Galatians - sermon one

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Sermon one of Galatians

* Pastor Roy has recently given me the opportunity to preach twice a month at the evening service.

* So what I thought would be good was for me to do something that was new to me. I have never preached a series of sermons.

* I umed and ared over what the content of the series should be, then I remembered something that Pastor said to me about working through a particular passage or book in the bible.

* He shared that to do such a series meant that you couldn’t avoid hard subjects. If you follow a book you can hardly leave out a passage of scripture that you know might be hard to talk on.

* Well anyway I decide to jump in at the deep end and go for it by preaching a whole book.

* So tonight I would like to start a series of sermons on the book of Galatians.

* I can’t say that I had any particular reasons for choosing this book. I just felt that Galatians was right.

* Now I don’t know how God speaks to you but for me He tends to lay things on my heart or He just leads me to think about something in particular. So I’m trusting that I have picked this book because God Himself has laid it on my heart.

* So let’s get started with the book of Galatians.

* I thought that it would be a good idea to start this series by looking at some of the background to this book.

* When was it written?

* What was going on?

* Why did Paul feel the need to write such a book? Things like that.

* Now it’s believed that Galatians was written around AD 48 - 49 and is addressed not so much to one church but to a number of churches in the Galatia Province.

* Galatia was a bit like the Eastern Province here in that it encompassed a number of towns.

* There is a debate as to whether the churches in Galatia were planted on Paul’s 1st or 2nd missionary journey.

* This debate is not for us today. Let scholars argue that.

* I think that what is important is only, that the churches of Galatia at the time Paul wrote this letter were relatively young and still learning the foundations of the faith. Foundations that we as the modern day church still today hold too.

* Now things weren’t going altogether well in this the Province of Galatia. There were some among the rank and file of the church that were leading the others astray.

* There was a bunch of people referred to as the Judaizers. These guys came preaching a different message to that of Paul.

* The Judaizers were a party in the church, who, though Christians accepted Christianity only as the fulfilment of the Jewish old covenant hope and firmly held that God’s people must be a part of Israel.

* The Jews had despised Gentiles for a long time; yet their new faith would not allow them to think that God would not want to save Gentiles.

* There were both Jews and Gentiles within the Galatian churches.

*The teaching they tried to preach to the newly formed Galatian churches declared that, to experience salvation, the Galatian Christians must also be initiated into Israel by the rite of circumcision.

On top of this they tried to say that all Christians had to obey the Jewish laws.

* This false teaching was leading Christians away from the truth that Paul had preached to them earlier on his missionary journey.

* Hearing of this, Paul, I would say, would have been very upset that those whom he had shared the gospel with were looking like they were being snatched away by the enemy.

* Paul wrote this letter to the churches of Galatia with desperate love for them. He wanted them to return to the path of truth, rooted in the saving work of Christ and Christ alone.

* How might we feel today if we saw someone that we loved, being lead astray?

* So it’s this love that Paul is expressing in writing this letter and makes the book of Galatians a book that speaks right to the hearts of Christians both then and today?

* God as we know is concerned for all His people both in Paul’s day and right through to our day today. God doesn’t want any of His people lead astray.

* Now I’ve titled this message the heavyweight championship for the world for a very good reason.

* The book of Galatians is a bit like a boxing match:

In one corner you have salvation by the grace and provision of God and in the other corner you have salvation by works.

* These are both two very big contenders.

* The Jews had been living under the law which included circumcision for a long time and believed that fulfilling such laws was the only way to God.

* Paul as the other contender preached a message of salvation that was not based on works but on the grace of God shown to us by the death and resurrection of Jesus for our sins.

* We will be seeing how these two ideas pitch up to each other throughout this book. * While we listen to what God has to say to us through this book, we will see in whom or what we should be putting our trust and just what it means to be a Christian saved by our Lord Jesus Christ.

* Before we go any further I thought it would help us as we embark on this journey to think about the impact this book has had upon the church.

* We are today as Jeffrey’s Bay Baptist church, part of the Protestant Reformation  church that broke away from the Roman Catholic church back in the 1500’s.

* Martin Luther was one of the key players in that move and he was greatly influenced in his life by his study of the book of Galatians.

* So we are about to open up a book that can bring about incredible change.

* It’s been said of the book of Galatians that it is the Magna Charta of evangelical Christianity. It is Paul’s great declaration of religious freedom - a freedom that involves independence from men and dependence on God.

* Can we just pray before we go any deeper into this message?

* PRAYER

* Ok let’s open up God’s word. Please turn in your bibles to the book of Galatians. We will be reading verses 1 – 5.

1 This letter is from Paul, an apostle. I was not appointed by any group of people or any human authority, but by Jesus Christ himself and by God the Father, who raised Jesus from the dead.

2 All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia.

3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.

5 All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

* These verses are what we would call the salutation and are found at the start of Paul’s letters.

