Would you turn to Galatians chapter
3? Galatians chapter 3. We're going to read the first five
verses of Galatians chapter 3. I've given this title, Who Has
Bewitched You? Paul asks five rhetorical questions
in these five verses. O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that you
should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ have
been evidently set forth, crucified among you. Second question. This only would
I learn of you. Received ye the spirit by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Third question. Are you so foolish? Having begun
in the spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Fourth question, have you suffered
so many things in vain? If it be yet in vain. Fifth question, 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? Let's pray. Lord, how we thank you for who
you are. How we thank you for the gospel
of your dear son. How we thank you for your gift
of him. How we thank you for all your
glorious attributes. How we thank you for the revelation
of your person. Lord, what an amazing gift of
grace that we might call you our father through your son.
Believe your gospel. We ask in Christ's name that
your gospel would be preached in the power of your spirit and
that you would give us hearing ears and receptive hearts. Lord,
speak to us for the Lord's sake. We pray for your blessing upon
all your people wherever they meet together. Lord, how we thank
you for the precious gift of the forgiveness of sins we have
in Christ. Bless us for the Lord's sake.
In his name we pray. Amen. Who has bewitched you? That's strong language, isn't
it? He says to these people, who has cast a spell on you? Now you think about this, if
I stood up in the pulpit or stood right here and looked at you
and you bunch of fools, who's bewitched you? That'd be kind
of offensive, wouldn't it? Yet, that is the way he speaks to
the Galatians. at this time. Oh foolish Galatians,
who's cast this spell on you? Now that word foolish in verse
one is the same word the Lord used when he was speaking to
the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. Do you remember how
he said, oh fools and slow of heart to believe
all that the prophets have spoken." Now that could be said of me
and you, couldn't it? Fools. Slow of heart to believe all
that the prophets have spoken. You can almost hear in Paul's
voice exasperation. with the Galatians. These are
people that had learned the gospel through him. You'll remember
how he opened this epistle saying, you're so soon, I marvel, I'm
amazed that you're so soon removed from him that called you to the
grace of Christ unto another gospel. Now with the Galatians,
the problem wasn't IQ when he says, oh foolish Galatians, it
was a sin problem. Oh foolish Galatians, who has
bewitched you? At one time you seemed to believe,
but now it appears that you don't. Who's cast this spell on you?
This certainly wasn't the teaching of the Holy Spirit. Who's cast
this spell on you? Look in Galatians chapter five,
what he says. You did run well. Who did hinder
you that you should not obey the truth? This persuasion, this
belief that you have, it didn't come from him to call with you.
It didn't come from God the Holy Spirit. Who has bewitched you? Now look what he says back in
our text in Galatians chapter three. His first question is,
who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, and
we're told what that truth is in the next phrase, before whose
eyes, now that's not talking about physical eyes, they didn't
physically behold the crucifixion, but that's talking about the
preaching of the gospel. Christ and him crucified was so clearly
set forth before you. I mean, and Paul was the preacher.
You know he preached the gospel very clearly. Before whose eyes Jesus Christ
had been evidently set forth, crucified among you. Now, Christ
crucified's a gospel. That is the gospel. Look in 1
Corinthians 1 for a moment. Verse 17, for Christ sent me
not to baptize, but to preach the gospel. Not with wisdom of
words, lest the cross for Christ should be made of none effect.
For the preaching of the cross, there it is. The doctrine of
the cross, the truth of the cross, the preaching of the cross is
to them that perish foolishness, but unto us which are saved.
It, the cross, the preaching of the cross, the doctrine of
the cross, the word of the cross, is the very power of God unto
salvation. Now look in verse 22. For the
Jews require a sign and the Greeks seek after wisdom. Now, for the
Jew, the religious man, he needs a sign. I can't just believe
the word. You're gonna tell me that I'm
accepted and beloved without any reference to works? That'd lead to sin. I need more
evidence that this is true than that. I mean, I need something
other than the word. I can't rest in what God says
alone. I have to have something I can
see, something tangible. I need to see this change in
my life before I can believe the gospel. You know, there's
ministries called changed lives, and that is really contrary to
the gospel message. Are you saying a believer's life's
not changed? I'm not saying that at all, but I'm saying if you're
looking for a changed life, you miss Christ. You look to Christ, it's all gonna be good. I'm not
worried about that. But if I'm making this emphasis
on something I can see, this change, The Jews require a sign. Greeks, they seek after wisdom.
