Do We Really See 23rd Sept Galatians 5

Ga 3:1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?

The Galatians had never lived under the law of the Jewish God. They had gods of their own – many. One of the main ones Cybele was the Mother goddess and they sacrificed to her, her priests mutilated themselves in crude drunken ceremonies. There were other gods and the people were deeply involved in the occult. – Superstition, sorcery and witchcraft were the things they believed in – they were not practiced as some alternative or optional “religion” –

The Galatians lived a lifestyle revolving around the worship and ceremony of their gods. The fruit of their worship was adultery, religious orgies, homosexuality, abandonment of family, there was widespread drunkenness and every sort of depravity – it was social and moral chaos. But there was also wealth and trade and philosophy and success. One of the things the Gaul’s were famous for was their mercenary soldiers – in any war they could be found fighting on either side!

But they believed in their lives and lived according to their traditions, customs and religious practices. The fact that their religion actually promoted depravity and perverse sexuality was not seen to be wrong in any way – at least not on the outside. They had no concept of sin and any belief in an after-life revolved around the pleasures of their religious practices. – Like some Islamic martyrs believing heaven will be an endless supply of sensual, carnal pleasures denied them here!

Ga 1:15-16 But when it pleased God, who separated me from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, to reveal His Son in me, that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood,

Remember God called Paul and sent him to the Gentiles, not like Peter who was called to preach to the Jews and on that first day at Pentecost in the power of the Holy Ghost Peter preached history, he preached the God of Israel and the listeners all knew of Him!! But Paul was sent to the Gentiles who were ignorant of the Jewish God and history. --- As we have already seen Paul went up by revelation – he went up in the power of the Spirit –

and he preached a gospel not taught by man – a message that came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul was not like the first apostles that walked literally with the Lord – as he says himself he was like one born out of due season – apart from the others, at another time – after Christ had died – and Jesus gave him revelation – personal deep, complete, revelation – ( I think if we can see this, it’s an example we can be born out of season like this too??)

But Jesus took Paul aside and taught him – Jesus arrested Paul on that country road and struck him blind that he might see – and see he did! Right into the depths of the cross! Jesus gave Paul revelation – maybe, to begin with, in those first 3 days of darkness not seeing with his physical eyes, Jesus showed Paul in the Spirit, the deep things of God. Somehow in some wonderful way Jesus showed Paul sin and depravity, and hell and punishment, and heaven and glory!

The Galatians were depraved, violent, they knew what crucifixion was, they knew what murder was, they were under Roman law as well, – For Paul to have stood and preached of the crucifixion of Christ would have meant nothing to them – people were crucified all the time – but Paul was called, he was chosen from his mother’s womb to preach Christ among the gentiles – God arrested him, God equipped him, anointed him and sent him out – Paul went in faith!!

He had no tools, no props, no advertising campaign, no advance publicity he went up like this : --

1 Co 2:1-5 And I, brethren, when I came to you, did not come with excellence of speech or of wisdom declaring to you the testimony of God. For I determined not to know anything among you except Jesus Christ and Him crucified. I was with you in weakness, in fear, and in much trembling. And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not be in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.

He went up in obedience to God, lead by the Spirit, by revelation – but he was in fear and trembling – he was unsure of himself, he was possibly worried that with his strong and aggressive manner he might offend, contend and argue philosophy – he had to depend upon the Holy Spirit – but he was not used to this – it was new. – You can imagine him walking into one of these cities, pagan temples and worship – openly displayed prostitution, drinking houses – soldiers –

Drunkenness, noise and multitudes of people doing business, eating drinking and being merry. Their very worship allowed and encouraged their open depravity – everyone did what was right in his own eyes. – Paul walked into this, spent time observing them – and somehow lead by the Holy Spirit he found a place to preach from, and he began to preach – I don’t think he called a meeting, separated out his audience into adults and children, men and women – he found a place

maybe the place of open forum – like Cathedral Square in Christchurch – or Mars Hill – however an audience gathered – and in the power of the Holy Spirit Paul began to preach. Maybe like this

“I see you are a spiritual people because you have many gods and temples, I can see you worship and follow customs and rituals, that you believe in the spiritual power of priests and witches, necromancers and clairvoyants – I can see you have temple prostitutes and that you sacrifice to Cybele – (to us these things are wrong because we know Christ)

but can you see that these gods that you worship are really things that have been made by men! They are idols – look the very things you worship and the practices you have, are all invented by men who have gone before you. Your gods are actually made of stone and wood – the same things you use to build houses and burn fires – how can these things have power and influence your lives? – I know the true God – the God of Israel who is so Holy that you cannot see Him

or touch Him – He is so much higher than us, so much greater than us – look He is the Creator of all the universe – of every living thing, of this ground on which we stand – It was God who made the rock and grew the trees that you now form and shape into gods – it doesn’t make sense to bow down to things we have created ourselves – how can they be greater than us??? No I preach to you the Living God, the Holy God, the God of Israel the Lord and Creator –

and He is Holy, He is so pure and undefiled that He dwells in unapproachable glorious light – He is so Holy that we cannot look upon Him or touch Him. Our God wants His creatures, that is us, all humankind, all over the world to know Him and worship Him – But for us to do that we must be Holy as He is holy – but the whole world has fallen into sin. – What is sin? – Sin is living in ignorance and denial of the true Creator and therefore not trying to live a holy life.