*Now I’ve read them to you from the New Living Translation but I would also like you to hear them in the Message translation because for me they really do have an incredible punch about them.

I, Paul, and my companions in faith here, send greetings to the Galatian churches.

My authority for writing to you does not come from any popular vote of the people, nor does it come through the appointment of some human higher-up.

It comes directly from Jesus the Messiah and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. I’m God-commissioned.

So I greet you with the great words, grace and peace!

We know the meaning of those words because Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins.

God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue.

Glory to God forever!

* I just love the way in which Eugene Peterson translates scripture don’t you? There is a directness about it that is, I feel sometimes lost in some of the other translations.

Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins.

God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue.

* Now I think that this is the key message for us as Christians today just as it was for the Christians of Paul’s day.

We are saved by Jesus and Jesus alone.

* This is the message that Paul first preached when he set out on his missionary journeys and this is the message that Paul now, sadly has to defend.

* I think it’s very interesting that in our world today, some people are hung up on subjects like whether or not we should allow gay relationships or whether women should be allowed to preach etc. People like to debate such subjects from scripture often at the expense of what is really at the heart of scripture.

Jesus Christ rescued us from this evil world we’re in by offering himself as a sacrifice for our sins.

God’s plan is that we all experience that rescue.

 

* Please don’t get me wrong, I’m not standing here today saying that issues on gay relationships etc aren’t important, I believe that scripture is the definitive word of God and is quite clear on such subjects.

* What I am saying is that such subjects should not distract our focus from the message of salvation through Jesus our Lord, that all must hear and respond too.

* At the heart of Gods message to us is that we can be saved by the grace of God in and through the saving work of Jesus when He died for us on the cross of Calvary.

* Now I think I’m jumping ahead of myself here, because I believe that there are some other important things to notice in our reading of verses 1-5.

* Paul in verse one starts his salutation by stating his authority to bring such a message as that found in the book of Galatians.

* Now for now I don’t want to spend too much time on Paul’s right to call himself an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ’s and so to bring the message of salvation.

*Paul addresses this a bit later in this book & we will look at that then.

* So let’s look instead at verse two

All the brothers and sisters here join me in sending this letter to the churches of Galatia.

* It’s interesting to note that Paul isn’t standing alone in his defence of the message of salvation that he brought to the Galatian churches.

* This letter comes from Paul, and all the bothers and sisters with him.

* Sometimes it’s not easy to bring a hard message to those in whom we love, but at times it has to happen. We can learn from this, in that if such a time comes in our life we should seek the wisdom of our brothers and sisters in the faith and trust God to give us direction through them.

* I have experienced something like this first hand.

* As I have felt the call to go forward to train to be a pastor my calling had to be tested by the wisdom of the saints.

* My brothers and sisters had to test my calling to confirm it. This has been done by those whom I left at my old church in the UK. I was interviewed by the eldership there and they prayed and sought the Lord before confirming how they felt I was being called into such a ministry.

* Later I had to go before the whole church to again have the calling confirmed by them.

* Seeking the wisdom of our brothers and sisters in the Lord is a good way to go forward in our life with the Lord.

* Ok, let’s move on to verse three:

3 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

* Here we see Paul calling the Galatians to go on knowing the freedom given to them by Jesus.

* This freedom is the result of God’s grace, a grace that takes the reader of Galatians from the restraints of legalism, to a life filled by the Spirit of God, one full of joy and fulfilment.

* Fulfilment not of the law that the Judaizers were trying to peddle, but fulfilment of all that God is calling them too.

* Grace speaks of a gift, something that is given. Our salvation can’t be earned; it is given to us by our Lord Jesus. This is something that you will hear time and time again as we progress through Galatians.

* Grace contains within it, all the love of God, the unmerited, immeasurable, unlimited self-giving mercy of God.

* Grace has many faces; one is of a kind of beauty and charm displayed in some people.

* How many of you remember Princess Diana from the UK?

* It was said of her that she had this display of grace about her, a sense of beauty and charm.

* Paul wants the Galatians to have this same display of grace about them.

* Its as we the people of God display this kind of grace, that we mark ourselves out as Gods own people.

* Do you want another picture of such a grace?

* Then look to Jesus, the perfect example of such grace.

* We could easily start a whole new sermon here, just on what it means to display grace as Paul understood it. A lot of what Pastor Roy has been preaching in his messages from the Sermon on the Mount would fall under this term of grace.

* I think for now it’s enough to say that in displaying such grace we are witnessing Jesus to those around us.

* Pastor Roy I’m sure would call it a display of righteousness greater than that of the Pharisees.

* A guy called Malcolm Muggeridge, a broadcaster, wrote a book about Mother Teresa of Calcutta called ‘Something Beautiful for God’.

* The beauty and charm about Mother Teresa’s simple goodness and self-giving service to the poorest of the poor in Calcutta captured the heart of this cynical broadcaster and led him to the point of giving his life to Jesus.

