Well, good morning, church. Please take your Bibles and open once again to Galatians, the book of Galatians. We're going to be beginning chapter three today. Galatians chapter three, verses one through six is where we will be this morning. I was returning there, I know many of you here very much enjoy getting outside and in the out of doors and hiking or walking on outdoor trails. And when you do this, you will inevitably come to the fork in the road or the fork in the trail. depending on where you're hiking, these different side trails can be almost indistinguishable from the main trail. And if you happen to get diverted and follow one of these side trails, it seems they almost always lead you to a dead end, right? At least in my experience. And you have to turn around and you have to work your way back to the main trail, all while avoiding other side trails that lead to more dead ends. one wrong turn on a hike and you can find yourself lost and wandering. And depending on where you're hiking, this can actually be a very dangerous situation. There can be predators, there can be cliffs, and if you're me, there's definitely going to be poison ivy and you're going to get it all over yourself. But needless to say, when you go for a hike, it's always easier and safer to stay on the beaten path, to stay on the well-worn path, as opposed to following the many side trails. And the same thing is true as it relates to your journey to heaven. In Jeremiah 6, verse 16, the Lord says this, stand by the roads and look and ask for the old paths where the good way is and walk in it and find rest for your souls. These old paths where the good way is, these old paths that lead to rest for our souls, these are the core fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. The old paths are doctrines such as the inerrancy, the infallibility, and the sufficiency of God's holy word, the doctrine of the Trinity, the person and work of Christ, justification by faith alone, and the return of Christ to judge the living and the dead. These old paths mark the way for every person who would have peace with God. And friends, it was these old paths, justification by faith, specifically, that the Galatians were abandoning. And just like a hiker exposing themselves to physical danger and destruction by veering off the well-worn paths, the Galatians, having been bewitched by false teachers, were headed towards spiritual danger and destruction by veering off the well-worn path of the gospel. J.C. Ryle once said this, Quote, the longer I live, the more I am convinced that the world needs no new gospel, as some profess to think. I am thoroughly persuaded that the world needs nothing but a bold, full, unflinching teaching of the old paths. The heart of man is the same in every age. The spiritual medicine which it requires is always the same. Brothers and sisters, I want you to see this morning the absolute necessity of resisting spiritual novelty, of resisting even well-worn spiritual side trails, and remaining in the old paths where the good way is, where you will find rest for your souls. Well, let us pray and we'll read our text. Father, I pray that you would pour your spirit out upon us now, that you would meet with us in a mighty way. and that your word would be proclaimed clearly and truthfully, and Lord, that you would apply it by your spirit to each one of us in the way that is needful for us. You can see our hearts, you know our situations, you know where our struggles are. Lord, meet with us, we pray, and attend to us as we need. We trust you, and we ask this in Jesus' name, amen. We're gonna read Galatians 3 1-6. Hear the word of God. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith, just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness? Amen. Well, the title of this sermon is Walk in the Old Paths. And to help guide our examination of these verses, I've established three different headings this morning. Firstly, a stinging indictment. Second, a gracious intrusion. And third, a spiritual interrogation. Starting first with a stinging indictment. Look with me once again to Galatians 3 1. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Now, this is the first time that Paul has addressed the Galatians directly since chapter one, verse six, when he said that he was astonished that they were so quickly deserting him who had called them in the grace of Christ and were turning to a false gospel. And his tone here in verse one of chapter three is no less incensed. Paul is exasperated with the Galatians. Oh, foolish Galatians. And this word foolish has been defined as mindless, not marked by the use of reason. It's the same word used by Christ in his rebuke of the two disciples on the road to Emmaus, where speaking of his resurrection, he says this to them in Luke chapter 24, oh foolish ones and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken. Another dictionary defines this word as, quote, pertaining to an unwillingness to use one's mental faculties in order to understand. Paul isn't rebuking the Galatians because they don't have the ability to understand the gospel. He's rebuking them because they are choosing not to exercise their mental faculties to understand the truth. Essentially, he is rebuking them for acting like unbelievers. In Romans 1, Paul comments that unbelievers suppress what they know to be true about God so that they can live a lie. And the Galatians are doing the very same thing here. They're not stupid. They're not intellectually incapable. Rather, they are suppressing what they know to be true about the gospel to embrace the lie of the Judaizers. And