All right, well, it's a little quiet in here this morning, a little bit down. Must be the weather, because we went to Mexico and they had the same atmosphere. Amen. It's half empty and a little bit down, Brother Jim. I don't know what's going on in the town of Ripley, amen. We're going to learn the Word of God tonight. How about that? We'll take a look at Galatians. And I'm enjoying going through this and enjoying learning some of it. And I don't mean this in a negative way, but it almost seems redundant. Because every week Paul's trying to teach us something about what these Judaizers were doing. And that's really what we're doing tonight is looking a little bit more. He jumps into chapter number 3, and we'll get into that in a minute, but it's the doctrine or duty section of it, or doctrinal section of the epistle. And he's starting to convince us of some things. Let me not get ahead of myself. We know what the Judaizers are. They're trying to enforce Jewish law, Jewish circumcision on the Gentile converts in early Christianity here at the Church of Galatia. And Paul did not like that, amen? So right now, today, we're passing into Paul's expositional part. It's the doctrinal section. It talks about, I'll tell you in a minute, but he's going to fend the gospel by grace through faith. Then he's going to exhort us in the last two chapters to tell us what to do. But let's review what we looked at last week. The entire section that we've been looking at deals with our liberty in Christ and weakening soon. The entire part is to Peter. He had just been correcting Peter previously. And as long as a rebuke is biblical, a rebuke is okay. And this is where Paul rebukes Peter. Many people get all flustered about people calling other people out for doing things unbiblical. many people refer them to here where Paul called out Peter because he had to amen because if he didn't he's gonna hurt other people amen people worry about hurting somebody by informing them they're teaching wrong doctrine and things like that but how many people are going to get hurt when you just let anybody and everybody do that Somebody told me, they said, well, I'm against that, I'm just like you Sparks, I just don't think we ought to say nothing about it. That's not very Pauline, and that's not very Bible, and really it's highly dangerous, because what kind of church are our children going to have if nobody says nothing about false doctrine and wrong teachings? What are we going to have in 40 or 50 years? We ain't going to have nothing, amen? So men in today's age, they can't hardly handle it. Paul's rebuke that he gave Peter was entire doctrine. He's talking about doctrinal issues. And if you remember last week, I told you that Peter's separation from the Gentiles. If you remember the story, he got up from the table because men from Jerusalem church that James had sent down come in. They were Judaizers. They were following the law to keep their salvation, if you will. And Peter went with them and sat with them rather than the Gentiles who he had just taught was by grace through faith. How confusing would that have been? And when Peter did that, he was basically either denying in himself, or if he hadn't been swayed to the doctrine and was just hanging out with them boys, he was accepting their doctrine, what they teach, by sitting with them and leaving the men that believed right. So that's what he did. He goes over there and he's denying five basic Christian doctrines. We covered it last week. I'm just going to read it and read the verse and get on to the day stuff. But he denied the unity of the church. When I saw that they walked not uprightly according to the truth of the gospel, I said unto Peter before them all, If thou, being a Jew, livest after the man of the Gentiles, I mean, you used to be a Jew, follow Judaism, you got saved, you've been living by grace through faith, with the indwelling Spirit, amen, and now, as do the Jews, why compelst thou the Gentiles to live as the Jews? Now you're over here with the guys wanting to do the circumcision and you're influencing these Gentiles to believe they've got to do that to stay saved. So Peter was a Jew, but through faith in Christ, he'd become a Christian. And because he's a Christian, he was part of the church, and there's no racial distinctions. He was causing division where division did not need to be caused, amen? Then he was also denying justification by faith, which is Core doctrine to the epistle, amen. We who are Jews by nature, not sinners of the Gentiles, knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ that we might be justified by the faith of Christ and not by the works of the law. For the works of the law shall no flesh be justified. This is actually the first appearance of the word justification. We've taught on it, we've preached on it. We know that we're justified through the blood of Jesus Christ by grace through faith. Amen. And it is not of works. It's not through our flesh. Anytime you see them missing the flesh in this epistle, he's talking about those works of the flesh. He's talking about the law and how the law and our works of our flesh cannot save us. Amen. He was also denying the freedom from the law. But if, while we seek to be justified by Christ, we ourselves also are found sinners, is therefore Christ, the minister of sin, God forbid, For if I build again the things which I destroyed, I make myself a transgressor. Peter was putting himself right back under the yoke of the law by aligning with the Judaizers from Jerusalem. And Paul's telling Peter that to go back to the law after his own experience. We'll talk about personal experience tonight. His own experience of grace is to deny everything that God had done