* He wrote this about her:

I ran away and stayed away:

Mother Teresa moved in and stayed. That was the difference.

She, a nun, rather slightly built, with a few rupees in her pocket; not particularly clever, or particularly gifted in the arts of persuasion. Just with this Christian love shining about her; in her heart and on her lips.

Just prepared to follow her Lord, and in accordance with his instructions regard every derelict left to die in the streets as him;

To hear in the cry of every abandoned child, even in the tiny squawk of the discarded foetus, the cry of the Bethlehem child;

To recognize in every leper’s stumps the hands which once touched sightless eyes and made them see, rested on distracted heads and made them calm, brought back health to sick flesh and twisted limbs.

As for my expatiations on Bengal’s wretched social conditions - I regret to say that I doubt whether, in any divine accounting, they will equal one single quizzical half smile bestowed by Mother Teresa on a street urchin who happened to catch her eye.

I suppose there is goodness without charm.

And I know there is much charm without goodness.

But when those unite - goodness and charm - grace is at work and that is sheer beauty - “something beautiful for God.”

* I want to be a display of grace to the people of this town. I don’t feel that I’m too good at it at the moment but I’m seeking for God to make me better at it.

* God isn’t looking for me to be another Mother Teresa.

* He is looking for me to be Mark Knight in Jeffrey’s Bay.

* He is looking for you to be whom He has called you to be.

* One of the great things about grace is that if we allow it. The grace that God fills us with can flow to those around us.

* We would call it: Loving others with the love of God.

* Paul was challenged by God to reach out to the Galatian people with the message of salvation.

* What is He calling you to do?

* Lets carry on with Paul’s letter to the Galatians, he says in verse three:

 May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.

* Peace; let me read to you a translation of this word I found in my bible dictionary:

 

Peace, a word with a wide range of meanings in both the Old Testament and the New. Its root meaning in the Old Testament (shalom) is wholeness or well-being, and it can be used in both religious and secular contexts.

It is used as a general greeting and as a farewell. In these uses, it seems to indicate good wishes for the people addressed and friendly intentions on the part of the speaker.

* Paul again wants the guys from the Galatian churches to have this peace from God, a peace that brings about wholeness and well being.

* A peace that was being robbed from them by the Judaizers.

* Earlier we thought of how Paul would have been really upset to think of how the people in the Galatian churches were in effect losing both the grace and peace that God wants them to walk in.

* How do you think God feels when He looks at His church today?

* Are you walking in the grace and peace that is yours because Jesus died on the cross for you?

* Are you someone who has been coming to church for some time now, but has never really felt that incredible grace and peace that comes from living a saved life?

* Saved by Jesus.

* Did you give your life to Jesus some years back but for some reason feel that this grace and peace seems to have left you?

* Paul, when he set out on his missionary journey, set out preaching a message of salvation that was given to him by our saviour, Jesus Christ.

* The people of Galatia heard this message and responded to it. They were saved and went on to live a life with Jesus full of grace and peace.

* If you don’t know this life today, I can tell you that Jesus is still offering it to people today, Jesus still offers it to you today.

Will you respond to Jesus as he calls out to you?

* If you are one who feels that this saved life has become all cluttered, or that the things of this world, the ideas of this world have caused you to step away from the path of truth, the path that is marked out with the grace and peace of our God.

Then I say to you, count yourself among the Galatians who this letter was first written too.

* Paul is calling for the Galatians to once again know the grace and peace that comes from God.

* All the Galatians had to do was reject the false teaching of the Judaizers and turn back to Jesus, to walk the path of salvation not through works but by the grace of Jesus.

* Jesus died on the cross of Calvary in our place.

* Won’t you today reject anything that hinders you from hearing that incredible, wonderful truth?

* Brothers and sisters, turn to Jesus now.

* Enter into this wonderful life that is open to all of us.

* Let God speak this message of salvation to you anew today.

4 Jesus gave his life for our sins, just as God our Father planned, in order to rescue us from this evil world in which we live.

5 All glory to God forever and ever! Amen.

* That’s verses four and five of our reading.

* Now the book of Galatians has this message throughout it. I believe that God will keep on calling to us as we work our way through it.

* But I don’t want you to wait till later in this study of Galatians to respond to Jesus.

* I’m going to ask the worship band to come back to the front and lead us in our closing hymn.

* If God has spoken to you tonight, I want to ask you to respond to Him as we sing.

* After the hymn we will have a time of prayer before the service closes. Use this time, don’t let another moment pass before you know the grace and peace that Jesus has for you.

* HYMN

* PRAYER

* If you want to talk or pray with someone tonight before you leave please come forward to the front where someone will, happily spend time with you.

* I want to draw this service to a close now. Let’s close in prayer.

* Brothers and sisters:

May our God bless you and keep you,

May He smile on you and gift you,

May He look you full in the face and make you prosper,

For His praise And His glory

Amen

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