Paul is completely justified in calling out their foolishness. Look up to the last verse of chapter two, verse 21 of chapter two. Paul says this, I do not nullify the grace of God, for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. Friends, can anything be more foolish than to nullify the grace of God, to nullify the death of Christ by exchanging free justification through faith for a conditional justification based on works? Can anything be more foolish than that? I don't think so. And Paul didn't think so, therefore he admonishes these churches, oh foolish Galatians. And one commentator notes here that Paul writes as a profoundly concerned pastor. Paul had founded the churches in Galatia. These Galatian Christians are his people. And Paul sees them so quickly deserting him who called them in the grace of Christ and turning to a soul-destroying false gospel. And he simply calls it what it is, foolish. It's thoughtless, it's senseless. And it may seem harsh to us when we read this, but, I want you to consider Proverbs 27 verse six, faithful are the wounds of a friend. Brothers and sisters, I can assure you that Paul took no pleasure in speaking this way to the Galatians. In fact, he'll go on to say this in chapter four, he wishes he could change his tone, but he's perplexed by them. He says that he's afraid that he may have labored over them in vain. This whole controversy in Galatia is a major source of spiritual torture for Paul. But friends, sometimes harsh language, a strong tone, unmistakable words, sometimes this type of uncomfortable, straightforward speech is absolutely necessary if we are to remain true to God and to his word. Faithful are the wounds of a friend. Brothers and sisters, if you have a friend who is willing to stick their neck out and speak truth to you that you need to hear, thank God for that person. Thank God that that person loves you and has put enough of that love into action by speaking truth into your life, even when it's comfortable. Excuse me, even when it's uncomfortable. Because how much more comfortable would it be, how much more easy would it be for someone to see you living in sin, for someone to see you believing something that they know is wrong, that's leading you on a path to destruction, and to not say anything at all because, well, I don't want to introduce any uncomfortableness in the relationship. I don't want to hurt their feelings. Brothers and sisters, thank God for friends who will tell you the truth, even if it hurts you. even if it hurts you. We're continuing on here with Paul's stinging indictment. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? And Paul asks this question not because he doesn't know who has bewitched them. He certainly does. He knows it's the Judaizers, the circumcision party, the men who saw the gospel of Christ as a good start, a necessary component, a key, albeit insufficient ingredient in salvation. Now Paul knew that the Judaizers were the ones to bewitch the Galatians, but he asks the question really in order to make a statement. You have been bewitched. And this is the only place in the New Testament where this word bewitched is used. It means to exert an evil influence or to deceive a person by devious and crafty means. One dictionary defines bewitched as having black magic practiced on you. Accordingly, some translations render this, who has cast a spell on you? Believing false doctrine, especially a soul-destroying false gospel like the one brought in by the Judaizers, it is similar to being put under a spell, to being entranced, to being hypnotized. Now, no doubt the Galatians had received crystal clear teaching from the apostle Paul and Barnabas, yet they lacked the discernment to avoid being entranced by the Judaizers' false gospel. The Galatians were like the recipients of the letter to the Hebrews. We read this in Hebrews chapter five. The apostle says to them, you have become dull of hearing. For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food. For everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness since he is a child, but solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. The Galatians needed milk. They did not have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice, leading to the ability to distinguish good from evil. And how many Christians are just like this, lacking the ability to distinguish good from evil, lacking the ability to distinguish true doctrine from false, lacking the ability to see when some new theological concept or idea veers from the old paths. And the Galatians lacked the needed discernment to deal with only one source of false teaching, that being the Judaizers who had physically come into their presence in Galatia. But think of Christians today. How many sources and streams of teaching are available to us? It's almost endless. Whether it be books, podcasts, conferences, blogs, YouTube videos, in 2024, there are endless avenues through which if your powers of discernment are not trained, you can find yourself bewitched and drawn off the old paths. Friends, be discerning about what you read, about what you listen to, about what you watch. And I'll say if you're a husband or a father here, be discerning about what your wife and children read, about what they listen to, about what they watch. And the hard truth is that not everyone can withstand false teaching when confronted with it. Not everyone is equipped to be a Christian apologist. And furthermore, not everyone is obligated to know and engage with every wind of false doctrine. Think of Paul's second letter to Timothy where he calls out Hymenaeus and