Jesus + Nothing = Everything!

SERMON OUTLINE:

• He Reminds Them They are Free in Christ (vs 8-12).

• He Reminds Them of Their Past Friendship (vs 13-16).

• He Reminds Them he is Their Spiritual Father (vs 17-20).

SERMON BODY:

Ill:

• Whales are one of the most impressive creatures on earth.

• If you watch them swimming in the ocean, they are truly amazing.

• They are creatures of strength, majesty and freedom.

• But tragically with their immense size comes a problem,

• They can become trapped when they have come too close to shore.

• When a whale becomes beached,

• The strength and freedom they had in the open water is gone.

• A beached whale is a horrible sight;

• The freedom the whale enjoyed in the open water has suddenly vanished;

• As the whale becomes enslaved by the sandbar.

• You may well have seen stories on the news of beached whales being rescued.

• Teams of people kept the whales wet,

• While others worked to get the whales free from the sandbar,

• That would cause their certain death if something were not done to help them.

• Once rescued they could return to the open water,

• And enjoy their freedom once again!

• TRANSITION: Why would a whale who had been set free to enjoy its freedom,

• Want to turn back to the sandbar and get themselves beached again?

• It certainly would not be a choice that it would voluntarily make,

• But it could happen by accident or by unusual events and circumstances.

In the book of Galatian’s, we find that the apostle Paul is puzzled.

• Because these Galatian believers have done something as perplexing as the whale.

• The difference is they have chosen the foolish and dangerous action,

• To give up the freedom of the ocean (their freedom in Christ),

• To be beached on the sandbar (to live again under the Old Testament Law).

• Which would put them into spiritual bondage.

• In this section we will see the apostle Paul;

• Use three ways to plead with his audience to hold on to Christ and to Christ alone!

(1). He Reminds Them They Are Free in Christ (vs 8-12).

“Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods. 9 But now that you know God – or rather are known by God – how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? 10 You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! 11 I fear for you, that somehow I have wasted my efforts on you. 12 I plead with you, brothers and sisters, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong.”

The Living Bible paraphrases verse 9 this way:

“And now that you have found God (or I should say, now that God has found you), how can it be that you want to go back again and become slaves once more to another poor, weak, useless religion of trying to get to heaven by obeying God’s laws?”

Ill:

• No-one can try to please God by their best efforts of keeping the rules,

• A good example of this is John Wesley.

• (The seventeenth century Anglican clergyman, evangelist, and joint founder of the Methodist movement)

• Before his conversion:

• He was the son of a clergyman and he became a clergyman himself.

• He was orthodox in belief, faithful in morality, and full of good works.

• He did ministry in prisons, sweatshops, and slums.

• He gave food, clothing, and education to slum children.

• He observed both Saturday and Sunday as the Sabbath.

• He sailed from England to the American colonies as a missionary.

• He studied his Bible, prayed, fasted, and gave regularly.

• Yet all the time, he was bound in the chains of his own religious efforts,

• Because he trusted in what he could do to make himself right before God,

• Instead of trusting in what Jesus had done.

• One evening (May 24, 1738) Wesley was persuaded to attend a meeting,

• Wesley records these great words in his journal:

"In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a Society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ; Christ alone, for salvation; and an assurance was given me, that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death."