I want to make this world a better place. I want to improve health
care. I want to improve education.
I want to improve the economy so people can live better lives. I need wisdom to do that. But
what does Paul say? We preach Christ crucified. That's
our message. That is the gospel. That's what
Paul was saying to the Galatians. Jesus Christ has been evidently
set forth before your eyes, crucified among you. We preach Christ crucified,
all of salvation, all of my standing before God is in Christ crucified
alone. Do you rejoice in that? I'm not
looking anywhere else. We preach Christ crucified now
unto the Jews. That's a stumbling block. Why,
you're destroying all motive for holiness and good works.
If you're saying you're just accepted in the beloved, that's
going to leave people to sin. I stumble at that. That's not
enough. You need to give me something
else. To the Jews, this is a stumbling block. To the Greeks, foolishness.
How's this going to improve the economy? How's this going to
help health care or education? This is not talking about a bloody
cross. How's that going to help the
world? But unto them which are called. There's the difference. But unto them which are called.
Called by the grace of God. Christ, the power of God, Christ,
the wisdom of God. If you're called, you see that
Jesus Christ is the very power of God to make you perfect before
God by what he did on the cross. You see Christ is the very wisdom
of God in making the way to be just and justify the ungodly. Do you see that? Christ is the
very power of God, the wisdom of God, he is the gospel. Paul says back to Galatians 3,
O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you, cast a spell on
you that you should not obey the truth. This glorious message
of Jesus Christ and him crucified, you're complete in him. When
he said it is finished from the cross, the salvation of all of
God's elect was finished, completed. Who has cast a spell on you that
you would move away from that glorious message? Here's the
second question. Remember, these are five rhetorical
questions. Here's the second question. This
only would I learn of you. Receive ye the Spirit by the
works of the law or by the hearing of faith? The gift of the Holy Spirit. You know, he's the author of
the new birth. If you've been born again, it's because he birthed
you into the kingdom of heaven. He's the third person of the
blessed Trinity. And listen to this, the work
of God, the Holy Spirit, in giving us a new heart to believe is
just as essential for my salvation as God electing me and Christ
dying for me. That's how important this is.
You cannot take away from the importance of the work of God,
the Holy Spirit. Now, here's his second question.
Did you receive the Spirit of God because you did something that
may God give him to you? Some work on your part. Did you
receive the Spirit of God as God's response to your personal
obedience to something? Even, and I hate the way preachers
say God offers you. God offers you salvation. God
offers you forgiveness. God offers. If salvation's an
offer, that means your salvation's dependent upon your acceptance
or your rejection of that offer. offer. That's putting salvation
in man's hands. Now, did you receive the spirit
because you responded to the gospel and you responded to the
offer and because of something you did? Or did you receive the
spirit by the hearing of faith? Now the word hearing is a noun
here. It doesn't mean you receive the
spirit by hearing and responding. The hearing of faith is another
name for the gospel. The hearing of faith. Faith cometh
by hearing, hearing by the word of God. Now did you receive the
spirit because of some work on your part, some acceptance of
the offer? Something to do with your flesh,
or did you do it simply by the hearing of faith, believing the
gospel? I want to learn this from you.
How to work. Did you receive God, the Holy
Spirit? What a awesome thing. The author of regeneration, the
author of the new birth. Did you receive the spirit of
God because of something you did or because of the gospel? Answer that question. Now look
at his third question, verse three. Are you so foolish? Having begun in the spirit, are
you now made perfect by the flesh? In Philippians 1, 6, we read, he that hath begun a
good work in you will perform it, will perfect it, will complete
it. He began this good work in you. Now, in your experience, you
think about this. I've heard people say, Well, I just saw
the vanity of the world, the vanity of religion, and the vanity,
and I started seeking God. You know, there's something about
that that's just smug and self-righteous. You didn't begin to seek God.
