You Foolish People! Series

INTRO.- People often do dumb things or foolish things.

ILL.- June 16, 2009, BRUSSELS - A Belgian teenager told police how she came from a tattoo parlor with 56 stars over one side of her face, rather than the three she had asked for.

"I said this part, the top, is ok, but not the rest," Kimberley Vlaeminck. The 18-year-old said she fell asleep during the procedure, and woke up in pain when her nose was being tattooed. Later it was revealed that she lied! Foolish girl!

ILL.- June 19, 2009. - JEFFERSONVILLE, Ind. — A southern Indiana lawyer says he's embarrassed and has apologized after being found asleep headfirst in neighbor's trash can after a night of drinking. Well, I guess so! Foolish lawyer!

ILL.- New York: As a female shopper exited a convenience store, a man grabbed her purse and ran. The clerk called 911 immediately and the woman was able to give them a detailed description of the purse snatcher. Within minutes, the police had apprehended the snatcher. They put him in the cruiser and drove back to the store. The thief was then taken out of the car and told to stand there for a positive ID. To which he replied, "Yes Officer, that's her. That's the lady I stole the purse from." Foolish thief.

People also get dumb ideas about God or perhaps from God's Word.

Here, for example, are some things that people think about God and/or the Christian life, which are not exactly accurate!

- Forgiving means forgetting. We humans can forget some stuff but not everything. We don't have the ability to forget like God who said, "I will remember their sins no more." Heb. 8:12

- God has a blueprint for my life. Not exactly. God wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. (I Tim. 2:4) but this doesn't mean they will. Even we who know the Lord don't do everything the Lord wants in life. His blueprint for all people is in scripture but we are free will agents. Free to choose our way in life. And we don't always choose His way.

- Let your conscience be your guide. No way! Not unless your conscience has been instructed by the Word of God. People often do whatever they feel like doing and they end up in trouble. The Word of God should be our guide in life.

Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death."

Many people do evil because this seems to be right for them, but it's not according to God's thinking in scripture.

- God brings good luck. That may sound good to some people but it's not Biblical. It's not in the Bible! It is true, however, that when we seek the Lord and do His will, He will bless his children.

I Peter 3:10-12 "For, Whoever would love life and see good days must keep his tongue from evil and his lips from deceitful speech. He must turn from evil and do good; he must seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil." God blesses us with His grace, not good luck.

There are many other dumb ideas that people have about God, Christ and the Bible. And there is only one good cure for such ignorance! We must study to show ourselves approved to God, rightly handling the Word of truth!

PROP. - In our text, the apostle Paul is trying to straighten out the thinking of the Galatians. There are some matters in their thinking and faith that need to be cleared up.

1- The matter of receiving God's Spirit

2- The matter of faith and righteousness

3- The matter of redemption in Christ

I. THE MATTER OF RECEIVING GOD'S SPIRIT

1You foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. 2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard? 3Are you so foolish?

Did you receive God's Spirit by observing the law? In the first place, many Christians may not even realize that God's Spirit lives within them! That's a big revelation to some people.

I Cor. 6:19 "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own."

ILL.- Recently, I heard that a preacher from a rather large church even denied the working of God's Spirit, saying that the Spirit was nothing more than Christ in us, giving the indication that the Holy Spirit was not a person. Huh?