This  message was preached for St Andrew’s Church 14th April 2024

Transcript

Deep meaningful, serious, weighty philosophical question

What makes a gorilla a gorilla?

>>>

• local zoo. Star attraction = gorilla

• Bank holiday weekend was approaching when suddenly the gorilla died.

• His keeper was distraught – been together for 17 years.

• The manager called him in

• Theatrical costumieres for gorilla suit

• Manager “those are the rules for this weekend, I would like you to comply with them.”

• all went well until gorilla took one swing too many – his hand slipped off the branch

• he described a stately arc up into the air and landed with a thud in the next enclosure

• This enclosure was occupied by the lion.

• Terrified, he tried to climb up the netting

• but the sound of the lion’s paws grew louder with every second

• In desperation he cried out “Get me out of here!”

• then, and as the lion planted it’s heavy paw on the gorillas back, the lion spoke

• and the gorilla heard the lion say “Shut up or we’ll both lose our jobs!”

So what makes a gorilla a gorilla?

• Are you a gorilla by virtue of the way you appear and the rules you obey or are you a gorilla by being born into a gorilla family.

Let me change the question slightly …

What makes a Christian a Christian?

• Are you a Christian by virtue of the way you appear and the set of rules you obey or are you a Christian by being born one – born again into into God’s family?

This is the main message of Galatians

• rules or freedom?

You and I are Christians, not because we have obeyed a set of rules or been through a set of ceremonies, but because we have been born again and set free by Jesus Christ.

My friends, It’s a privilege to be starting off a series on Galatians

We need to remember that we are studying a letter

• the letter is one of the most revealing forms of human literature – we reveal our hearts in letters (more than lecture, sermon)

• the letters give you the feel of the person

BUT a letter is only one half of a conversation –

• because it only reveals one side of the dialogue

therefore we not only have to read the lines of the letter but between the lines of the letter

• Reading between the lines gets us asking “What upset Paul so deeply?”

Famous faith one-liners

In Galatians we have some of the most famous Christian phrases that I still carry round like axioms

• Gal 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.

• Galatians 3:28 “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”

• Gal 5:22 The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.

• Galatians 6:2 “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ. “

What to look out for in Galatians

Can I encourage you to read it (it’s only about 4 pages!)

Here’s what to look out for

metaphors

look for Paul’s metaphors or word pictures.

• the yoke (5:1)

• the athletics track (5:7)

• the stumbling block (5:11)

and lots more

rhetorical questions

look for rhetorical questions

(a question we ask to make point, rather than get an answer) e.g.

• “tell me one thing: Did you receive the Spirit by the works of the law, or by believing what you heard? (Galatians 3:2)

• “What happened to all your joy?” (Galatians 4: 15)

• “ Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?” (Galatians 4:16)

and so on.

The story so far

In the 4 churches of south Galatia some false teachers has come in from Jerusalem –

When Paul met a gentile he helped a non Jew become a non-Jewish Christian

but these new teachers were trying to turn every Christian back into a Jew

• they argued that since Jesus was a Jew then every Christian ought to be one.

• they taught that non-Jewish Christians should be circumcised as if they were Jews.

BUT – in accepting circumcision they were also accepting old Judaism – and thus legalism –

• they said that we gain favour with God by keeping commandments and not just by faith

it was a return to bondage! To the kind of religious restrictive practices that Jesus Christ came to release us from!

• our approach is to see what is true, right and biblical in any Christian group and work with as many as we can – we try to be inclusive rather than discriminatory

What if?

What if Paul hadn’t written this letter?

It’s likely We wouldn’t be here today without Galatians

This letter has been significant right through Christian history

Humanly speaking, if this letter had not been written and Paul had let these Jewish teachers get away with their modifications of the gospel, the Christian faith would probably have become an obscure Jewish sect.

• You and I may never have come to Christ

Let me take you back to the Reformation (1500s)

• before then we were all Catholics.

• But the Catholic church of the 16^th century had become corrupt.

• You could pay money to be guaranteed a passage into heaven. And the church had a monopoly on truth “If we say it, then you have to believe it”

• Some theologians at the time started protesting (hence we’re called ‘protestants’)

• Two leading lights John Calvin and Martin Luther

• “Salvation is by faith and not by money!”

• “Salvation comes from the scriptures, not from the church”

• famous phrase “Sola Fide, Sola scritura”

Galatians was one of the most prominent and powerful books in the reformers’ arsenal.

It gave them the weapons they needed to challenge the manipulation and corruption in the 16^th century church

Martin Luther loved this book and used it extensively

He wrote a famous commentary on it (still in print)

His wife’s name was Katherina de Bora

• He called Galatians his Katherina von Bora, for, he said, “I am wedded to it.”

Opening gambit

It is significant what Paul said in his opening – even in the address

Letter – form – “From Ian to everyone in St. Andrew’s”

• But Paul can’t even write the address without putting in something about the message!

