Sermon Tone Analysis
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Introduction
Several years ago in between schools, I was selling advertising.
I was doing sales pitches to companies that wanted the newest trend called “on-hold” advertising, you know when you call a business and are put on hold and you listen to a commercial about what the business offers.
I had an appointment with a law firm and was to make a presentation to all three partners in that firm.
I practiced and practiced my presentation and when the appointment time came, I gave the most glowing presentation that I had ever done.
At the end of my presentation, I asked, “So are you ready to sign up.”
One distinguished lawyer spoke, “No, we are not going to sign up.
Your presentation was excellent but you did not ask us any questions about what we needed.”
I had taken what I thought they needed and put it in a nice package and even put a pretty bow on it.
However, I failed to ask questions to give a clear picture of what was needed.
I made assumptions on what I thought would be best instead of recognizing what needed to be met.
We know the definition of assume, right?
And believe me, I lived up to that definition.
In our study of Galatians, Paul encounters folks that are assuming they can still rely on the law and rituals to satisfy their relationships with God.
Obviously they have been misinformed and their way has muddied the waters or caused the picture to be out of focus.
We see in Galatians 3:1-5, how Paul uses a series of very good questions to make the picture more clear of what it means to be justified by faith.
The Reprimand (vs. 1)
This passage starts out with some strong language.
Paul says, “You foolish Galatians!”
This is not an insult but a strong reprimand to the church and those Christians.
He is focusing on the foolishness of the Galatians going backwards in their thinking.
They are having theological inconsistencies.
Part of that inconsistency has to do with deception.
Deception
Paul continues asking the question, “Who bewitched you?”
The word that we have translated as bewitched means “to bring evil on one by feigning praise or an evil eye.”
The teaching that has taken place has led people away from the Gospel of Jesus Christ and down the road of works.
Anyone that teaches anything apart from Christ is a false teacher and is of the devil, thus the use of the word bewitched.
John 8:44 reminds of how false teaching takes us away from the truth.
Theologian John Stott wrote: “Much of our Christian stupidity in grasping and applying the Gospel many be due to the spells which he casts.”
In other words, we seem to settle for less than the truth.
We may go through a period of denial like the Galatians did and think we can do other things to be in a relationship with God.
Denial
The denial comes into play when we think that what Jesus did on the cross was not enough.
We may not actually come out and say that, but our lifestyles reveal it.
Instead of living victorious lives, we live lives of guilt and think we are not good enough.
Then we try to do good things to make ourselves feel better.
We think we can go through rituals and it will make it better for us.
Paul’s delivery of this reprimand was to help change what was happening in so many of the Galatians.
Delivery
Paul was telling the Galatians that they had moved from maturity to immaturity.
The Christian life should not go backwards.
So often we think that we do not need to grow anymore.
The reality of it all is that we do need to grow.
Who needs to be reminded this morning that God is still in the carrying it on to completion business?
If you are breathing, God still has a plan for you!
The Reminder (vs.
2)
Paul is emphasizing to those Christians that God used His Holy Spirit to speak to them about the truth of the Gospel.
One of the seven realities in our Experiencing God study is that God speaks by the Holy Spirit through the Bible, prayer, circumstances, and the church to reveal Himself, His purposes and His ways.
This is an example of this reality in this passage.
The Holy Spirit is speaking through Paul to the Galatian church and in turn God is speaking to us from His word through His Holy Spirit.
Imagine Paul directing this question to you.
How would you answer that question?
What do you believe?
Before we answer that question, it might be wise to go and look how we received the Holy Spirit.
The Spirit is given because God is generous and gracious.
He freely chooses to give His Spirit to those who hear and believe the Gospel of His Son.
You can have the Spirit if you commit yourself in faith to Christ.
What do you believe?
What Do You Believe?
Do you believe that you have to perform tasks or do works to have a relationship with God? Do you believe that you have to attend church, where a certain type of clothing, or act a certain way?
Do you earn your salvation by keeping the Ten Commandments or did you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord?
Have you done that?
We are not saved by the law, but by faith in Christ!
Where Do You Place Your Faith?
We had a discussion Wednesday about faith.
I made the statement that often we place more faith in the chairs we sit on that we do in our God.
What is faith?
The Biblical definition is found in Hebrews 11:1.
We are guided by the Holy Spirit as we express our faith.
It is the gift of Jesus!
Your faith is guided by the Holy Spirit.
What have you seen as you have been guided by the Holy Spirit?
What Have You Seen?
The law and faith are contrary to each other.
The law says “Do this”; the Gospel says “Christ has done it all!”
The law requires works of human achievement; the Gospel requires faith in Christ’s achievement.
The law makes demands and calls us to obey; the Gospel brings promises and calls us to believe!
Paul comes at the Galatians with a series of rhetorical questions.
The Rhetoric (vs.
3-4)
I think it would be wise to allow these to be directed to us.
Are You Foolish?
As I think about this question, I am reminded of the context.
I am to establish my relationship with God through faith in Jesus and not through the rituals of practicing being a church member.
I have to ask am I practicing anything that allows me to misplace my faith with works?
Am I trying to do works instead of having faith?
In other other words, am I trying in my own effort?
Are You Trying In Your Own Effort?
The Galatians had been taught erroneously that they could earn their relationship.
However, Paul is emphasizing that cannot be taught because it is not truth.
Ephesians 2:8-9
Yet, often we try to do it on our own.
In doing so, we suffer needlessly.
In fact, Paul asks that question quite pointedly: Are you suffering for nothing?
Are You Suffering for Nothing?
Some scholars think that this refers to Acts 14:19
We see in the later verses that Paul was not dead but got up, and the next day he and Barnabas left for another town.
Acts 14:22
In our passage today, Paul is saying you don’t want to endure all this suffering for nothing!
Don’t be guilty of slipping back!
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