Tonight we're looking at Galatians chapter three, particularly the first three verses of Galatians chapter three. And as I do so, I ask this question of you. What is the proof of your personal worth or value? What is the proof of your personal worth or value? why the quantity and quality of the work I perform, obviously, that is the proof of my worth and value. Is that really the case? From the standards set forth in the world, that's the case. And because we pressure ourselves with the standard of the world, we too as Christians take upon ourselves the task of proving our worth to others and to ourselves with our work. And there is not a one of us here tonight that is exempt. And I'm pointing the finger at myself when I say this. We worry and we fret, do we not, about our worth. When I go home and visit my mother, who for years has been confined to a wheelchair, this is one of the first things that I hear. I'm not productive. I'm not worth anything. I can't do anything. And what am I to say to her? That's right, mom, you're not a productive member of the workforce in this country and you're not worth a thing. Is that what I am to tell her? Too often, when we look at the standard of the world, this is exactly the direction we will take. And so we worry and we fret because we do not meet this standard, which the world lays before us of proving ourselves by the quality and the quantity of work which we perform. Such a view, may I say, in all reverence, is contrary to the gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ. Galatians chapter three. This is the only thing I want to find out from you. Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law? Or by hearing with faith? Did you work for the spirit? Did you prove yourself to God that you were worthy of his grace, and so he gave you the gift of the Holy Spirit. Is this what took place? Paul asks a question, does he not? In verse two, this is the only thing I want to find out from you. Did you receive the spirit by the works of the law or by hearing with faith? Paul contrasts faith and works. What is faith? Faith is the denying of the ability of self in favor of the ability of Christ. You are not a recipient of the Spirit of the living God because you earned it. Reminds me of the commercial on television, right? Smith Barney, they make money the old-fashioned way. They earn it. You are not a recipient of the grace of God, however, because you earned it. That's not the case. Paul knows it and you know it. Isn't that right? Note what Paul says in verse three now. Are you so foolish, having begun by the spirit, are you now perfected by the flesh? What is the flesh? When Paul writes in his epistles, the flesh is that which is contrary to God, that which is devoid of the spirit of the living God. To operate in the flesh, in the realm which is contrary to God and devoid of the spirit of God, is to use the spirit of the world, to use the tools of the world. Paul also uses the term perfected. Are you so foolish, having begun by the spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? This word perfected is pretty interesting. The word perfected means that you reach the end for which you were created. You reach your goal or your purpose in life. The NIV says attain perfection, that is, you attain the end for which you were created. The King James Version says made perfect, that is, you reach the goal for which God created you. Now, let me ask you a question. As a Christian. As a Christian. How do you reach the goal or the goals set before you by God? How do you reach those goals? Do you use the way of the flesh? Without the spirit of God. Do you use the tools of the world? Do you set out to prove yourself before God? By the work that you do, in other words, you see, we get right back to that kind of construction. Look again at verse three, are you so foolish? Dare I ask that question? I ask it of myself, are you so foolish? The word foolish here means mindless, mindless. Operating without thought. In other words, taking your mind out of gear and doing that which in essence is irrational. Of course, as a man, I always accuse The ladies of my household of engaging their mouths before they engage their brains, and that's really not very nice. That's really not very nice. They can challenge me of that also. But it's the same sort of thought here. To be foolish is to be mindless, to act without thought. about what you're doing. Now, we know, do we not, that to act in the flesh without the power of the Holy Spirit of God is contrary to the way of our faith. It is contrary to the gospel. We know that's true. But, oh, how we fall into that trap of taking our minds out of gear and doing Many things in this life. As the world. Calls us to do them. And I think this is why Paul asked the question in verse one, O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? It is, though you see, it is, though a spell has been cast. Upon you. That's what Paul is saying. Now, some of the commentators go so far as to say that Paul is talking about the magicians and the sorcerers and the sorceresses of the time. Who actually were going around casting spells. We really don't need to go that quite that far. Because really, what is taking place here is that new Christians are being challenged, new Christians are being challenged. They are being told, wait a minute, sure, you can believe in Jesus, but in addition to this, you must also follow the laws of Moses in order to be saved. And these new Christians are being bewitched by the words of these Judaizers, if you will. And the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, it is said, must be supplemented by works. Today, the Mormons are telling people that this is the case. Sure, you can believe in Jesus, but the only way you're going to get to glory is to perform particular acts for God. The Church of Christ today adds works to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, and they say that the specific work which must be added to the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ is baptism. And Christians do the same thing. Presbyterians do that, too. In a presbytery that I was a part of for years, some of the men prided themselves in how many committees they worked on and how many committee reports they wrote and how many times they went to General Assembly or how many times they went to Synod. And we can do the same thing on a local level. William Hendrickson in commenting on this particular set text says a Christ supplemented. Is a Christ supplanted. And I think that's true. Our problem is. That in a literal fashion, we become bewitched by work. And even in the church of our Lord Jesus Christ, We sense that we must