has cast a spell on you that
ye should not obey the truth before whose eyes Jesus Christ
hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? Paul calls
these brethren foolish. He calls these brethren, it's
not these heathens and these wild people that have never heard
of these things. Those are brothers and sisters
in Christ. He calls them foolish. They have been, haven't they?
I'm foolish. They're no different than I am. These are the Lord's children.
And it's not just the members of that congregation, but those
that preach there. They had heard the gospel, they preached in
truth, preached Christ consistently, and then they missed the mark.
They turned to something else. They had heard and received the
truth, and Christ had been evidently, it says there, that means clearly
and unmistakably set forth. Christ had clearly been preached
to these people and received by them. So much so, it says,
as if he's crucified among you, as if we actually They had actually
saw Christ on the cross and witnessed it. That's how clearly what Christ
accomplished had been told to these people. And they turned
from it. So what's that truth though?
What's that truth they turned from? I want three simple points
to clearly see what this truth is. First one, what happened
in the garden? That sets the mind. That's the
first thing the Spirit comes. We looked at Wednesday. That's
the first thing the Spirit can mix of a sin in it. What happened
in the garden? Adam failed, didn't he? Kevin
Thacker fell in the Garden of Eden. Romans 5, 12 says, Wherefore
as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin, so
death passed upon all men, for all have sinned. Adam died. I didn't eat of that tree. That
had been sealed off, hadn't he? That's what we'll see in Romans
later, this similitude. In the same way that Adam sinned,
I didn't sin, but I'm his seed, ain't I? That was my federal
head. Is that true? Is that just Paul writing that
in Romans? John said, if we say that we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves. We're lying to ourselves. And
the truth That truth that we fell in the garden, it's not
in us. The Lord hasn't given us any truth. So what happened
in the garden? Man fell. All mankind did. Number
two, what happened on the cross? Who was that hanging on the cross?
That was the second Adam, wasn't it? We died an Adam, the worldly
Adam. We live in Christ. He came to
restore what was lost in the first Adam. Says, therefore,
as by the offense of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation,
that's the old Adam. Even so, by the righteousness
of one, the free gift came upon all men and the justification
of life. That's the second Adam. That's the Adam we live through,
the Christ of the Bible, isn't it? For by one man's disobedience,
many are made sinners. So by the obedience of one shall
many be made righteous. Adam was the federal head of
the human race of all mankind. Christ is the head of the church,
isn't he? He's the head, and we are the body. Wherever my
head goes, my body goes. That's something I could understand.
Those children could understand that. I hope. If I'm alive, that's
the way it happens. We're one with Christ. By his
work on this earth, his payment for sin, and his death, we are
made holy. Turn to Hebrews chapter 10. Hebrews chapter 10 verse 9. Then he said, Lo, I come to do
thy will, O God. He taketh away the first that
he may establish the second. He took away that that old nature
Adam, that he may give us that new life. By the witch will we
are sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once
for all. Was the Hebrew writer confusing
justification and sanctification there? It doesn't say so, does
it? It says by the witch will, because
of Christ's willingness To take that place, to be that second
Adam, we are sanctified through, through what? Through our doing
something? No, through the offering of the
body of Christ Jesus once for all. Colossians 1.22 says, in the
body of his, his flesh through death to present you holy and
unblameable and unreprovable in his sight. That's what was
accomplished on that cross. Man fell in the garden. Christ
accomplished everything on the cross. And then what happens?
Thirdly, what happens in the heart? When God calls a sinner,
that sinner is known to be just and holy. Tell the Lord, I can't
understand that. I believe it. The Lord can see
me as holy. I'm just and perfect in his sight
right now. It's so. I don't feel it. That
war happens within me. How come? For He hath made Him
to be sin for us who knew no sin, that we might be made the
righteousness of God in Him. Hebrews 8.12 said, For I will
be merciful to their unrighteousness and their sins, their iniquities
will I remember No more. It was effectual, wasn't it?
And the Lord makes his people know that. That's what happens
in the heart. We don't do anything. The Spirit comes to our heart
and gives us life, shows us what we are, shows us what Christ
accomplished, and tells us our warfare is over. Gives us that
peace. That's peace. What's peace? Absence of war, right? If we're
at war, we're not at peace. Our nation's not. We understand
those things. We have peace because our warfare is over. God and
man are reconciled. I love saying that at Christmas
time, those carols. God and man are reconciled through
Christ's work alone. Man didn't do nothing. He was
just and justifier. He maintained justice by sending
his justifier, didn't he? That is the truth that was spoken. That's the truth that's spoken
to me. That's the truth that's spoken
to you. That's the same truth that's spoken to these Galatians.
Nothing's changed. We'll see that towards the end
too. The truth is spoken to these brothers and sisters in Christ
here in Galatia, and then they departed from it. They turned
to something else that they had to do. That's foolish. They were foolish, weren't they?