Philetus for swerving from the truth by claiming that Christ had already returned. They were spreading this message amongst the church. Paul goes on to say that their false claim that Christ had already returned, it was upsetting the faith of some in the church. They couldn't handle it. Now you've heard it said before, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but brothers and sisters, what if it does kill you? It's good to have your powers of discernment trained. It is good to be able to distinguish the old paths from freshly worn side trails, but be careful about drinking in false doctrine. Be careful when exposing yourself to false teaching. Remember that Satan prowls around like a roaring lion. Remember that he wants to sift you like wheat. You must be on alert. You must be wise as serpents and innocent as doves or else you risk being bewitched. You risk being enchanted. You risk being hypnotized by the God of this world just as the Galatians were. Now, if you are in Christ, take comfort that he is praying for you, that your faith may not fail. But do not, even for a moment, saints, let your guard down. Put on the whole armor of God. Abide in Christ. Crucify the flesh with its desires. Love not the temporary things of this world, lest you be bewitched. And I wanna leave this heading with a quote from Ryle once again. Would anyone fight the fight of a Christian soldier successfully and prosperously? Let him pray for a continual increase of faith. Let him abide in Christ, get closer to Christ, tighten his hold on Christ every day that he lives. Let his daily prayer be that of the disciples, Lord, increase my faith. Watch jealously over your faith if you have any. It is the citadel of the Christian character on which the safety of the whole fortress depends. It is the point which Satan loves to assail. All lies at his mercy if faith is overthrown. Here, if we love life, we must especially stand our guard. Brothers and sisters, yes, you are sheep. but be alert sheep, be discerning sheep, lest you be bewitched. And so we've seen under our first heading, a stinging indictment. Paul calls out the foolish Galatians for being bewitched by the false faith plus gospel of the Judaizers. Well, moving on now to our second heading, we see Paul remind the Galatians of a gracious intrusion of the time when God brought to them the gospel of Christ. Look with me again to verse one. Oh, foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Now remember that the churches in Galatia had been planted as part of Paul's first missionary journey. He and Barnabas traveled through the region preaching Christ and him crucified. The Galatians had Christ preached to them as clearly as any unreached people in the history of the world. In the mercies of God, the gospel had intruded into Galatia through the preaching of Paul and Barnabas. Therefore, Paul can say that it was before your eyes that Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified. Now, the phrase before your eyes carries with it both mental and spiritual understanding. The Galatians heard Paul's preaching clearly and they understood the message. They couldn't plead ignorance of the message here as Paul confronts them for being bewitched. Now, we also need to note that the Galatians did not see Christ crucified with their own eyes. The word translated here as publicly portrayed means to set forth for public notice, to provide information in a vivid manner. One dictionary notes that it would be wrong to assume that publicly portrayed refers to some kind of theatrical demonstration. The portrayal mentioned here was evidently a vivid verbal description. Essentially, we can understand this as vividly preached. Christ in him crucified was preached so clearly to the Galatians that Paul cannot believe that they have proven themselves so foolish by being bewitched and deserting Christ for a false gospel. And we might paraphrase verse one like this. So foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? You heard the gospel of Christ preached so clearly when I was with you. Jesus Christ and Him crucified, was that not the centerpiece of Paul's preaching? Was that not the centerpiece of his ministry? Now to be sure, Paul preached clearly on Christian living and on ethics, but everything flowed from a clear understanding that Jesus Christ lived, died, and rose again for sinners. This was the foundation of all of his preaching. This was why he could say to the Corinthians that he knew nothing among them except Jesus Christ and him crucified. For Paul, gospel preaching was the power of God unto salvation. And friends, even if it's fallen out of popularity, it's still true today. This verse reinforces the timelessness of preaching as a means of communicating divine truth. Now, the culture may say that we need videos and pictures and plays, but God says, no, preaching is the means that I have ordained to save sinners and to sanctify saints. Despite the world's claim that the preaching of the cross is foolishness, it remains the power and wisdom of God for those who are called inwardly by his spirit. Therefore, the Word of God preached is central, brothers and sisters, it is central both to the salvation of sinners and to your sanctification. And this is why Pastor Jerry and I, albeit imperfectly, we are very intentional about keeping our worship here Word-centered. because it is through God's word by the power of his spirit that God blesses his church. We don't need paintings of Christ to worship rightly. We don't need stained glass pictures of Christ to worship rightly. We don't need PowerPoint backgrounds with images