"Are You a Silent Witness to the Holy Spirit?"
Galatians • Sermon • Submitted • Presented
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· 21 viewsWe should pay attention when something significant happens in our lives. Do we experience the Holy Spirit through faith or through our efforts to comply with God's law?
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Notes
Transcript
Welcome/Opening prayer of dedication
Music ministry
195 Nothing But the Blood (1,3,4)
202 Amazing Grace (1,2)
Redeemed
Word of God - Galatians 3:1-5 (John)
Message
Have you ever heard of Mary Kay Cosmetics?
It was founded by Mary Kay Ash
In 1963 with $5,000
Mary Kay started what would become a Billion dollar company
A company that gives women a chance to be entrepreneurs
Mary Kay is also famous for this quote:
“There are are three kind of people; those who who make things happen, those who watch what happens,
and those who wonder what happened” (--Mary Kay)
Mary Kay was all about encouraging women to make good things happen in business
to overcome sexual discrimination
by sheer work and determination
They should MAKE things happen
Paul, as he looks at the church he founded in Galatia, is perplexed and a bit angry
And we’ve been talking about this
Paul is upset because he started the church off on a good foundation
a foundation of true Gospel
Salvation is available to EVERYONE if they believe in Jesus-
Faith alone by the grace of God
Yet, the church started to teach that
-You had to follow Jewish calendar
-Follow Jewish dietary law
-And men had to be circumcised
In so doing, The Galatian Church literally diminished the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross
That’s why Paul was SO frustrated in Galatians 3:1
1 O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified.
The Galatian Church was setup by people who had first-hand experience with Jesus Himself
Jesus told them what was required for Salvation
Yet, they made their own changes
I can’t overstate the importance of these first five verses
The church literally exchanges the power of the Holy Spirit with human works and the law
That’s why Paul is frustrated and asks these rhetorical questions that we will look at today
It’s all done to get them to see that they have stepped off the solid-rock foundation on which they started
Since I preach one verse at a time through the Bible
I did not choose this passage for today
But I know the Holy Spirit has a plan for how this very passage applies to our lives today
Today, the connection is very clear to me
the church today, maybe not on your row
People who profess to be Believers are looking right past the Holy Spirit and the Holy Scripture
and they are replacing what God gave us with human deeds and law,
not God’s law, but human law
not actions led by the Holy Spirit, but actions led for human longing and power
“foolish Galatians!”
What a great start for our passage
Note that the meaning of “foolish” here is NOT “Ignorant” or “mentally incompetent”
“Ignorant” means someone does not know something
“Mentally incompetent” would mean they don’t have the capacity to know
Some people think “ignorant” is a bad word,
Ignorant is not bad
I am “ignorant” in the ways of Eastern mysticism
I also don’t care that I don’t know much about it
I don’t believe I need to know much about it even though I have the capacity or ability to know
In this passage, the word “fool” means “unwise”
Just like in Romans 1:14 when Paul uses wise as the opposite of foolish
14 I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.
Back in the 1st-century Mediterranean culture
a person was a fool also if they lacked respect for or understanding of social boundaries
Which pretty much labels many in the culture today
Paul is saying the Galatians are lacking spiritual or moral judgement, which is wisdom
Not that they lacking intellectual capacity or ability
I know many people who are both smart and unwise
Not on your row
Another way to look at this is Paul is concerned that the Galatians are crossing into
the community bounded by the Mosaic law
and leaving the community bounded by allegiance to Christ
I have a tough question for you
“What would Paul say if about the church in America today?”
Even tougher
“What would Paul say to you and your family today?”
Have you been “Bewitched” as Paul claims of the Galatian Church?
Let’s look at that word we see as “bewitched”
940 βασκαίνω [baskaino /bas·kah·ee·no/] v. 1 to speak ill of one, to slander, traduce him. 2 to bring evil on one by feigning praise or an evil eye. 3 to charm, to bewitch.
I think we could easily use the word “seduce” instead
‘What is the allure that has led you from what you knew to be the right path?’
Paul is being rhetorical here
Paul is not asking for the name of the person who is misleading, charming or bewitching them
Paul wants the church to ask themselves why, who or how they have been led astray
I believe Paul is asking us in the church today,
“With all the resources you have to KNOW what God as directed for the church
How is it that the church can be silent in the midst of
The killing of babies under the name of personal right to do what we want with our bodies
Heresy in the church-false teaching
just like what the Galatians did
They added to the Gospel by requiring things the Gospel does NOT require
Paul lays it out in Romans 9:30-32 in referring to Israel’s unbelief in this way:
30 What shall we say, then? That Gentiles who did not pursue righteousness have attained it, that is, a righteousness that is by faith;
31 but that Israel who pursued a law that would lead to righteousness did not succeed in reaching that law.