for him. Number four, he was denying the very gospel itself. For I through the law am dead, through the law that I might live unto God. I am crucified with Christ, nevertheless I live, yet not I, but Christ liveth in me. And the life which I now live in the flesh, I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. That's the gospel in a nutshell, isn't it? If a man's justified by the works of the law, then why in the world did Christ even die for us? If your works keep you saved or your works save you, why in the world did Christ have to die on the cross of Calvary? His death, burial, and resurrection are the key truths of the gospel. And then fifthly, he was denying the grace of God. In that last verse of chapter 2, he said, I do not frustrate the grace of God. For if righteousness come by the law, then Christ is dead in vain. Same as last verse. He died for nothing. If righteousness is going to come by the law, he died for nothing. The Judaizers and most folks today want to mix the law and grace. But Paul says it is impossible. And the law says do, but the grace says it is already done for you, amen? The law nullifies the cross of Calvary where Christ died. Because we know Ephesians teaches, for by grace are you saved through faith and that not of yourselves, it is a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Amen? So then tonight we cross into chapter number three, the doctrinal section of the epistle. He says this, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you? Who tricked you, you bunch of goofballs, you fools? That you should not obey the truth that I just taught you basically Before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth He was set forth before your eyes, crucified among you That don't mean He saw them physically, we'll get to that in a minute This only would I learn of you, receive you the Spirit by the works of the law Or by the hearing of faith? How did you get indwelt by that Spirit of God that's living in you? Was it by the works of the law? Are you so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are you now made perfect by the flesh? Is that what's keeping it for you? Have you suffered so many things in vain? Have you suffered for Christ just for no reason? If it be yet in vain, he therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? So the next two chapters are the doctrinal portions of this epistle, and the last two chapters of duty we've said that multiple times, but here's a quote from Brother Wiersbe. The next 60 verses that make up chapters 3 and 4, the doctrinal section, are some of the strongest writings that Paul has ever penned. I got excited when I read that because I like mean, strong preaching, amen. And it's some of the strongest stuff that the Apostle Paul has said, amen? He was in a battle. Does it make sense that he was being a little harsh, being a little aggressive? He was in a battle trying to save Christendom, amen? I mean, this thing just got started and here's these guys at what some would say was the main church, the main place coming down there and trying to change the doctrine. He wasn't going to allow Judaizers to destroy this entire or actually all the churches in Galatia as the letter is addressed to. He wasn't going to allow that to happen. He wasn't going to allow false doctrine to get in all those churches just by sitting by and not saying nothing and not deciding to fight the battle, amen. He had to prove to these people that salvation was by grace alone. And trust me, once people start believing in works and once it's ingrained in them, it is difficult to get it out of them, amen? Paul didn't want to let it even get started, amen? Over the next two chapters, he uses six different arguments to prove that God saves sinners through faith in Christ and not by the works, not the words, but the works of the law. I was going to give you a little synopsis of each one of these, but I didn't think we needed to. Tonight we're going to look at a personal argument. Then he's going to give them a scriptural argument in the second part of chapter 3. Then he's going to give them a logical argument. Then he's going to give them a historical argument in chapter 4, and a sentimental argument, and an allegorical argument. But tonight we'll cover this personal argument that the Apostle Paul is talking to these people of Galatia about. So Paul asked the Galatians to recall their personal experience with Christ when they were saved in order to convince them that they were saved by grace. He said, do you remember the day you got saved? Do you remember what happened? Do you remember what God did for you? He said, do you remember the thing? I mean, did you get that from following the law? What happened that day, Paul's saying? Paul, he'd been with many of them as they trusted Christ, as he was there, but he knew that they'd had a salvation experience by the evidence in their life and in the church, and therefore he asked something that he has confidence in. He said, well, tell me. I believe you saved. Tell me you're salvating. Remind me of Daniel Buchanan, amen? Let me record your salvation experience. Tell me about it. Tell me what God did. Tell me about the conviction. Tell me about the change in your life. Tell me what God has done for you. And of course, Wiersbe said, of course, to argue from experience can be dangerous because experiences can be counterfeited and can be misunderstood. Subjective experience must be balanced with objective evidence. I like that. You know why? Highly emotional service. People, everybody calling on the Lord, all these things happen. Somebody goes up there, everybody else has an emotional experience, says a prayer, goes back, sits down, and that day looks like