of Christ to worship rightly. by God's grace, Christ is publicly portrayed. He is vividly set forth before you week in and week out in the faithful preaching of his word. As one preacher has said, when you hear the preaching of the gospel by faith, God turns your ears into eyes. So understand that the Galatians heard Paul clearly. They understood the facts of the gospel intellectually. They believed those facts to be true, but evidently some of them, the ones who had been bewitched, the ones who were in the process of falling away, they had not acted on that knowledge and belief by placing their faith entirely in Christ alone. Similar to the rocky soil in the parable of our Lord, they initially received the word with much joy, and yet there was no depth of soil, no roots, so they wither and fade as fast as they came. And friends, we need to learn here, and this is a dangerous proposition, but we need to learn here that it is possible to fall into grave error, even damning error. It is possible to be bewitched, to be drawn off the old paths, despite having the gospel preached to you week in and week out. Hearing right doctrine is certainly necessary if we are to avoid being bewitched, but it is not sufficient. In and of itself, it is not enough to keep us on the old paths. And with that proposition in view, I'd like to suggest four reasons why Christians can become bewitched by false doctrine, four reasons why Christians can become entranced by false teachers. First, they neglect either the private or public means of grace, or they neglect both. Private Bible reading and prayer. the public gathering of God's people on the Lord's day, where we hear his word read and preached, where we participate in the prayers of the saints, where we sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to the Lord, where we witness baptisms, where we come to the Lord's table together. These means of grace are channels that the Lord uses to grow and strengthen us in the most holy faith. And if we willingly disconnect ourselves from these channels of spiritual growth, we cannot help but become weak and malnourished. And when we are weak and malnourished, we are prone to wander off the old paths. The Puritan William Gouge said this about neglecting the means of grace. Where the means of softening a man's heart are omitted or neglected, the heart will be hardened. as the heart of a man is of its own nature hard, so after it is softened by the public or private means of grace, if those means be not consistently used, the heart will fall into its native hardness. Just as all manner of heavy things being by some means or other lifted upwards off the ground, will of themselves fall down again if those means are taken away. So the heart will return to its natural hardness if the public or private means of grace be removed. Secondly, Christians can become bewitched and drawn off the old paths when they hold the local church at arm's length. Now this can apply to Christians who attend a local church, even faithfully, but never fully commit themselves to the assembly. This is, in one sense, to be commended inasmuch as they participate in some of the means of grace, but it leaves much to be desired. Christians who lack a formal connection to a local church lack formal accountability. And when you lack accountability, you are putting yourself in spiritual danger. Think of restorative church discipline, saints. We often think of that as a topic that is unpleasant to discuss, and certainly we don't like it. We don't like going through it. But consider for a moment that it is a grace given to the church by the Lord Jesus as a means to bring wandering saints back into the old paths. Yet if a Christian willfully chooses to withhold themselves from the authority and oversight of a local church, what they're doing is intentionally removing this spiritual safety net by which the Lord might use to bring them back into the old paths one day. But church members are also guilty of this, of holding the local church at arm's length. Now we often say it here, but God's people are a means of grace. And one of the jobs that Pastor Jerry and I have is to equip all of you for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. Listen to this from Ephesians chapter four. Paul says this, and he, that is Christ, gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds, and teachers to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ. until we all attain to the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children tossed to and fro by the winds and waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness and deceitful schemes. Friends, God's people ministering to one another week by week is one way that the Lord anchors us and keeps us from being carried about by every wind of doctrine. You may be used by the Lord Jesus to keep one of your brothers or sisters on the old paths. But if you are not invested in the life of the church, and I'll just be frank, if you are not here with your brothers and sisters when we gather, if you are not pursuing and receiving hospitality with the saints, the fact is you are more prone to being carried about by every wind of doctrine and you will not be used by the Lord to keep others from being carried about by every wind of doctrine. You have to be here with the saints. Christians must embrace the local church and not keep it at arm's length. Well, thirdly, Christians can become bewitched and drawn off the old paths when they indulge in secret sins. Sinful living is always contrary to gospel truth. Christ came to set us free from bondage to sin, to deliver us from