32 Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as if it were based on works. They have stumbled over the stumbling stone,
We are talking two type of stone here and Paul is citing Isaiah 28:16
16 therefore thus says the Lord God, “Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: ‘Whoever believes will not be in haste.’
We have Jesus
who is the Supernatural cornerstone of our foundation
a foundation that is secure and solid
And we have a stumbling stone
This stumbling stone is all natural and consistent with the sinful nature of humankind
The belief that WE as people know better than our Creator God
It makes me want to scream “READ THE ORIGINAL WORD OF GOD”
What did God say,
Not what did old ‘so-and-so’ down the street say about what his uncle told him about what God said
In Paul’s case
Paul is imploring the Galatians church to get back to basics,
to Go back to the one true Gospel
The Galatians church had the INFORMATION, so they weren’t ignorant of what Jesus did or said
The Galatian church was being UNWISE in what they did with the information
The people in the church began their Christian life through the power of the Holy Spirit
and now they were changing to a self-pleasing and works-oriented belief that they could work their way toward sanctification
That’s what’s going on in Galatians 3:2
2 Let me ask you only this: Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith?
How did you get the spirit?
Was it like a BINGO card?
Check off enough boxes and you get your reward?
Since Jesus gave us the Gospel and sent the Holy Spirit to fill us/them
and since God in the Trinity has brought us this far
Why would you change to something else?
The people of the church heard about what didn’t work
the law of Moses, the Mosaic law
that requires perfection of action
The mechanics of doing the right things at the right times
Doing good works
Celebrate the right holidays
Eat only certain foods certain ways
Checking the boxes of person activity
The people of the Galatians Church personally experienced what did work
that’s the Gospel brought to them in the beginning when Paul set the church up
Paul basically is saying ‘go check the founding or guiding documents/principles’
Each of us need to do the same
I believe that is true in our politics
Don’t trust what people tell you about our Constitution -READ it
Don’t believe when someone tells you about “Separation of church and state”
It’s not in the Constitution, by the way
The term comes form a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptists Association
Assuring them that the government would not interfere with the free exercise of their religion
The letter was in answer to a question and cannot be understood without the question or problem being addressed
The problem -
The church group was a minority denomination in CT and they felt put upon by state rules favoring another group
The answer from Jefferson was that there was a "a wall of separation between church and state."”
A reference to the establishment clause of the Constitution (1st Amendment) which says
“Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
The term “Separation of church and state” comes from a letter written by a President, not from the Constitution
In the context of responding to the questions, Jefferson was NOT suggesting all religion must be removed from the public square
Even within our church life at Grace
We need to be aware of our guiding documents
We added a “Did you know” slide before the service
“Did you know Board meetings are open to all members”
That’s actually in our Bylaws and we comply with that rule
Did you know that our bylaws clearly state that Grace is a “Bible-based” church?
It’s in our bylaws
So, whatever we do, we MUST comply with the Bible
Did you know that our bylaws require that we make Board minutes which include financial statements available int he office to members?
It’s in the bylaws and we comply with them
Founding and guiding documents matter
They have gotten us this far
Stay with what works
Remember Philippians 1:6
6 And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
The people of Galatia were violating this principle, right?
They knew the Gospel given by Jesus to Paul
Jesus was sufficient to this point
but they weren’t waiting for God to complete His work in them
Time says I have to pull this together quickly
We weren’t blessed to walk the earth with the Apostles
But I know that we walk with the Jesus through the Holy Spirit
If we deny the Holy Spirit, then we deny God
Luke 9:26
26 For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
We have all been witness to the power and work of the Holy Spirit
If you were baptized in water, regardless of the amount or form
that was an outward demonstration of what is most important
What is required for Salvation is baptism or submersion in or with the Holy Spirit
We could get lost in doctrine of water baptism OR
we could read and learn from what John the Baptist said in Matthew 3:11
11 “I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.
As Believers, we should be covered/baptised in the Holy Spirit
which means God is all around us all the time
God, through the HS, is working in and through us
Don’t be SILENT about what the HS is doing in and through you
Or you will be denying the HS which is to deny God
And those who deny God will be denied BY GOD
Let this message be heard in our hearts and the heart of this country
On this day before Flag Day, may we work to bring God wherever we go
and may God bless America and those who love her.
Amen
Closing Hymn/Invitation: 309 Pass It On
Pastoral prayer/Benediction