Grace From Galatians! (13 Of 19)

But anytime you work with people and try to get them to arrive at the right conclusion, you find it is a difficult task to say the least. Some folks will go years and years making the same mistakes and getting the same results. It never seems to dawn on them that perhaps they are doing something wrong.

Illus: The Dakota Indian tribal wisdom says that when you discover you are riding a dead horse, the best strategy is to dismount.

Paul wanted these Galatians to realize they were trying to ride a dead horse and they needed to dismount. However, in this modern age, we often try other strategies with dead horses. Some believe the solution to riding a dead horse is simply to:

• Buy a bigger whip

• Change riders

• Appoint a committee to study the horse

• Visit other places to see how they ride dead horses

• Create a training session to increase our riding ability

• Pass a resolution declaring: "This horse is not dead"

But one of the most useless things we can do in our private life and in God’s church is to ride a dead horse.

And this is exactly what these Galatians were doing. Riding the horse of rituals would not take them anywhere spiritually. This was a dangerous path they were taking. Paul was trying to warn them.

Illus: A man entering the little country store, noticed a sign saying; “DANGER! BEWARE OF DOG!” posted on the glass door.

Inside he noticed a harmless old hound dog asleep on the floor beside the cash register.

He asked the store manager, "Is THAT the dog folks are supposed to beware of?"

"Yep, that's him," he replied. The stranger couldn't help but be amused. He said, “That certainly doesn't look like a dangerous dog to me. Why in the world would you post that sign?" "Because," the owner replied, "Before I posted that sign, people kept tripping over him."

Paul was trying to warn these Galatians of the danger of falling back into the ritual of circumcision.

• In the last appeal he used COMMON SENSE to try and reach them.

• In this appeal he used COMMON THINGS they were familiar with

For example, he said-

I. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS LIKE RUNNING A RACE

Look at verse 7, we read, “Ye did run well; who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?”

Paul is saying that the Christian life is like running a race. Notice, Paul acknowledges that they started the race off well.

• They trusted Christ for salvation

• They had been living for Christ

• They had been living holy lives

Oops! What happened?

This is one of the sad things we see in churches even today. Some will start off in the Christian life in an impressive manner. That is:

• They accept the Lord

• They faithfully attend the house of God

• They bring folks to church

• They support God’s church with God’s tithes that He told them to give

Oops! Then something happens to them.

It is always sad when someone shows great potential and then falls spiritually.

WHY IS IT SAD?

(1) BECAUSE THEY ARE NOW OUT OF THE WILL OF GOD AND GOD CAN NO LONGER BLESS THEM

(2) BECAUSE THEY HAVE SADDENED THE HEART OF GOD

Every parent knows that our children can do more to make our hearts sad or glad than anyone else. And the same thing is true for the children of God. We can make the heart of God glad or sad. And when we begin to slow down in our service for the Lord, it saddens His heart.

(3) BECAUSE THEY HURT GOD’S CHURCH

People often say that when this happens, something must be wrong with the church. No! Many times it has nothing to do with the church, it has everything to do with disgracing the Lord’s work before a lost world.

WHAT CAUSES THEM TO DO SUCH A THING?

Many times it is because they quit spending time at the Lord’s feet in prayer, and begin spending their time with the wrong kind of people, sometimes within the church.

This is the case here. Paul knows who is doing the hindering.

Look at verse 7, we read, “Who did hinder you that ye should not obey the truth?”

When Paul asked this question, he was alluding to the fact that they were allowing these false teachers to corrupt them. These trouble makers that Paul is referring to are people who hated Paul and the message of grace he taught.

Associating with these trouble makers had corrupted them, and now their feelings for the apostle Paul, who they once held in high esteem, are beginning to change.

Listen, we need to select our friends carefully, because we soon become like the people we associate with.