this present evil age. And when a Christian holds on to secret sins, there naturally arises in their hearts and minds an awareness that there is this contradiction that exists. They begin to recognize, hold on a second, there is a difference here and it's a growing difference between what I believe and what I'm doing. This is a problem. Now that much is from God. Yes, it is a problem. But the issue here is instead of repenting and pursuing new obedience, which is the only way to truly deal with gaps that exist between what we believe and what we do, instead of this right response, Christians can be tempted to solve for that contradiction, not by giving up the sin, but by changing what they know to be true about sin in order to close the gap between what they believe and how they live. You'd be tempted to pacify your conscience by altering your profession of faith rather than altering your way of life. And this is a deadly mistake. The only right response to sin is repentance. Finally, Christians can become bewitched and drawn off the old paths when they ingest an unhealthy amount of false teaching. As humans, we naturally have a fascination with newness, with novelty. Like the Athenians, we can be tempted to spend our time in nothing but telling and hearing something new, something breaking, something we've never heard before. But brothers and sisters, when it comes to false doctrine, a little leaven leavens the whole lump. And I'm going to try you, try your patience here by quoting Ryle one more time. If you've ever read Ryle, you can't help but quote Ryle. And he says this about the danger of false doctrine. Quote, the expression used by our Lord in speaking of false doctrine is singularly forcible and appropriate. He calls it leaven. No word more suitable could have been employed. It exactly describes the small beginnings of false doctrine, the subtle, quiet way in which it insensibly pervades a man's religion. the deadly power with which it changes the whole character of this Christianity. Here, in fact, lies the great danger of false doctrine. If it approached us under its true colors, it would do little harm. The great secret of its success is its subtlety and likeness to truth. Every error in religion has been said to be a truth abused. Brothers and sisters, when engaging with false teaching, we must be discerning, we must be on our guard, and we must be careful how deeply we drink of it. Now, I am not saying to you that if you engage with false teaching from a polemical standpoint where you're trying to learn about what other people believe in order to perhaps have a conversation with a friend or a family member that that is wrong or sinful, but I am saying it can be dangerous. And I think I can confidently say that all of us here would be benefited more by taking that time to study and familiarize ourselves with the great doctrines of the Reformed faith rather than curiously exploring the many side trails that divert from the old paths. One final note here, the reality is that these four reasons are not exhaustive and they're not mutually exclusive. They can and oftentimes do feed upon one another. To slip in one area is to risk slipping in each of the others and to lose sight of the old paths where the good way is. Well, so we've seen here in this second heading, a gracious intrusion. Paul, by God's grace, was sent to the Galatians to preach Christ to them. He did so clearly and publicly. He did so unmistakably, which makes their being bewitched and drawn off the old paths all the more foolish. Well, as we enter into our third and final heading, we see Paul facilitate here a spiritual interrogation of the Galatians. Look with me starting at verse two. Let me ask you only this. Did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Are you so foolish, having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness. Well, in these verses, Paul conducts this spiritual interrogation of the Galatians regarding their personal Christian experience. He wants to remind them of the old paths in which they once walked and probe their consciences. And rhetorical questions are a great way to do this. It's a great tool. Instead of presenting the Galatians with different propositional truth statements for them to consider, he asks them rhetorical questions. And what happens whenever someone asks you a rhetorical question? You're all answering it right now in your heads, aren't you? We can't help but answer it. It's our human nature to respond in our minds with an answer. And so the Galatians will automatically answer in their minds these rhetorical questions from Paul, therefore proving his point for them. Now we can see that Paul's exasperated tone, it certainly continues in this section. One commentator notes here that Paul's tone of incredulity throughout this section can be seen in his use of rhetorical questions that pose clearly absurd alternatives to his argument. And Paul's argument here follows a progression, moving from the Galatians' reception of the gospel all the way through to God's demonstration of his power in their midst through the working of miracles. Now, there are four questions here that he uses in this interrogation, and each of those questions covers a particular theme. So the first question in verse two touches on the theme of justification. The second question in verse three touches on the theme of perfection. The third question in verse four focuses upon the theme of tribulation. And finally, the fourth question in verse five focuses upon the theme of demonstration. And we'll look at each one in turn, starting with the first question that