Paul says there, oh foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you? Paul's
correcting these Galatians. He's taking them to task, but
at the same time, he's harder against the ones that bewitched
them, the ones that preach lies to them. Who told you this? Who
lied to you and told you these things? Who put a spell on you?
These men that we saw in chapter one, they came preaching another
gospel, which is not another. It's not close to the same. It's
drastically different. That's what those words meant.
They come preaching something drastically different than they'd
heard and turned them from the truth that they know, that truth
that set them free. It turned them from it. But Paul
continues there. Verse two, he has a hard to the
point question on salvation. He asked a question since they
went from the robe of Christ's righteousness back to those fig
leaves that wither. He's going to ask him a question
and he's going to end the controversy. He's going to expose that foolishness. It says there in Galatians 3
verse 2, this only would I learn of you. He said, you tell me
one thing. I want to ask you one question.
Receive you the spirit, that spirit of truth, spirit of adoption,
spirit of life. Spirit of wisdom, a spirit that
convicts, converts, and regenerates. Did you receive that spirit of
life by the works of the law? Did you initially, did you get
a spirit of life? Did you have knowledge of Christ
because you did something because you kept circumcising, you kept
Sabbath days? Did you do that? Or did the Lord
give you life by the hearing of faith, by the hearing of Christ
through the preaching of truth? Is that how you began? Were you
saved? Did the Lord save you while you were busy doing something?
Or did the Lord send, in this case, Paul to them, and he told
them the truth, that truth we just looked at? How did that
happen? That's meeting head on, isn't
it? I tell you, what should we give, what should we bend on
for our brethren? whenever they're doing something
that doesn't go along with what we want, what we think is right.
Bend over backwards and kiss your heels if you can on anything,
anything except on the gospel. These Galatians have turned from
that gospel and Paul clearly and boldly hit some head on on
it. But did God give them spiritual
life by the law or by grace? Turn to 2 Thessalonians. 2 Thessalonians 2, verse 13. It says, But we are bound to
give thanks always to God for you, brethren, beloved of the
Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen you to salvation
through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth,
whereunto He called you by... How did the Lord call them? By
works? By Sabbath keeping? quitting alcohol for a month
at a time. So where unto He called you by
our gospel? He called you by good news, didn't
He? Not bad news. Somebody tells
me I got to do something, that's bad news. I need to go out and
sweep that parking lot. I don't like to work. That's
good news. No working. To the obtaining,
what's the result? To the obtaining of the glory
of our Lord Jesus Christ. We know we're not saved by doing,
by keeping the law. Romans 3.20 says, Therefore by
the deeds of the law shall there no flesh be justified in his
sight. For by the law is the knowledge of sin. That law is
just a mirror the Lord uses to show us what we are and turn
us to Christ, isn't it? Secondly, back in our text, Galatians
3. Galatians 3 and verse 3, Paul
asked a hard, to the point question on sanctification. It says here
in Galatians 3, 3, Are you so foolish, having begun in the
Spirit? He just established that, didn't
he? That's where we got our life. Having begun in the Spirit, are
you now made perfect by the flesh? Did the Lord save you and now
you're going to make yourself perfect by something you do in
this flesh? What makes us perfect? That's what he's asking them.
Is it keeping a day? Is it baptism? Is it tithing?
Not doing something or doing something? One or the other.
Is that how we grow and make perfect? If we are chosen by
God's grace, are we kept by works? 1 Corinthians says, but of him
Are ye in Jesus Christ, who of God has made into us wisdom and
righteousness, sanctification and redemption? Why? Goes on,
that according as it is written, he that glorieth let him glory
in the Lord. Why does God give us sanctification?
Why is he the source of our sanctification, our perfecting? That way he gets
all the glory. He's clear on that, isn't he?
How did we start this physical life? Physically, how did I come
here? I don't remember much of the
first two or three years. I'd be concerned if somebody
did. How did we start? The Lord begat
us, didn't he? We didn't do anything. We weren't
aware we had life, but we were alive, weren't we? How did the
Lord begat us spiritually? How did he give us spiritual
life? He begat us. We didn't do anything. and likely we weren't
aware we had life, but we had it, didn't we? A man asked me
one time, he said, prove that you're dead in the law. I said, prove that you're breathing
right now. Prove you're alive. That's crazy, isn't it? I am
alive. How can I prove that I'm alive? I don't know, but I know
I'm alive, don't I? We may not be able to go to a
day for an hour or a time whenever we believed on the Lord, when
He gave us life. But we know He's the one that
did it, don't we? Turn over 1 Peter chapter 1. 1 Peter chapter 1 verse 3. It says, Blessed be the God and
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to His abundant
mercy hath forgotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead to an inheritance that's incorruptible
and undefiled and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven
for you, for us, for you. There's not a period there. It
says reserved in heaven for you. Who? He's going to describe those
yous. who are kept by the power, the
same power that gave us life, the power that chose us, the
power that sent Christ to die for us, and the power that raised
Christ again from the dead, who are kept by the power of God
through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last
time. In Christ, looking to Christ, believing in Christ. That's how
we started our spiritual life, wasn't it? That's how we lived. That's how
we walk through this world, and that's how we'll finish. We began
that way, we have our continuance that way, and we'll have our
culmination that way. Looking to Him, giving Him the glory
forever and ever. Philippians said, be confident
of this very thing that He which has begun a good work in you
will perform it until the end, until the day of Jesus Christ.