It didn't begin with you. What does the Bible say? There's
none righteous, no, not one. There's none that understands.
There's none that seeketh after God. You weren't seeking God.
You weren't thinking, oh, I'm just I've got this hole in my
heart and I'm just yearning to know God. No, it didn't begin
that way. You're dead in trespasses and sins. You didn't have any
more interest in God than you did a goat. You're dead. And you were satisfied with things
the way they were. You were satisfied with your...
And then God did something for you. It didn't begin with you. It began with God. Amen? I know that's so. Having begun in the spirit, this
is talking about God, invincibly and irresistibly coming to you
through the preaching of the gospel, irresistible, invincible
grace. If you have faith, you know where
it came from. He gave it to you. You didn't decide to believe.
Well, I'm going to, I'm going to believe. No, you found yourself believing
because he put it in your heart. He put true repentance in your
heart. Now, having begun in the spirit,
are you now made perfect by the flesh? Now is he no longer needed? Are you made perfect by the flesh,
by your acts of obedience to the law? Are you so foolish to
believe something that foolish? That's what he's asking. I'm
saved by grace, but I grow by works. That's really the issue
here. I'm saved by grace. Granted,
by grace are you saved, but I grow by my works. by my acts of obedience. I make progress. I become progressively more holy
and less sinful through my acts of discipline and obedience and
reading the scripture and self-denial and prayer. I'm made perfect
by what I do. Yes, I began with grace, justifications
by grace, but sanctification, and this is where people have
a completely, wrong view of what sanctification is in the first
place. They just look at that as your behavior, how you live,
how you think. Listen, sanctification is the
word that describes God's salvation. Sanctified in an election. God
set you apart in an election. God set you apart on the cross
when he put away your sins. He set you apart in regeneration
when he gives you a new heart. Faith and repentance, these are
works of God. All of salvation is sanctification,
not just behavioral, but yet people think, well, I can, through
my behavior, I can become more holy and less sinful, more pleasing
to God. You know, that's what Peter was
saying when he moved tables, isn't it? This is what began
this thing. Peter moved tables. He's saying
I can become more pleasing to God by being at the Jewish table
than the Gentile table. Now what that is saying is Christ
is not all in salvation. Are you so foolish? Having begun
in the spirit, the work of God's invincible, irresistible grace. Don't you love it that way? I
do, I love it that way. I don't want it to be any other
way. Having begun through, are you now made perfect by what
you do? In the flesh, are you so foolish to believe something
like that? So there's the third rhetorical
question. Are you so foolish having begun in the spirit? Are
you now made perfect by the flesh? Here's the fourth rhetorical
question. Have you suffered so many things
in vain? If it be yet in vain. Now what the Lord is talking
about is what the eighth beatitude states. Blessed are they who
are persecuted for righteousness sake. And that's talking about
the righteousness of Christ. I really believe that his righteousness
is the only righteousness there is. And if you preach that, you will
be persecuted as an enemy of good works, an enemy of God. That's what you'll get out of
that. That's what the Lord's talking about. It's not talking
about blessed for they are persecuted for how much they give or the
good works they do. You know, when the Lord walked
upon this earth, he wasn't persecuted for healing people, was he? Well,
when they thought he was breaking the Sabbath, I guess he was.