addresses the theme of justification. Look again to verse two. Let me ask you only this, did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Quite simply, Paul asks the Galatians, how did you receive the Spirit? How were you justified and made right with God? And he only gives them two options to consider. It's either by faith alone or works alone. Now, remember that the Judaizers' heresy of adding works to faith, what does it do? It renders the grace of God null and void. It renders the death of Christ null and void. So if you add works to faith, you may think that you have a combination of things, but really all you're left with is your works, because faith is gone. And so Paul gives them two options to choose from. Is it works or is it faith? And he asked that question, were you made right with God by faith or works? Now, whoever was reading this letter out loud in the assembly of those Galatian churches, they had just read chapter two, verse 16, just moments before these questions start firing off by Paul. And what does he say in chapter two, verse 16? Yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law, but through faith in Jesus Christ. So we also have believed in Christ Jesus in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law. In case you missed it, because by works of the law, no one will be justified. You need a breather after reading that verse. Three times, he says the same thing. So in light of this teaching on justification, remember it was set forth before the Galatians when Paul was there with them in person so vividly that Paul could say Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified in your presence. In light of this, the answer to Paul's question is obvious, is it not? The Galatians no more received the Spirit through their own works than could Simon the magician purchase the Spirit with gold or silver. The Galatians had received the Spirit not by works of the law, but by hearing with faith. Hearing with faith is the only way to receive the Spirit. It is the only way to be justified and adopted into God's family. It is the only way to be united with Christ and made a recipient of unspeakable spiritual blessings. Hearing with faith. Friends, this is God's appointed way of salvation. Now we could go to many places to touch on this and prove this, but one text stands out to me in particular, and that's from Romans chapter 10, where Paul says this, speaking of hearing with faith, think about this. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved. Okay, pretty straightforward enough, we all know that. How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? Oh, that's a good question. And how are they to believe in him of whom they've never heard? Oh wow, okay, Paul's getting, he's really onto something here. And how are they to hear without someone preaching? And how are they to preach unless they're sent? So there's this connection here between preaching and calling upon the Lord and being saved. The two go hand in hand. Hearing with faith is God's appointed way of salvation. And by the way, this is again why we are a word-centered church. It is why we are a missional church. We desire to glorify God, and God is glorified in the salvation of sinners, and sinners are saved when they hear with faith the preaching of the gospel. Preaching the gospel domestically, preaching the gospel internationally, both are necessary because hearing with faith is God's appointed way of salvation. As Paul asked the Galatians, so I will ask you, did you receive the Spirit by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Brothers and sisters, walk in the old paths and do not depart from them. Let's move now to Paul's second question of this spiritual interrogation, addressing now the theme of perfection. Look to verse three. Are you so foolish? Having begun by the Spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh?" Now notice that Paul sneaks two questions into one here by asking firstly, are you so foolish? This is the same word that he uses in verse one. Paul's asking them, are you so senseless? Are you so thoughtless? Are you so foolish? And the answer, again, with all rhetorical questions, it's implied in the question itself. Yes, you are so foolish, you are so senseless, so as to think that you can start with the Spirit, the Spirit, by the way, that you received by hearing with faith, you can start there only to be perfected by the flesh. When the believing Galatians were baptized with the Holy Spirit, they received all things needful for their Christian life. They received the Spirit of God. They received all the benefits of union with Christ, regeneration, justification, sanctification, adoption, glorification. The Spirit himself is the one who is the guarantee of these things until we receive the full inheritance. And Paul's point to the Galatians is that nothing else is needful for them. they don't start by the spirit only to have their salvation perfected by the flesh, it doesn't make any sense. And this word perfected means to bring an activity to a successful finish. One translation renders Paul's question this way. Are you so foolish after beginning with the spirit, will you now reach the goal in the flesh? If the Galatians had to reach the goal, if they had to persevere, if they had to bring their salvation to a successful finish by the flesh, by their own efforts, they would be damned. And the same goes for you and me. If God simply jumpstarts us at the beginning of our spiritual journey and then turns it over to us to complete the work, we are doomed. We need him to complete the work that he started