Sermon Tone Analysis

Scripture: Galatians 6:11-18

Introduction:

I like idioms.

- I often use idioms, more than I am aware

An idiom is a phrase, saying, or a group of words with a metaphorical (not literal) meaning

According to theidioms.com,

TOP TEN IDIOMS in our culture:

hot potato

piece of cake

once in a blue moon

raining cats & dogs

bed of roses

when pigs fly

devils advocate

miss the boat

apple of my eye

zip your lip

How many of those do you use?

One I use, probably more than I realize : At the end of the day...

That particular idiom is used to conclude and sum everything up

And as I read these last 8 verses, that’s what Paul is doing

At the end of the day, when it’s all been said and done...

And Paul is concluding much like he started.

Pray

The last paragraph carries the same principle as the first paragraph in chapter one.

They are bookends that encase the books.

Chapter 1: 9 - “If any man is preaching a gospel contrary to what we preach to you, let him be an accursed (anathema).”

You do not add to Grace.

Chapter 6 :12 - “It is those who want to make a good showing in the flesh who would force you to be circumcised, and only in order that they may not be persecuted for the cross of Christ.”

The Judaizers had added to grace.

Circumcision!

But what was the motive?

What is the motive behind adding anything to the Gospel?

Self - importance.

When the gospel is not enough, by proxy, what you’re saying is that God is not enough.

This has been the lie from the beginning with Eve & the serpent in the garden - “Did God really say?”

It’s the same lie we believe today - The gospel is not enough.

Do you remember the false gospels that we face in the church today?

Permissive grace - God loves you just as you are and in spite of your rebellion

Social Justice - God doesn’t care so much about your personal holiness as long as you’re helping others

New Age Spirituality - You need spiritual experiences outside of biblically, doctrinally correct experiences

Sexual Preference - You’re allowed membership into the family and there shouldn’t be any correction whether it’s cohabitation, homosexuality or anything else outside the bounds of marriage

Universalism - This is the acceptance of anything and everything.

Who are we to judge?

And the reason we have the breakdown in our families, in our churches and in our society as a whole, is because we have allowed anything and everything but the effects of the pure gospel drive our feelings, our actions and our thoughts.

And we’ve allowed these teachings to replace the truth of God’s Word.

God takes so serious His message to us that if we try to “improve” upon it we blaspheme His name and His message

Think about it, to add to His message is the most arrogant and egotistical thing a person could do

Because what you’re saying by that is that God’s plan is not enough.

That God is lacking in His will for us, so, we need to help Him out.

The most wonderful thing about God is that we are not Him.

And honestly He was doing just fine before we came along and He’ll do just fine after we’re long gone

He doesn’t need us to “fix” His message.

This is why it is important for a Church to have as its first fundamental truth, that we are saved by faith plus nothing

And Paul is going to call this idea in verse 16, those who will walk by this rule, he's going to call it a rule, an Apostolic command, that we do not add to the work of God.

And so let's look at this end product of all that he’s said to us in this letter.

He says in verse 11, kind of an odd verse: “See with what large letters I am writing to you with my own hand.”

Paul wrote with a large script from some kind of eye ailment or eye injury, apparently that he had, and he does this as a distinguishing mark.

Paul would have taught or given his letter through what was called an amanuensis, a Secretary.

And so Paul apparently in verse eleven takes the pen from this secretary and said, I want to write this last paragraph, that no one will doubt that this comes from me.

And so he says in verse eleven, see with what large letters I am writing,

This is his John Hancock, that this is a real epistle - “let’s remove any doubt”

And what Paul does in the next 5 verses is give us one more way to know if we’re walking by the spirit or walking in the flesh

For the last 2 weeks we’ve seen what it looks like to be spiritual - walking by the Spirit, exhibiting the fruit of the Spirit

Now he’s going to show us who we are by where we put our confidence.

This last point that Paul is going to make here really not only sums up everything he’s said in this letter but it really finishes everything he set out to say.

As if Paul is saying to the Galatians and us: At the end of the day, if you don’t remember anything else, remember this...

Avoid the False Gospel of Self - vs.12-13

Paul is for the last time confronting the cancer of false teaching that is beginning to infect this group of churches.

As we've seen, it was a cancer that replaced the grace of God with the Law of Moses and they were trying to twist Christianity to fit Judaism

And just as we have those false gospels that we’ve already mentioned, they find their root in the false gospel of self.

That’s really at the heart of what Paul is revealing about these Judaizers

These false teachers, these Judaizers were boasters.

What were they boasting about?

They were boasting about the flesh of the Galatians.

But what exactly does that mean?

It means they were bragging about how many Gentiles they had circumcised.

Now that may seem something odd for you and I to boast about

While we may not boast about how many people we have won over to circumcision, anytime we boast of our own accomplishments and in ourselves, we prove Paul’s point that we’re not walking by or in the Spirit but walking in the flesh

Years ago Toby Keith song - I wanna talk about me -

I wanna talk about me, Wanna talk about I, Wanna talk about number one, Oh my me my, What I think, what I like, what I know, what I want, what I see - I like talking about you, usually, but occasionallyI wanna talk about me

We laugh but there’s truth to those words - We’re generally and usually, revert to our old nature and we consume ourselves with us.

What we want, what we believe, what we think, etc...

Think about that when it comes to our spiritual lives

Our greatest danger, our greatest mistake, is that we look to ourselves and our obedience rather than to Jesus Christ.

And when we do, we’re no better then these Judaizers and I’ll tell you why

They were only interested in how they looked.

As Paul put it in verse 12, they wanted “to make a good showing IN THE FLESH”.

There's “flesh” again.

They wanted to present themselves as successful Gentile converters.

They were “trophy hunters” who wanted to put more notches on their belts.

And do you know why was this so important?

Well...

Because they were only interested in being liked.

The whole point of looking good is so that others will see you, right?

So that others will be impressed with you.

As “trophy hunters” among the Gentiles, they wanted to win the admiration of their fellows Jews.

But Paul expresses this in the negative at the end of verse 12.

These Judaizers were doing what they were doing in order to avoid persecution from their fellow Jews.

Even though Jesus promised his disciples that there commitment to Him would mean persecution from others, especially the Jews, and even members of their own families, these men wanted to find a way to straddle the fence and make everyone happy.