Sermon Tone Analysis

Look out for that bear!

I’m sure you have heard the expression, or the warning never get between a cub and its mother.

The mother will get to the cub, protect the cub no matter what.

Paul in the letter to the Galatians does not start with the typical introduction but jumps right the heart of the matter.

He had started the churches in Galatia a few years before and now they were under a sneak attack and Paul is quick to jump in to defend the Gospel and warn the people to watch out.

Paul does not mince words and if you were to look at the book, read it through you, you will see that Paul is a great defender of the Gospel and uses several defences in doing it.

So let me basically lay out the book and Paul’s journey so as we journey through the book you can see these things develop.

(Slide) First approach, personal (Gal1-2) - He will show where he got the gospel, who approved of the gospel he is preaching, his personal defence of the gospel.

(Slide) Second approach, doctrinal (Gal3-4) - Will develop the argument of being saved by grace through faith, not of the law; he will appeal to their own experiences and then use some O.T. illustrations to prove the point and the reason for the Law in the first place (expand on this one point)

(Slide) Third approach, practical (Gal5-6) - yes, the application section is not without some thorns first on why we need the application; he will show us what it means to have liberty, what we are to do with that liberty; where the liberty comes from and how it is powered, and who we have the liberty.

(Slide) In the end it will be clear that you either live under the Law or grace - it cannot be both.

It was a concern then, and should be a concern today.

So now lets start into looking at our passage today.

Reason for Freedom

Paul’s message is the message of Christ.

It is the message of grace and peace.

Grace always comes before peace for without the grace of God you cannot have peace with God (Rom5:1) or the peace of God that surpasses all understanding (Phil4:7).

(Slide) Grace - Charis in the Greek

(Slide) Kindness, unmerited favor, linked with mercy

(Slide) Beauty, charm, loveliness, delight

No greater beauty than that of Jesus Christ laying down his life for us, no greater kindness but to extend His grace to us.

In turn we should be people of grace, being someone of beauty, charm, loveliness and delight to others so that they too may want to be recipients of God’s grace , unmerited favor and His mercy.

The message of grace is what the Judaizers were trying to change, they were a danger to the freedom that Paul proclaimed and they accepted.

The message of the cross is very apparent throughout the letter.

In looking at a couple of them.

Gal

Gal

Gal

Then there is

(Slide) If you want more you can look at Gal3:13; 4:5, 5:11, 24 and 6:12-14 - the message is clear, Christ and Christ alone is the way, He paid the price to deliver the sinners from bondage.

Our liberty, our freedom, is found in Christ!

Speaking of liberty, the opposite to it is bondage, that is what the Judiazers were trying to do to the Galatians, return them to bondage

or just one more for today

Our authority today; our message today is the message of the cross and the freedom that is available there.

Paul had a reason, a motive as should we.

To the glory of God!

The false teachers were doing it for their own glory

Gal6:

Like the cults, the heretics and the like today they are trying to steal converts to Christ to a form of bondage that offers no freedom.

It is taking the freedom (the grace) they have in Christ away from them.

May our motive be pure, from a pure heart with a clear conscience.

A good example is”

1Cor

Bring glory to God in your body in what you do!

From the authority shown now comes the battle!

Fighting for Freedom

That’s right Paul is suffering from some anxiety due to the situation and jumps right to it.

We were called by grace, the freedom, the liberty they were walking in and trading it for legalism.

-Trading, it was present tense, meaning they had not totally sold out, but they were being enticed to a form of bondage in the guise of another gospel which is a different gospel and not the gospel at all.

(Slide) To the Galatians it was disturbing (v.7) and some are wanting to distort the gospel (v.7) - think about it, it was disturbing the them, think how Paul felt as the one who taught them the gospel, was their father in faith to hear about this, no wonder he has anxiety!

(Slide) “They were not just changing religions, or changing churches they were abandoning the grace of God and the God of grace” - Kenneth Boles

In another version of (v.7) let’s look at the wording

Pervert the gospel, that is a pretty strong word, it means to change something from what it is to different state or form.

-taking something that is perfect and changing it to something else, only thing that is, well it’s destructive and divisive.

Cults today want to say you need the Bible and . . .

(you fill in the blank); but according to the Word we have everything we need in the Bible to take us to glory.

No other special revelation is needed, or should be accepted.

Anything other than the Gospel of grace through faith; justification by faith is not the gospel at all and see what Paul says about that and those who do that.

Freedom or Accursed: Your choice

It is the message not the messenger that is important.

The message of the cross is active, it is more than just agreeing with a set of doctrines it is submitting to Christ Jesus and trusting Him.

Now that leads to Paul’s spirit inspired words

It does not matter if it is Paul himself, an angel or anyone else if it is contrary to the gospel they heard, believed, obeyed and walk in, let them be accursed.

He is talking present tense, it was to warn them now, don’t receive those things that are accursed, and don’t be accursIt

“Make love not war” bet most of you had heard that before back in 1969 or maybe even earlier, but that is not a true thing is it?

It just is not feasible or possible.

Doctors fight, war against disease.

legislators war against injustice and crime.

Why do they fight?

because they believe in what they know, what they do and the y love it.

We are to hate evil

We are to abhor what is evil.

Paul, John and Peter give us lots of scenarios as well as the words of Christ that we will have to stand up and stand out for what is right.

Each was willing to wage war because of the Truth, the truth of the Gospel and the Freedom that it brings.

Like a loving father watches over his daughter until she is married Paul watches over the converts lest they be seduced into sin.

2Cor

No have not forgotten where I am, still talking about “they be accursed” - how can you test a man’s ministry?

(Slide) Not by popularity (Mt24:11)

(Slide) Not by miraculous signs and wonders (Mt24:23-24)

(Slide) But by his faithfulness to the word

But how about a N.T. one?

Fall away from faith, from grace, to a system of work that cannot save you, these people to be accursed are deceitful spirits and have the doctrine of demons and are hypocrites.

They should accursed.

(Slide) So the word accursed is anathea, meaning “dedicated to destruction”

They had false message with a false motive, they were dedicated to destruction, to destroy the gospel of grace.

They wanted to tear Paul down and challenge his authority and his message, thinking Paul was a man-pleaser and as a man-pleaser you cannot trust him.

Paul then address that.

Freedom: Who you trying to please?

Paul was not a man pleaser, his ministry did not come from man.

Gal

His message was not from man

So Paul was not concerned about what man thought, but what God thought.

,

May that be our thought too, to live, to speak to please God rather than man.

In the message today Paul has shown us the authority, the anxiety and the adversaries, the same things we face today.

We need to be a defender of the gospel too

As I mentioned when started today, first it is personal, there is nothing more personal than the gospel - Lead to invitation and challenge.