Gal 1:1-2

1 Paul, an apostle– sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead–

2 and all the brothers with me, To the churches in Galatia:

There are different methods of appointment in the church

Godly men choose (CBC) “We can see you have the spiritual and practical qualifications – we would like you to do this”

Prophetic word – Acts “they were ministering before the Lord and the Holy Spirit said ‘set apart for me Saul and Barnabas for the work I have called them to do”

BUT – Paul claims that his basic appointment was not that but went back the his experience on the road to Damascus

when Jesus commissioned him to go and be a man sent to the non-Jewish world (Gentiles). True, it was subsequently confirmed both by human insight and a prophetic word but at the bottom line it was God in the person of JC who called him, not some human group whose wisdom could be tarnished with hidden agendas and mixed motives (although, of course, we aim to avoid these things!)

“God called me to this!” that was his basic authority!

Even if the other levels of appointment come into play (as they did) Paul lays it down that his appointment was from God – you can’t get a higher commission than that!

He adds a subtle point “all the bothers with me” – this letter is not just my own work or ideas – all the brothers here agree with me – they agree with my message!”

Just look at how – even in the introduction – the address of the letter he weaves in the core values of the entire Gospel!

GAL 1:3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.

Grace from God –

unwarranted favour

peace with God

– warring faction brought together

generosity of God

– (who gave himself) he gave more than just things or ideas – he gave himself – and in place of us – he took our penalty

rescue by god

this world is against God – this worlds values are passing and destructive (this present evil age)

God has a plan for your life (according to the will of our God and Father) (E.g. fast track career development plan in industry)

 

Also significant is what Paul did not say

In all of Paul’s other letters he starts by complimenting the church!

To the Corinthians he said “I always thank God for you all “

To the Romans he said “I thank God for you because your faith is being reported all over the world”

To the Philippians he said ”I thank God every time I remember you”

But here to the Galatians – nothing like that!

So why should we bother with this in the 21^st Century?

Let me introduce you to

Rupertus Meldenius

In this room, we all view our faith slightly differently – but some things matter more than others

Meldenius wrestled with the question “What should we make a fuss about?” His response was:

In Essentials Unity, In Non-Essentials Liberty, In All Things Charity (Rupertus Meldenius. c1627)

• Paul realised that this division came into the essential things category.

• these were fundamental differences affecting their very salvation itself – the stakes were very high

>>>

And this is where Paul starts

Flabberghasted!

Gal 1:6-10

6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel–

astonished => flabbergasted, gob smacked, I just can’t believe it!

7 which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.

pervert => twist or warp

It’s rather like looking at the gospel as in a fairground mirror –

you pay your money and go and look at yourself

the image you see has the right colours and is recognisably you (that’s why it’s so ludicrous) but it’s not the real person!

If you saw that shape in your flat mirror in the morning you’d be seriously worried! (some more than others!!)

• Paul takes it one step further – It’s so fundamentally different from the gospel of Jesus that it’s not good news at all – in fact it’s very bad news!

• (particularly if you’re bloke and have to be circumcised!)

• instead of receiving my salvation – my state of being right with God – as a free gift I have to earn it by doing something (in this case being circumcised) and obeying thousands (literally) of obscure Pharisaical rules.

So this raises the important question for any believer (Galatians or today) “How do I know whom to believe and whether what he is saying is right?”

One of the answers to that question is to find out who commissioned the messenger.

So Paul starts laying out his credentials

8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!

Even if an angel turned up who claims to change the core of the gospel – don’t believe him

• In fact some experts are uncomfortable with Pauls’ language here because it’s so strong!

we have it very politely translated “let him be eternally condemned”

• literally it’s “curse him!”

9 As we have already said, so now I say again: If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned!

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of men, or of God? Or am I trying to please men?

If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a servant of Christ.

It’s all a matter who whom you’re trying to please

• these Judaising teachers had their particular ‘tribe’ / club / committee

Paul had been accused of being a pleaser of men by his enemies,

What is the gospel?

Here’s what Paul said

9 If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved.

12 For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile

(biggest divide of his day. We could add rich / poor, clever, struggling, man or woman, old or young) —the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him,

13 for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”

That’s it!

• Paul’s gospel was astonishingly simple and uncompromisingly inclusive.

Of course over the passage of time we’ve done our best to be very clear about this

• hence Nicene creed, the apostle’s creed and so on.

But the gospel, at its heart, is as simple as coming to Christ by faith

• and living with him as my Lord and master (my mentor) (as best we can)

• and if that’s you, then you’re in!

• You’ve been saved by Christ, you’ve been adopted into God’s family.

And if you’re not, what better day to start than today – give it a try!

• >>>

v11

I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

This is one reason why I am a Christian

• it’s not been invented by a guru, or imposed by a religious organisation (like a church)

• God has done something in me that I couldn’t do in myself.

• Given me assurance that He is with me, that he has rescued me from my baser self

• and that by living like Jesus (as best I can) his company with me is assured, even when life gets tough.

My friend, if you trust Christ this morning, that is all you need for your relationship with God to be real and deep and meaningful.