If He started it, He's going to finish it, isn't He? Alright,
back to 1 Thessalonians 3, look at verse 4. Paul writes, Have you suffered
so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? Were all your
trials for nothing? Paul's asking them, Did you have
the respect of the so-called religious world? And you turned
to Christ and you bore that reproach that comes with declaring Christ,
declaring what man is. And then are you going to go,
you want to suffer all those things for, for the gospel that
you grant, proclaimed to love. And then you're going to go back
to works. So Bob was talking this morning
and Tim will verify where I'm from anywhere in the Bible belt.
I was talking to one of the men yesterday. Anywhere in the Bible
Belt, that's the buckle. And they're proud of it. But
in Eastern Kentucky, Boyd County, through Louisa, down in Pike
County, I like to think that's the buckle, too. But a lot of
people said they got on this kick in the early 80s, bearing
your cross for Christ. And I saw this man, he had a
12 foot tall with 6 by 6 posts. And he had it on his shoulder,
and he was walking up down them hills. It's like walking up here at
my house. That's some hills down there. He was walking up and
down them hills. And I was a little fella, and I thought, well, the
bottom of that thing is going to be slanted soon. He's dragging
it on the ground. And then the next day we saw him, and he had
a caster bolted to it, one wheel, but it was floppy. And so that
wasn't going to work. And then a day or two later,
we saw him, and he had a shaft through there and a wheel on
each end. So he was carrying his cross for Christ, but he's
going to make sure that wood's good and dry, and I'm going to
put some wheels on it. We'll make it easy, won't we? That's
not what he's talking about. That's not what Paul's saying.
Did you bear these things in vain? Did you suffer? Our Lord said in Matthew 10,
34, Think not that I am come to send peace on this earth.
I came not to send peace, but a sword. For I am come to set
a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against
her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and
a man's foes, our enemies, shall be they of his own household."
The world may not persecute us right now. We can meet in public.
We don't have to meet in a basement. We don't have to hide our Bibles
from a tyrannical king or anything. We might not be persecuted in
that way, but who's our enemies? Who's our foes when we declare
this gospel? People of our own house. I've
experienced that view. I have loved ones, people I would
give my body for. And that's my foes. And they
know how to, a true enemy knows how to cut you, don't they? When
people profess Christ, the truth of Christ, the God of this Bible,
there's suffering. Families are divided. Governments
may not be wanting to persecute us, but our loved ones will.
Kings may not seek our heads, but emotionally, loved ones will
seek our heads, won't they? Did these Galatians suffer all
that persecution for nothing? Did they go through those trials
that you and I went through? For nothing. Turn to 2nd Peter,
chapter 2. As Bob reminded me, some of the
best commentary on the scriptures is the scriptures, isn't it? 2nd Peter, chapter 2, look in
verse 20. For if after they have escaped
the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled therein and overcome,
the latter end is worse with them than the beginning. They
come and they see Christ and they get entangled back in those
worldly things. For it had been better for them not to have known
the way of righteousness than after they had known it to turn
from the holy commandment delivered unto them. Does that mean that
the word of the Lord goes out and hits void? Does it return
to him void? Did they hear this and it didn't
work? Absolutely not. It fulfills the scripture. We
don't, we're not, and that's evident. I've seen this happen.
That's a clear sign. I'm not to judge that sin unto
death because you never know. If there's breath in somebody's
lungs, the Lord could save them, can't they? Look at verse 22.
But this, but it is happened unto them according to the true
proverb. It fulfills the scripture. The
dog has turned to his own vomit again and the sow that was washed
to her swallowing in the mire. Proverbs 26, 11. Was it in vain? I know it wasn't.