everybody else. But a couple months later, everything in their life, the fruits of their life point to they ain't no more saved than a hole in the wall. Right there, it's got a subjective experience, that experience that you say happened that day, better be backed up with objective evidence, amen? Hogwash, phooey on the man that says, I got born again, this is how it happened, this is the emotional experience I have, I felt different that day and the day after, and a little bit like that, but man, there ain't nothing in my life that shows the fruits of the Spirit of God in my life. It better be backed up by some evidence, amen? It was evident that these folks had experiences, they had experienced something in their life. But the Judaizers came along and bewitched them, convinced them, tricked them that their salvation, although they knew something was different, their salvation wasn't complete. They needed something else added to it. And that something else was obedience to the law of Moses, amen? The false teachings had bewitched them and turned them into fools, as Paul said. All foolish Galatians. That's strong language. Amen. It's not really the same word where Jesus said, call no man a fool. That's an unbeliever. Amen, if you will. I'm not digging into the Greek or nothing like that, but he's talking to unbelievers there, old fools. These are Christians. He said, y'all being fools. Y'all being led astray by somebody tricking you. O foolish Galatians, who have bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you." What's that mean? They had seen God the Son. How'd they see Him? Through the preaching of the Word of God. Amen. We'll get to conviction in a minute. But through the preaching of the Word of God, they had seen the Son of God crucified. Amen. You know a good preacher can pretty much paint the picture in your mind. Now could you imagine listening to the Apostle Paul talking about Jesus Christ dying on the cross of Calvary and raising from the grave, amen? I mean, I believe he met Christ in Arabia. He met, we know he met Christ on the road to Damascus, amen? And could you imagine him preaching a message about, just like we did this morning about what? The Holy Lamb of God did for you and I. What a message, amen? He lifted up Christ before them and they saw the Son of God crucified. And they believed the gospel of Jesus Christ. They put their faith and their trust in the death, burial and resurrection just like you and I. Got saved just like you and I. And because of that faith they were saved by grace, amen, and entered into the family of God. It was a personal encounter, a personal experience with a personal Savior. A transaction took place that day. Galatians 3 and 2, this only what I learn of you, receive you the Spirit. Now he's asking the question, receive you the Spirit by the works of the law or by hearing of faith. So how'd you get saved? How'd you get saved? George and them know more about it, but I believe they believe dunking that baby in the water saves them. Right? They believe taking that Eucharist or whatever it is, the wafer and wine over and over puts the body and blood of Jesus in you and keeps you saved. So the baptism would save you and the works of the Eucharist would keep you saved? Right? So he's saying, he's talking about how'd you get saved? Did you receive the Spirit of God by the works of the law? By the hearing of faith. Because their faith, they received the Spirit of God. The Holy Spirit's mentioned 18 times in this epistle. And it's a key part of Paul's argument for grace. The only real evidence, Dr. Phillips, I believe, said the only real evidence of a conversion is the presence of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer. Now I just talked about somebody not living it, having experience not living it. There's a whole lot of people that do pretty good at the works of the flesh. I mean, you think they're saved, brother, amen, but then sometimes something will happen to illuminate some things to you. But some people can live it real good, amen. But I don't mean they're saved. Romans 8 and 9, But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit. If so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he's none of His. I don't know how we paint that picture I've always painted I was never a young person that got right with God and struggled with a lack of assurance of salvation I know many have but you got to understand the Spirit is there amen with me I was in sin and when the Spirit of God moved in there I was convicted over that sin amen I could not I could not continue in that sin. God forbid, the Bible says, because the Spirit of God was convicting me in such a way I knew, I knew and I know today that the Spirit of God lives inside of me. Amen? I know it, I know it. That's how I know I'm saved. That's how a man knows he's saved because the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if you don't, now if any man have not the Spirit of God, he's not, if you can just live in pure sin and nothing bother you at all Between you and God, but I don't see how the Spirit of God lives in there He asked, did they receive the Spirit by faith in the Word of God or by the works of the law? There's only one answer for this, can't be both Right? It's by faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ that a man receives the Spirit of God. And take note. Take note. I ain't gonna get on pneumatology in the Old Testament tonight. But in the Old Testament under the law, no man was ever considered a family. Nobody called God the Father in the Old Testament. Nobody was in the family of God in the Old Testament. Nobody was ever indwelt by the Spirit of God in the Old Testament. You know that? The pneumatology