prove ourselves to the other members of the congregation by what we do. And if this is the case, in a literal sense, we are bewitched by work. It's contrary to the gospel. We don't prove ourselves to God. But it is unfortunate when we carry the same philosophy over into our relationships with other people. And so I would ask the question of you again. How how do you value? Or how do you measure your value to others? Is it by the quality and quantity of work which you do? Now, suppose you have a disability. Harry's not here tonight, and I suppose that most often when we would think of a disability, we would think of someone like Harry. But let me challenge you. Are not every one of us incapable of doing specific tasks because of disability, no matter how minor it might be? I think that's true. So where is your worth found? Are you in trouble because you have a minor disability? Now, I've spoken to young people in chapel situations, and here are these young men in high school or in college who are lifting weights, and my, I'll tell you, I can't do that anymore. I just can't do that anymore. Am I of less value from that perspective? There's not a one of us in this room who doesn't suffer from the problem of not being able to do something that they did years ago. And so we can very easily fall into a trap here. of measuring ourselves by our capabilities and our value by our work. And we should not do that. You know, today, those who favor abortion and those who favor euthanasia. Take this very same tact. Those who favor abortion are saying now, look, This infant is going to be born with a disability and will not have the quality of life and will not be able to do the things that others will do, so let's get rid of him. And the other end of the spectrum is spoken of in the same language. It wasn't that long ago That the governor of Colorado said that elderly people ought to get out of the way. So more productive people. Could do the work that's necessary, they're taking up too much room and too much money. Let's not fall into this trap. That value. is expressed in terms of what we may produce. To fall into that trap is to be bewitched by work. And what happens when we are bewitched by work is we begin to worry and we begin to fret about our ability to produce at school, on the farm, on the athletic field, and we begin to measure, do we not? How many bushels of wheat per acre am I going to be able to produce and we fret? How many buckets am I going to be able to dunk on the basketball court? After all, my value is tied up in these things and my friends, it's contrary to the gospel of our Lord. When we worry about ourselves in this fashion. Look again at Galatians chapter three and verse three. Are you so foolish? Having begun by the spirit, are you now being perfected by the flesh? Are you reaching your goals on the terms of the world? That's another way to put the question. For the Christian, it ought not to be this way. It is attempting to complete life's tasks in the flesh. It is a failure to trust the living God. And it places tremendous pressure on us as individuals when we try to live this way. Tremendous pressure. And I want to tell you something. It's pressure we will not be able to live up to. That's the bottom line. Here's another aspect of it. When we take this kind of position. Generally what happens is this. We work so people will notice us. We work for self-adulation. We work for ourselves rather than for others. And this, too, is contrary to the gospel. Of Jesus Christ. Turn with me, if you would, to First Corinthians 13. First Corinthians 13, four and five. The definition of love is given. Love is patient, love is kind, is not jealous, love does not brag, it is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly, it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered. Love, in other words, does not point at itself. Love is always others oriented. And that's the way the Christian life should be because this is the way God is. For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. others oriented. This is the love of our God. And when we express the love of our God, we will always be others oriented. We will work for the sake of others, not for ourselves. And that's an important principle for us to grasp, it seems to me. And so if you are bewitched by work. What is the solution? Repent. That's the solution. Repent. Let me tell you something. I've been there, as many of you have been. And the solution is to repent and to change. Because there is much more satisfaction, there is much more glory in simply working for others, in taking the position of John the Baptist, for instance, when he said, I must decrease And he must increase. Praise the Lord. There is much more satisfaction in that sort of thing. The other side of the coin is the stress. And the worry. What about the goals of life? What about the end towards which God has called you? God will take care of that. Yes, we must work and we must labor. But let us always remember the principle again, which is given through the shorter catechism. We are to do all to the glory of God. What is man's chief end? To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever. And so, whatever you do, whether you eat or drink or whatsoever you do, do all to the glory of God. And the other things will fall out in this life. I've told you the story, haven't I, about how I got to seminary. How it was that. I really felt that God wanted me in seminary, and it was seemingly impossible for me to get there. And how God in his providence opened the doors of the Pentagon in Washington, so Denny Prudhoe could go to seminary. Now, that's the way of our God. If God has a calling for you and a work for you, He will open the doors appropriately that you may go forward and fulfill that calling. And you need not fret and worry and attempt to prove yourself so that God will do his work. No, no. He will do it and he will be glorified in it. And so it seems to me again that the bottom line is simply this. If we want to reduce the level of stress and worry within our lives, We need to follow the Apostle Paul, and we need to run the race of God given to us by him, not in the flesh, but by the power and the grace given to us by his spirit. And the end will be very great and glorious for each of us, and there will be less trouble for us in the interim. Let's pray together. Father in Heaven, thank you again for who you are. Bless us as your people and help us, Lord, that we might run the race of faith, yes, We know that's how it's characterized in Scripture. Not by the standards of the world, O God, but by your standards. And may you have all the glory and the honor. In Jesus' name, Amen.