The Attributes Of Optimism Series

Bob Harrington tells of how he was standing on the street

preaching when an angry bartender took a mug of beer and poured

it on his head. He said to the bartender, "Come here." When he

came over he said to him, "I want to thank you for that." The

bartender said, "You want to thank me for that?" "Yes," said

Harrington, "I want to thank you for that because it makes me

realize I am saved. If I didn't have the Lord in my heart I would

have stomped you through that blacktop." The bartender

responded, "I'm glad you are saved too preacher."

The real test of your Christian character is how you react to

negatives. If you meet negatives with negatives, your life has not

risen above the level of the world. To get angry at one who is angry

at you is the path of least resistance, and is a path the weakest can

travel. It takes spiritual strength to be kind to one who is angry, and

to be patient in a time of affliction. Anyone can say praise the Lord

and hallelujah when all their dreams are coming true, and they

don't have an enemy in the world. Unfortunately, that state of life

doesn't last long, if it ever comes. Therefore, the real test of

Christian optimism is seeing in how a believer reacts when the road

gets rough.

This letter to the Galatians gives us a beautiful opportunity to see

how a great optimist like Paul reacts to negatives. His labor is being

undone, and all his fruit is threatened. Everything seems to be going

against him, and he is under heavy attack from the Judaizers. There

is no question about the fact that he is deeply disappointed at the

turn of events in the Galatians church. He is clearly aggravated and

angry. Now is the time to look at Paul's attitudes to see the

foundation for his optimism. It was easy to be optimistic in his letter

to the Philippians. He could overflow with rejoicing, for they were

doing wonderful in their growth in grace. The Galatians church is a

different story, and it is here that we should look for the clues as to

how to be an optimist in negative circumstances.

In verse 5 Paul ends his introduction with a doxology. He reaches

a high note of positive optimism before he plunges into the negative

task of rebuke and defense. This doxology is the point from which

Paul launches his attack, for it is the basis for his incurable

optimism. He has to fight a battle on the level of this present evil

world, but as he just stated, in Christ we are delivered from this

present evil world. In any battle the forces that control the high

points have the advantage. Paul makes it clear in his introduction to

this battle that he is about to enter that he does so from the high

point of advantage. The very Gospel he is defending is a Gospel of

deliverance from the world. He will not be fighting on the level of

those who attack him with their narrow, limited, and pessimistic

views, but on a level far above that, which is made possible by Christ

who enables us to rise above the world.

This deliverance from the low level of the world, which is bound

by sin, to the heights of freedom in Christ is, says Paul, according to

the will of our God and Father. Just knowing it is God's will that

the Gospel of deliverance is a reality assures Paul that he cannot lose

in his fight for its defense. He ends with the doxology in which we

see three attitudes expressed which become the foundation of an

incurable and unchangeable optimism. First is-

I. THE ATTITUDE OF PRAISE.

"To whom be glory forever and ever." The glory is for both the

Father who willed it, and the Son who won it. What has been

accomplished by Christ is a fact that can never be altered, and

whatever evil perversions enter the world, nothing can change the

fact that the Gospel of deliverance is a reality. Knowing this, Paul

gives this victory shout of praise, even before he begins the fight.

You cannot defeat a man who knows he cannot lose, and the man

who knows that is a perpetual man of praise. As long as a believer

maintains a proper perspective on what God's will has already

accomplished he cannot help but have an attitude of praise.

Glory has many meanings in Scripture, but here it is synonymous

with praise. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy

Spirit, means praise be to the three Persons of the Godhead. Glory

often refers to the dazzling splendor of His nature also, but that