was different. The Spirit came upon David, and he left David. Came upon Saul, and he left Saul. I can't explain it all to you, but I know people that try to that they can't either, amen? To understand proper doctrine, pneumatology, which is a doctrine of the Spirit of God, is about as important as Christiology, all the doctrines about Christ, and soteriology, all the doctrines about salvation. Go look at it. Every other denomination or belief, they'll have their soteriology fouled up, they'll believe different things, but their pneumatology is always fouled up with it because they go hand in hand tonight. They're all tied together. And if you get one of them messed up, you usually got the other ones messed up pretty bad. It is important, we're to be said, that we understand the work, not word, of the Spirit in salvation and Christian living. The Holy Spirit convicts the lost sinner and reveals Christ to him. John 16 and 7, nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is fitting that I go away, for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you, but if I depart, I will send him unto you. And when he has come, he will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment of sin, because they believe not on me. That's conviction of the sinner, amen. Of righteousness, because I go to my Father and you see me no more. Of judgment, because the prince of this world is judge. And then the sinner can also resist the Spirit of God. Slap a Calvinist in the face with that. Acts 7 and 51. You stiff neck and uncircumcised in heart and ears. Ye do always resist the Holy Ghost. As your fathers did, so do ye. Amen. Or, instead of resisting the Spirit of God, you could yield to the Spirit and trust Christ. When the sinner believes in Jesus Christ, he is then born of the Spirit, as the Bible calls it, and receives new life. Amen? So how did you get that salvation? Of the works of the law or of the Spirit? Through the Spirit, man. John 3 and 5, Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water, a natural birth, and of the Spirit, amen, the spiritual birth, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. That's salvation, amen. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit he also the day he does that and gets saved becomes born of the spirit is baptized by the spirit so that he becomes a part of the spiritual body of christ at the same exact moment at the same exact time that happens the sovereign acts of the holy spirit of god for as the body is one and has many members and all the members of that one body being many are one body so also is christ for by one spirit are we all baptized into one body whether we be Jews, Gentiles, be bond or free and have all made to drink into one spirit. Then we see that the believer is sealed by that spirit as a guarantee that he will one day share in the glory of Christ and the earnest deposits made. I don't have that one on here that promises that Christ is coming back for him, amen? Spirit of God in the body of Christ Ephesians 1 and 13 In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation In whom also, after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that Holy Spirit of promise Which is the earnest of our inheritance, that's the earnest deposit Like when you promise you're going to buy a house, you're coming back Until the redemption of the purchased possession and to the praise of his glory Now, that's a little touch on pneumatology right there and the Spirit of God and what He does in our lives. You see how important the understanding of the Spirit of God is? See, when you alter and change or misinterpret doctrines about your salvation, doctrines about Christ and who He is and what He did, you have to go and misinterpret these as well. The Bible cannot conflict with itself. It's perfect. It's inerrant. And there's no errors. There's no mistakes. There's no contradictions. And when you go saying that you're going to lose your salvation if you do this or that, yet it says you're sealed until the day of redemption, which one of them's right? What are you going to do? Stack up a bunch of verses against other verses and see which one you have the most of and line them up? Well, you better make sure you're in context. You better make sure who the Bible's talking to and what time frame it's talking about and what's happening in the Bible unless you want to get all your stuff messed up tonight. That's exactly how you can know that you're saved. That's why Paul was asked them because the Spirit of God lives in you. Some believe that the Spirit comes and goes like they're living in the Old Testament. Amen. Some believe they get the Spirit and he's indwelt and they lose it and he moves out and they're unbirthed. Amen. And they're divorced from God and all this stuff. They believe some believe that you get him in parts That's a charismatic a man. You got to have a second baptism. They believe that's where you get to speak in tongues You can get saved call on God some other time. You're all right a man But then later on gotta get on you and you'll speak in tongues and be baptized in the Holy Ghost and you get in the Holy Ghost in different parts a man we are in dwelt 100% by God the day we get saved a man and And then some believe that, I mean I've talked to Church of Christ and different folks who believe the Spirit is simply the Word of God and that He don't even indwell you. There is no indwelling Holy Ghost. You've got all these different pneumatological beliefs but all their salvation doctrines messed up because of it. when you understand what the Holy Ghost does in salvation you can understand your own salvation the Spirit plays a huge part in our salvation and because of that I believe we're responsible to the Spirit of God and responsible to the God that lives in us and owns us He lives in your body, God does. And 1 Corinthians 6, 19 says what? Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God's. Your spirit, which is God's spirit in you, and your body, which is God's body, amen? How in the world? It's not our body. And you're responsible for everything that you do in it, amen? Just like me and Blake was talking about leased cars. Just like having that leased car, brother. You can't go putting all kind of modifications on it and beating it off guardrails, amen, and running up the mountains. It ain't yours, you don't own it! Why you beating your body up putting all that mileage on it man messing it all up living in sin doing all that junk in that body That's God's body. He's living in it. You're dragging him through it. Amen The Christian should therefore walk in the Spirit of God. How do you do that? By reading the Word of God, praying, obeying God's will, amen. That's how you get filled with the Spirit of God, amen. Galatians 5 and 16, it says, walk in the Spirit and ye shall not fulfill the lust of flesh. And when we disobey that Spirit that is dealing with us and guiding us and we're trying to walk in, guess what we do? We grieve the Spirit of God. But the Bible says, grieve not the Holy Spirit whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption amen I'm glad I'm sealed forever and if you persist in doing this you're quenching the Spirit of God in your life that's probably when you sin so much that all of a sudden you don't feel it much more amen you can go get drunk first couple times you get messed up or whatever you do amen you look at it you live in it whatever you're doing and it bothers you but then after a little while it ain't bothering you no more You grieve the spirit and now you've quenched him. He's turning your body over to Satan to destroy your flesh that your soul be saved. Where's that, 1 Peter 3? He's turning your body over, amen? Letting Satan tear you up. Not really even dealing with you much anymore about that sin that you won't give up. He'll let you tear it up, your soul's still saved, the Bible says that. When we disobey the Spirit, we grieve him. Grieve not the Spirit of God. And if you persist in doing that, you're quenching the Spirit of God in your life. Quench not the Spirit. This don't mean the Spirit will leave you. I just quoted that verse from Peter. Because Jesus has promised that the Spirit abides forever. John 14 and 16. We've got a hundred verses for that. I just read four or five of them. And I will pray the Father and He shall give you another comforter that He may abide with you forever. And it does. I mean, here's what the Spirit will do. If you'd live by it, follow it, let it lead you, let it guide you, amen? That Spirit will give you joy and power that you need for your daily Christian living. Don't tell me you can't live for God and you can't do it. Pick up your Bible, pray, seek God, have a desire to do it, and God will help you do it. Most people say they can't do it. There's something hindering them. There's something bewitching them. There's something that they want, amen, that they won't give up. Being filled with the Spirit of God, which simply means you're controlled by the Spirit of God. We've talked about that a million times. Be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to yourself in psalms and hymns, spiritual songs, singing, making medley in your heart to the Lord, giving thanks always for all things unto God in the Father, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, submitting yourself one to another in the fear of God. There's a continuous experience of being filled with the Spirit of God that the commentator likened to drinking water from a fresh stream. And he pointed over to John 7, 37, In the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried, saying, If a man thirsts, let him come unto me and drink. He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this he spake of the Spirit. which they that believe on him should receive, for the Holy Ghost was not yet given. It's before our pneumatological doctrine was even given, right? This is the book of John, right? Early in the book of John, that's still under the law, am I right? That's kingdom doctrine time, amen? That's not even the age of grace yet, but still he's telling us, he's giving us a little pneumatological doctrine, amen? It's not all to us, but it's all for us, amen? And here he is saying, but he gives us a little parenthetical sentence, amen This spake he of the Spirit which they believe on him should receive him The Holy Ghost was not yet given because that Jesus was not yet glorified How did he get glorified? Because he got crucified, amen And he was glorified, and then he gave the Spirit. Hallelujah right there. If you want to be filled with the Spirit of God tonight, won't you study your Bible? Why don't you let the Spirit of God, through the Word of God, won't you let the Word of God speak to the Spirit of God living in you, and then in your flesh, the best you can by following the Spirit of God, be obedient to what God says, and that's how you get filled with the Spirit tonight. So the believer, all that was said to say, how'd you get that Spirit, man? How'd you get saved? Was it by living the law? Was it by taking the Eucharist? Was it by that infant baptism? Was it by those works of the law? Was it by living good? Was it by being baptized? Was it by having good church membership? How'd you get that spirit? The believer was saved by the Spirit. And they agreed with Paul. They agreed it was by grace through faith. Are ye so foolish? He said, hold on, hold on. I'm gonna call y'all fools a