I know whom I have believed and I'm persuaded that he's able
to keep me, keep that which I've committed unto him against that
day. We know those things, don't we? And it's a lot of afflictions
as we look back. As we can look to Christ and
see Him, we look back on our trials and, well, that wasn't
that bad. It hurt while I was in it. It was a trial, but afterwards,
there's a lot of affliction. A lot of affliction. I hope I
can be reminded, when I'm in a trial, you all can remind me,
oh, it's a lot of affliction. At the end of it, the Lord will
show you Christ more clearly and you'll be all right. Remind
me, and I hope I remind you. Alright, back to our text. Galatians
3.5. To lead, we've all heard that.
Lead by example. Don't ask somebody to do something
you wouldn't do yourself. Those are kind of basic things. Paul looks here and says, did
I do that to you? Was I faithfully ministering
to you? Did I set a good example for
you? Look in Galatians 3, 5. He therefore that ministers to you,
the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, does he do it by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith? If we look at that
just from Paul's perspective, did I come here and I ministered
to you, I told you the truth of Christ, and Paul did perform
miracles in front of them? Did he do it by the law or did
he do it by believing on Christ? But more so, Christ sent His
Holy Spirit. We saw Christ preach Christ to
those on the road to Emmaus, didn't He? Christ sent the Holy
Spirit to them. There were miracles among them.
What was those miracles? Blind see spiritually, don't
they? The lame walk, those that are
crippled in that garden, they're able to walk again in Christ's
righteousness. The deaf hear, I never, how long has that been
there? I've asked that growing up. How long did it say that
there? Did they change that in scripture there in Ephesians
1? No, it's been there since they wrote it, didn't they? Had
that miracle of seeing that in the scripture and hearing that
preached. Did Christ perform those miracles because those
poor people were doing good works? No, he preached to them, didn't
he? We saw that with the blind beggar and the Canaanite woman. Did he perform that because they
were doing something good? No, they came begging. They had faith
in him and his ability. They weren't doing anything because
he gave them faith. When someone's baptized, do they
have faith when they come up out of that water? Is that what
gives them faith? Or did they get in that baptism
because they had faith? Someone takes this Lord's table,
do they know Christ after they eat the bread and drink the wine? No, they eat the bread and the
wine because they know Christ, don't they? There aren't sacraments,
that's not giving grace. You are giving grace and now
you have a new heart to perform things that you hope and as the
Lord tells us, I want to do things to serve the Lord, to please
Him. Give Him that new heart because we believe Him. Did anything
change from the saint to old? My pastor growing up was accused
of being a dispensationalist. I had to get a dictionary out
before I got mad about it. There's a lot of these things. I've got
a good idea of what it means, but before I say something real
ornery to you, I'm going to look it up. But is there something
different that the Lord did back then with Abel and Noah and Abraham? And did something change while
the apostles were here? People were saved a different
way, and now it's us. Are we in a different way? Look
at our text, Galatians 3.6. Even as Abraham believed God,
it was accounted to him for righteousness. That's well, Abraham did a lot.
He was circumcised. You know, it says there in scriptures,
when Abraham believed God, it was accounted to him for righteousness.
Abraham was 75 years old. That's whenever the Lord said,
that man right there, he is righteous. He's holy. He's perfect. He was
75 years old. Do you know when Abraham was
circumcised? 99. He was 99 years old. Well, did circumcision make
Abraham have faith? Did that make him righteous because
he mustered up some courage and believed? No, the Lord declared
him righteous. And whenever the Lord told him,
said, you're going to be circumcised. He said, OK, I'll do that. That's
fine. Years later, that gap was on
purpose, wasn't it? That time was set there on purpose.
It says there in Galatians 3, 7, Know ye therefore that they
which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham.
And the scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen
through faith, the scripture foreseeing, that means it's declaring,
lets us see in the Old Testament that us heathens, us non non-Israelites,
we're going to be justified through faith the same way. Those scriptures
preach before the gospel unto Abraham saying, in thee shall
all nations be blessed. We are blessed with the same
faith, blessed with the same righteousness, blessed with the
same sanctification, and blessed with the same Savior that Abraham
had. That's how we're blessed, isn't
it? We're blessed in him. We're his seed through that way.
And it says there in verse 9, so then they which be of faith
are blessed with, in the same way, faithful Abraham. I hope that wraps up some questions
that someone would have or accusers that would have of me through
how you're saved, how you're sanctified, how we're kept, what
happened, what happened in the garden, what happened on the
cross, what happens in the heart of someone when the Lord saves them.
That's not my opinions. I showed you those scriptures.
I said, Lord, Lord declares those things clearly, doesn't he? And
I have to be reminded just like these Galatians. Tomorrow I'll
think, boy, you know what? I need to get up early and I
need to pray more and I need to read the scriptures more.
And I should, I should do those things. But if I start looking
to those things, I look to those works, Lord will chase in his
people won't he? Those he loves, he chases. But
I hope we're reminded always That's our source. When you're
weak, look to Christ. When you're strong, what appears
to the world a lot of blessings, definitely then look to Christ.
Always look to Him. And I pray that as you forget,
I'm able to remind you. And I pray as I forget, and I
know I will be reminded, He's able to keep me, isn't He? That's
how He'll keep me. I hope that was a blessing to
you.