in us. Now this was the hangup with the Judaizers. They thought that Christ was a good start. But come on, Christ isn't enough. You gotta have something more than that. Sure, you need to start with faith. Faith is good. We love faith. We preach faith. But you need something else added to that if you really wanna be perfected. This was their argument. They had a Christ plus gospel. But a Christ plus gospel is worthless. It's not a gospel. It's worthless to justify you before God, and it's also worthless to sanctify you as you live a life unto God. Think for a moment of the prodigal son. Remember this story. He's working, feeding the pigs, and he's starving. He wants to eat their food. And he's like, okay, what? Oh God, what have I done? He's convicted of his sin. but he doesn't despair. He remembers, I have a gracious and loving father who will certainly receive me back. So then what does he do? He mixes grace and works. He comes up with this formula. Okay, what I'm gonna do, I'm gonna go back, I'm gonna throw myself upon his mercy, and then I'm gonna tell him, I'm gonna be your servant. Treat me like a hired servant, and let me earn my keep with you. Well, he gets back home and he starts his pre-planned speech. And if you remember, his father cuts him off. He doesn't let him get to this plea where he says, let me be your servant, father. His father cuts him off. He has none of it. Instead, he welcomes him home as his long lost beloved son. The father would not allow his son to be received back by his free grace only to put him to work to maintain his status as a beloved son. Friends, the Galatians in this sense had been bewitched. They had received the spirit by hearing with faith. They were recipients of God's free grace, but then they were entranced. Then they were pulled off the old paths and they were convinced that they could somehow repay God for his free grace if only they performed the right works. And friends, this is not how the grace of God functions. It is not conditional grace. God does not give his grace out on condition. As we'll see later in chapter three, As a result of being bewitched, as a result of being drawn off the old paths, the Galatians, Paul says, were falling away from grace. What a terrifying statement that is. As Paul asked the Galatians, so I will ask you, having begun by the Spirit, brothers and sisters, are you now being perfected by the flesh? walk in the old paths, do not depart from them. Let's move now to Paul's third question of the spiritual interrogation, addressing the theme of tribulation now. Look with me to verse four. Did you suffer so many things in vain, if indeed it was in vain? Now, to be quite clear, the word suffer here could also be translated as experience. So it's possible that Paul is speaking of the Galatians' positive experiences in Christ here, asking them if they had experienced good things in Christ in vain. However, I believe that we should see this as a reference to the tribulations experienced by the Galatians after they professed Christ. and one dictionary defines this word suffer as, quote, undergoing an experience usually difficult and normally with the implication of physical or psychological suffering. Now it's safe to assume that these churches in Galatia had had their fair share of persecutions, both by the Jews and the unbelieving pagans in the region. In fact, this is what Paul himself warned them of before he left after preaching Christ to them on that first missionary journey. We read in Acts 14 that on their return journey to Antioch, Paul and Barnabas circle back through the churches in Galatia, and the text says this, they were strengthening the souls of the disciples encouraging them to continue in the faith, and saying that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God. So it would be natural to understand Paul here as speaking of the sufferings that the Galatians had endured for the sake of Christ. Had these sufferings been in vain? Were these sufferings all for nothing now that they were wandering off the old paths, following after the Judaizers? Well, in a way, Paul answers his own question by quickly adding this statement, if indeed it was in vain. And we see here a measure of hope in Paul's tone. He's not writing the Galatians off completely. Yes, he is rebuking them harshly as they rightly deserve and as they need, but he is hopeful nonetheless that God will use this rebuke to lead them to repentance. Now, brothers and sisters, think for a moment. What have you endured? What have you suffered for the sake of Christ? What relationships have changed? What relationships have even been destroyed because of your union with Christ, because of your faithfulness to Christ? What job opportunities were closed to you because of your relationship to Christ? What experiences Have you had where you've been maligned by your peers because you wouldn't follow after that same flood of debauchery as them? What tensions have been introduced in your family relationships because of your faithfulness to Christ? As Paul asked the Galatians, so I will ask you, has your Christian suffering been in vain? Brothers and sisters, ensure that your suffering is not for nothing. Walk in the old paths and do not depart from them. Well, let us move now to Paul's fourth and final question of the spiritual interrogation, addressing the theme of demonstration. Look to verse five. Does he who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith, just as Abraham believed God and it was counted to him as righteousness? Well, Paul's final question to the Galatians is in relation to their experience of God's