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.
Notice, he did not specifically say, “Satan hindered you”, he said, “Who did hinder you”.
Paul recognized that God uses people, but so does the devil. Every church has disgruntled church members that the devil will try to use to destroy the church.
I know people who profess to be saved, and their greatest joy would be to ride by the church that they left and see it burned down or closed down.
WHY DO THEY HATE THE CHURCH SO MUCH?
Most of them have such large egos that they figure when they leave, the church will be forced to close down. And when the church continues without them, it makes them angry.
These are the ones that try to find the weakest members in the church and try to use them in two ways:
(1) TO GET INFORMATION OUT OF THEM ABOUT HOW THE CHURCH IS DOING WITHOUT THEM
They want to hear how their leaving has affected the church in a negative way. The last thing they want to hear is how God is blessing, and people are getting saved and baptized.
(2) TO WORK THROUGH THEM TO TRY AND DESTROY GOD’S WORK
They are angry as a wet hen, and the devil will do everything he can to work through them to try and destroy a church. Now if a church member associates with people like this long enough, they will corrupt them.
Paul said, “Who did hinder you…”? Paul knew why they were not growing in the Lord any longer. They have been corrupted by these trouble makers.
Romans 16:17 says, “Now I beseech you, brethren, mark them which cause divisions and offences contrary to the doctrine which ye have learned; and avoid them.”
The negative change that occurred in their life did not come from the Lord. Look at verse 8, we read, “This persuasion cometh not of him that calleth you.”
Paul said THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS LIKE RUNNING A RACE, but someone has hindered you from running the race.
II. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS LIKE LEAVEN
Look at verse 9, we read, “A little leaven leaveneth the whole lump.”
Leaven stands for evil in the scriptures. Paul is using this COMMON THING, leaven, as an illustration to show them what has hindered them.
It only takes a little leaven to permeate the whole lump of dough. The point that Paul is making is that it only takes a little false teaching in the church, and it will affect the whole church.
Paul was suggesting that if they allowed these false teachers to spread their false doctrine, it will soon affect the whole church.
HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?
False teachers know that if they are going to be successful, they must win the hearts of God’s people.
Illus: When American troops fought Saddam Hussein’s army and destroyed them, the next step in setting up a new government was for the American soldiers to win the hearts of the people of Iraq. Why? Because if they can not establish a friendly relationship, they will never be able to get these people to follow them.
False teachers will get people loving them, and soon people will start going along with them because they have become their best friends.
Illus: If you will examine every church split that has ever occurred, some things began to happened before the devil stepped in and split the church. A church never just splits. Way before a church split ever happened, the devil began to sneak around planting seeds of dissension.
HOW DOES HE DO THIS?
The devil placed these individuals in the church, and these people soon became some of the church member’s best friends.
In fact, the church members begin to love them more than they love the Lord, and when the devil raises his ugly head and thinks it is time to split the church, many of the weaker Christians will stick with the trouble makers, because these trouble makers have convinced them they are their friends.
Illus: Dr. Odell Belger’s church hired a young man and his wife to move from Oregon to Columbia, South Carolina.
They interviewed the man before they hired him and checked on what he believed the Bible teaches. He answered everything correctly, and the church agreed to pay to have him and his wife move to Columbia, South Carolina. Once he arrived, they placed him on the staff to work with the teens and young adults. On Sundays he taught the young adult class.
Several months went by, and he began to have private meetings in his home with some of the young couples. Then one of the young adults came to Dr. Belger and said, “Pastor, Bill is teaching some things I have never heard before!” The Pastor said, “What is he teaching?” He said, “He is teaching that Christ died for some but did not die for everyone. That is, He has predestined some for heaven and some for hell.”
Dr. Belger called a meeting with him and the deacons of the church and said, “I need to ask you something, are you a hyper-Calvinist?” “The reason I am asking this is because one of your class members stated you are teaching ‘Limited atonement.’” He lowered his head and spoke softly and said, “Yes, I believe in hyper-Calvinism!” Dr. Belger said, “When we interviewed you, you never said a thing about believing this.” Dr. Belger then said, “You are welcome to continue attending the church if you do not cause any problems in the church doctrinally, but as of today you can no longer teach in this church!”
Listen, a church can not sit back and allow false teaching to spread throughout the church. The Word of God says, “A little leaven leaventh the whole lump.”
Paul knew that if they did not “Root out” these false teachers, they would soon corrupt the whole church.
The Galatian church had been taught the truth from God’s Word. They knew they were saved by grace alone excluding all works. If these false teachers were not rooted out, they would soon have the Galatian church in bondage to:
• Rituals
• Ceremonies
• Good works
Instead of approaching God through the works of Christ.
Then Paul says something that is astounding, absolutely astounding! Paul has been viciously attacked by Satan and his crowd. This congregation sat back and allowed these troublemakers to come into the church and do these things to him and to God’s work.
Look at these terrible things that have been said about Paul:
• That he was not a true apostle
• That he did not preach the truth
After all this, Paul says to them in verse 10, “I have confidence in you through the Lord, that ye will be none otherwise minded: but he that troubleth you shall bear his judgment, whosoever he be.”
It is important that we recognize how Paul said he had confidence in them. He said, “I have confidence in you through the Lord…”
He is saying that these false teachers have corrupted the teachings of God’s Word, but he has confidence through the Lord that if the Galatians will put their trust in the Lord, God can straighten this thing out.
The only way the church can be victorious over these problems is by having confidence in the Lord.
• Paul explains that they are not suffering at the hand of the evil doers, because they have been going along with them
• Paul explains why he had been suffering at the hands of these evil doers. It is because he has not been preaching their damnable teachings of justification by circumcision, but instead he has been exposing their false teachings.
Look at verse, 11, we read, “And I, brethren, if I yet preach circumcision, why do I yet suffer persecution? then is the offence of the cross ceased.”
Then Paul said that these false teachers needed to be cut off! Look at verse 12, we read, “I would they were even cut off which trouble you.”
Does Paul have an attitude problem? No! Paul simply:
• Loved TRUTH above ERROR
• Loved the LORD above MORTALS
He prefers there not be a choice, but if there must be a choice, then He is going to go long with putting God first in his life. He wants them to do the same, but for them to do this they have to make a choice.
Conclusion:
I. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS LIKE RUNNING A RACE
II. THE CHRISTIAN LIFE IS LIKE LEAVEN