As Paul preached, the Holy Spirit power was penetrating their hearts – all men are able to know God – we have all come from Adam – so as Paul spoke in the power of the Spirit a transaction was in progress. – “The very things you do as worship are in fact sin to God – sexual depravity and immorality – you really all know in your hearts it is wrong – and drunkenness – and taking someone else’s life – that is sin –

what right do we have to stand in judgement over others in this manner? Because I am offended that man needs to die?? – Oh Galatians your whole lives are fallen in sin – and so are most of the Jews – we are all the same – we all fall short of the Glory of God the Creator – but this God came to me one day as I was riding along the road on the way to Damascus – I was actually on my way to kill and maim and throw into jail the very people who believe what I am now telling you!!

But God appeared to me – in glorious brilliant light and I was struck blind for 3 days and God revealed His Son to me – it is Him I have been sent to tell you about. Look at your lives. Is there any real peace and contentment – your families are all in chaos, children are abandoned and even sacrificed to pieces of wood and stone! – You live out of control in orgies and drunkenness and yet you are never satisfied are you? – How can you be? You were created for much more than ----

to live abandoned to depravity in every way! Separated from the God who created us all in love – yes the true God really does love His creation – we Jews thought it was all about us – but really it is about every nation who will believe God. The trouble is sin – which is our lives! Sin cannot be tolerated by the Holy God and in fact it is absolute and complete disobedience to Him and so it must be punished – and the punishment is death. The Holy God punishes sin with death.

He created us to live forever but when sin entered into the human race that sin cut us off from God and brought death. Not just this body dying – we will all die one day – but there is an eternity – an everlasting life after this one – a life with God in heaven – the Home and Throne of God full of harmony and glory and being with Him – no more sin there, no more pain, no more betrayal and depravity – but holiness and gloriousness and peace beyond imagination – alive IN God.

But if we don’t deal with the issue of sin we are all going to an eternity of punishment for this sin – a place of eternal torment, it is a place of fire – fire that never goes out, it is a place of anguish and darkness and horror – it never ends! It is hell – and all of our understanding is retained and all our memories and everything we have done are constantly before us – every single person in hell believes in God! There are no unbelievers there! Reality of eternity is constantly before them!

It is God’s hell – the devil will be there and those demons you worship will be there – but it is God’s hell it is the place where all of those who have rejected Him and lived in sin will dwell for everlasting upon everlasting – and there is no escape, and no second chance, and no one has ever communicated from there to here – but lifting up their eyes from the darkness and fire and torment they look up and see what they have rejected – for the glory of God is visible to them!

There is no other place – we will either enter heaven or hell – sin is the definer! Now for hundreds of years we Jews thought we could escape hell by living a whole set of complex laws and regulations – God appeared to us and showed us the way – but we just cannot overcome sin – it is always before us, in our very nature, and like you we had a system of sacrifices – sheep and goats and bulls --- every single day they are offered to appease the wrath of God for sin.

But see even with all the rules and regulations and directions for life and the sacrifices to atone for the sinfulness we all live in – because God said to us that by the shedding of blood – life is in the blood – by the shedding of blood in sacrifice the animals became a substitute for us – for the death we actually deserve --- but after hundreds of years we are now worse than we were coming out of Egypt – I lived a life of enforcing, applying and teaching all of these laws –

even to putting to death the law breakers!! But then that day on the Damascus Road the Holy God and Creator arrested me and revealed His Son in me. This is the reason I have come here and stand here before you trembling and not a little scared – but I know that the God I am preaching to you has already begun touching you – see I have come to you with the message of Christ – the Messiah of the Jews and Saviour of all mankind – as many as will believe –

See to give us the opportunity – in fact more than that, because of the great love with which He loves us God sent His Son to become the sacrifice for our sins --- now this is a marvellous and wonderful thing to grasp – but because there still has to be the shedding of blood to atone for sin, all sin every man’s sin – God has given the ultimate sacrifice – He sacrificed His Son to die the death we all deserve once and for all.

In our place Jesus Christ the Son of God Himself, gave Himself up to take our place. He died our death – He took our sin and the shame that sin has produced – He suffered our pains and torments and all anguish. He bore our sorrows and grief’s and by His stripes we were all healed. Healed of all the affects of the sinful life we have lived – every possible consequence for sin was paid for in Christ.

He was innocent, undefiled, without spot or blemish, perfect before God in every way – Him they took and nailed to a tree – they pierced His side and blood and water flowed out – He became sin for us that we might be reconciled to the True and Only God and Creator.

We do not deserve this – we cannot earn it, we are all sinners no matter what – all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God – and the wages of sin is death – but Christ crucified has become death for us!

Listen Galatians all you have to do is believe this is true – and I know the grace of God is here today – I can see the fear of God is coming upon you. It is by this grace through faith – you don’t have to do anything – believe Him and receive Him and turn from sin.

And God confirmed the Word with signs following – there was conviction and a cutting to the heart
There would have been cries of anguish and Holy Fear as their very hearts were uncovered ---

God came down! The Spirit was poured out! Revival! They repented and turned to the Living God in Christ --- by faith – by grace and faith!

Unforgiveness – violent and aggressive
Deliverance – possible manifestation they had worshipped demons
Healing – demonic bondage

Maybe they began to prophesy and see visions and receive revelation – God came down!!