demonstration of his power, specifically through the supplying of the Spirit and the working of miracles. Now, William Hendrickson points out here that this word translated as among you, the miracles that God worked among you, it can be translated also as within you. And so this means that the miracles Paul makes reference to here extend beyond just the miraculous external sign gifts that were on display through the apostles amongst the Galatian, and it extends actually to the inward miracle of regeneration, the giving of faith and repentance and the believer's justification in Christ. So think for a moment about this great scene in Galatia. How amazing must this have been to see this? Now, in our day and age, sadly, it's a wonder to us if even one person repents and trusts in Christ. I mean, it does, it floors me when someone does that in this day and age. But the Galatians were privileged to see God working in such a mighty way among them and within them. They were hearing the preaching of the word. They had Christ in him crucified clearly and vividly preached to them. God was changing the hearts of many of them, granting them the gift of faith that they might hear the gospel and believe. And the apostles on top of all of that were healing and working miracles amongst them as an additional validation of the message that they preached. What a time to be alive. What a scene! But the question at hand is this. Did God supply the Spirit to you? Did He work miracles among you by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Well, the answer is as obvious to us as it was to them. God works by faith. And the reference to Abraham in verse six confirms this. Paul says, just as Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness. Now, we're not going to drill into this verse and the subsequent verses about Abraham until next time, but suffice it to say, to hear with faith is to believe. That's what it means to hear with faith, is to believe the message preached. Now, what did Abraham do? Abraham believed God. We might say that Abraham heard the promise of God with faith. He believed, he heard with faith. And it was by hearing with faith that God accounted him as righteous. It wasn't based on any work that Abraham performed. So just as Abraham was accounted righteous by hearing with faith, so also the Galatians experienced the demonstration of God's power by hearing with faith. As Paul asked the Galatians, so I will ask you, does the God who supplies the spirit to you and the God who worked the miracle of regeneration in your heart, does he do so by works of the law or by hearing with faith? Brothers and sisters, walk in the old paths and do not depart from them. Well, I have two additional applications for you this morning, first for my fellow believers, my brothers and sisters in Christ, if you are still walking in the old paths, if you are still clinging tightly to the apostles' doctrine, if you still hold that one is justified by faith in Christ alone and not by works of the law, if this is you, consider what cause you have for thankfulness, that the Lord has kept you steadfast in his truth. This is no small thing. As myriads of professing Christians fall away and deconstruct as they apostatize, be thankful that the Lord has preserved you. What have you done to earn that? Nothing. One of the first things that God shows a person when he regenerates them is their own instability. And again, Ryle once commented, our hearts are as weak and unstable as water. Yet he's preserved you anyway. He has kept you in the faith despite your many weaknesses. So be quick to give him thanks for that. Be thankful for God's work of preservation. Secondly, for those who are outside of Christ. And my exhortation for you, if you are an unbeliever, it's the same exhortation that I've been giving all morning. Walk in the old paths. And I'll tell you, the gate which guards the old paths is the Lord Jesus Christ himself. And there's only one key that'll get you into that gate, and that's faith. Understand that you cannot be made right with God by any other means than by hearing the gospel with faith. And I'll tell you, God so loved the world that he sent his only begotten son to live, die, and rise again for sinners just like you. And if you would but believe in him, if you would hear that message with faith, you would receive the free gift of eternal life. God will set you on the old paths where the good way is. God will give you his spirit to lead you and to guide you and to preserve you along your way to heaven. So by God's grace, would today be the day that you turn from sin and turn to Christ? Would today be the day that you actually begin walking on the old paths for the very first time, never to depart from them until you see him face to face? Let's pray. Father, bless your word to us now, we pray. We thank you for those of us who are in Christ, that you have so graciously kept us, despite our many weaknesses, despite the attacks of Satan, despite the temptations of the world, you have kept us in the faith. We pray, Lord, never let hold of us, never let us go. For those who are outside of Christ, Lord, I pray that you would impress upon them a sense of urgency, that they must enter through the gate that is the Lord Jesus Christ and walk on the old paths by your grace, that there is no other way to avoid certain destruction. So Lord, would you do the work that only you can do and regenerate the hearts of sinners, make Christ irresistible to them, grant the gifts of repentance and faith so that you may be glorified in the salvation of sinners. We pray this in Jesus' name, amen.