But as far as that goes, you know, him feeding the poor, did
anybody persecute him for feeding the poor? His righteous, holy,
glorious life? No. They persecuted him because
of what he said with regard to himself and man, the gospel. Now, the Galatians began being
persecuted for righteousness, just like anybody else who preaches
a gospel. But for some reason, they pulled
back. They saw, I didn't sign up for
this persecution. It'd be easier to just pull back
on what's being said. Go back to the law just a little
bit, like Peter, going back to the table of the Jews, somehow
that's going to, he did it because of fear of man, because he knew
that Jews would be displeased with this. Pull back a little
bit, and you won't be persecuted. Now he said, at one time, listen
to this, I would, I want to say this fearfully,
but I mean it. I want to be persecuted because
if I'm not, I'm not preaching the gospel. It's not like I'm wanting to
be mistreated. I'm not saying that at all, but I want to make
sure in my preaching, somebody gets mad at it and somebody disagrees
with it. And somebody says, I don't like
that. I don't agree with that. Good. Good. I'm happy with what you're saying,
but I must not be saying anything. I must be missing it." He said,
when you were persecuted for the message you brought, Was that in vain? You're not
being persecuted now. Was all that in vain if it yet
be in vain? Now remember, beloved, the gospel
is offensive to the natural man. And if the natural man, like
what Paul said, if I please men, I would be the servant of Christ.
He said that to the Galatians. If I'm a man pleaser, if men
are pleased with what I say, I'm not the servant of Christ. Now, once again, that doesn't
mean I'm trying to offend people. I want to be unoffensive in the
way I treat people, in my demeanor. I'm not talking about trying
to offend people with my brashness, but I want to preach the gospel
in such a way as people will gnash their teeth if they don't
believe it. Now, was all this in vain? And look at this last rhetorical
question. He asks to the foolish Galatians
who he feels have been bewitched. He therefore that ministereth
to you, and that word minister is supplies. He supplies the
spirit to you and worketh miracles among you. Doeth he it by the
works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Now here we have that
definition of the gospel, or term for the gospel again, the
hearing of faith. Now, he that supplies you the
spirit. God, the Holy Spirit, the third
person of the Trinity, the author of the new birth, the one who
reveals Christ to me, the one who I the reason I see the beauty
of Christ, it's only because of God, the Holy Spirit. The
reason I believe his righteousness is the only righteousness there
is because of God, the Holy Spirit. He that supplies to you the spirit
and works miracles among you. What kind of miracles is he talking
about? Is he talking about raising the dead physically, or healing
the sick, or giving sight to the blind, or controlling the
weather? You know, the Lord did what only
God could do, and oh, his miracles are so glorious. He could create
matter, bring something into existence
from nothing. Is he talking about these miracles?
I really don't think so. You see, the miracle of salvation
is infinitely greater than any physical miracle. It took a miracle. To hang the stars in place, it
took a miracle to put the world in place. But when he saved my
soul, cleansed, and made me whole, it took a miracle of love and
grace. What a miracle that I can stand
before God without guilt, perfect, holy and unblameable and unreprovable
in his sight. Because I really am holy and
unblameable and reprovable in his sight. What a miracle that
I could be justified by God. What a miracle that I can have
spiritual life, the same power that was used in raising Christ
from the dead is used in my New birth, regeneration, what a miracle
that I'm persevering in the faith. What a miracle that God has given
me grace to look to Christ only and not want to look anywhere
else. What a miracle. Now, he that
worketh miracles among you. Now, we're not seeing new matter
this morning created. We're not seeing physically dead
people raised. We're not seeing sick people
healed without the use of means. We're not seeing that right now,
but we're seeing greater miracles than this. God taking somebody
like me. and making me perfectly conformed
to the image of Christ. And that's what I am right now.
Somebody says, you don't look that way to me. I know you don't
look that way to me either, but I know we are. I know we are
through the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, aren't those
poignant questions? Who's bewitched you? that you
should not obey the truth. Who cast this spell on you? This only would I learn of you.
Did you receive the spirit as a reward because of your works
to the law, or did you receive the spirit by the gospel, the
hearing of faith? Third, are you so foolish, having
begun in the spirit, are you now made perfect in the flesh?
You're saved by grace, but you grow by works. You grow by what
you do. Are you that foolish? Have you
suffered too many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? He therefore
that ministers to you the Spirit and works miracles among you,
the miracles of salvation, does he do it in response to your
obedience to the law, your works, or does he do it by the hearing
of faith? Well, we know the answer to all
those questions, don't we?