second time. He said, I called you a fool the first time because I'm asking you if you got saved by the works of the law. Now I'm gonna ask you, fool, have you begun in the Spirit? Did you get saved like them independent Baptist fellas? But now you're made perfect by the flesh? Now you're gonna keep it by how you live? He's shooting everybody, y'all. He done shot the Catholics, the Church of God, all them guys that believe core works doctrine. Now here he comes shooting at every Bible church, every community church, every Protestant church, saying, hey, you say you get saved like them boys do. You say you get saved when a man of God gets up and preaches that Christ died for your sins and rose from the grave, and you come up to an altar and put your faith and trust in him. You say it's how you got saved, but now you're saying that you're going to lose it if you don't stay in church. You're going to lose it if you don't do things right. Paul says, hey fool, did you start this thing in the spirit? Did you get saved like them? And now you're made perfect by how you live. That's common sense. Whereas we said like this, if the law couldn't make you clean, it took the spirit of God to do it. Then why in the world do you think that the law is what's going to keep you clean? It almost don't make no sense. That's rough preaching, amen. It's calling everybody out. Paul just called out every single Protestant Bible church, community church that don't preach eternal security. They say they can be saved like a Baptist, amen, by believing, by grace through faith, but then they lose their salvation for not living right. Is that not exactly what Paul's referencing right there? I just want to make sure. You Bible scholars agree? He's literally saying, you tell me you got saved by the Spirit and now your works is what's saving you? He said, are you stupid? You think you're going to get saved by the Spirit of God convicting you and birthing you into the family of God and you get born again, amen, and Him moving into your house, amen, living inside of you and you being a temple and Him sealing you forever and then you're going to lose it because you don't live by the works of the law. One man said it like this, like looking at a birth of a baby, it takes two people to birth a baby, right? And that baby is born with ears, most of them, ears, fingers, Some of them got an extra finger, arms, legs. He's born with everything that he needs and that he is and that he has to have. He's born complete. He's just immature. And he has to eat, he has to be fed, he has to be nourished and grow, but he's born whole. You don't go back to the doctor at your one-year appointment and say, I'm ready for my years, Mr. Potato Head. I need my fingers here to hit my nose. That's not how it works. Well, the Christian experience is the same thing. It took two things for you to get saved. The Word of God had to be preached and the Spirit of God had to convince you and move in you. And you were born whole, amen. You weren't born in parts. You didn't get different things at different times. All you need in your Christian life when you were born whole is food, amen, the word of God. You need exercise, you need to live for God, and you need cleansing, amen. You need to repent of your sins and get right with God, amen, when you ain't right with Him. That's a pretty good illustration. I wish I had come up with it myself. Verse 4. Have you suffered so many things in vain, if it be yet in vain? It appears that they had suffered. Many different men said different things about this. One of them tried to use the Greek and change that word suffered to experience. And you've experienced this and all that. But my King James says you suffered. I believe they suffered for the cause of Christ, amen. Have you suffered all these things since you've been a Christian? For nothing? It appears they had suffered for the cause of Christ. Some say that the Jews were trying to sway them and causing them to suffer, doing things to them. I mean, it makes sense, don't it? Remember when Peter jumped over that other table and it says why? It says it wasn't to be cool, it wasn't to fit in, it wasn't to get more appointments. It said because of fear. Well, I wonder if the Jews were persecuting these Christians, amen? I mean, they had done it before. And Paul's saying that if you jump over and believe works the law, What's going to sanctify or mature you? I mean, do you really think that's going to help you? He said, that means everything you're doing is in vain. All the suffering you went through was for nothing. This ain't a works-based statement. He's not saying you'll lose your salvation. The Spirit of God is not going to contradict scripture. Hey man, we just read 20 of them that says the Spirit of God's moving in and He ain't moving out. You would be forfeiting some type of reward. Your suffering for Christ would have been in vain. If all of a sudden you're believing that the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ ain't even what it is and you're going to go over there and think you're going to keep yourself safe. He's saying you're forfeiting some type of reward. Where do we get rewarded for our sufferings? Is that in the Bible? Right? You suffer with him, you'll reign with him. Is that in the Bible? 2 Timothy 2 and 12, if we suffer, we shall also reign with him. What's that talking about? Jeff was probably talking about it this morning over there in the book of Isaiah, am I right? The millennial kingdom, the reign of Christ, the kingdom of heaven, amen? When Christ comes back, sits on his throne, one day they would actually reign with Christ, and you and I are going to as well. And if they drew back, they would forfeit their reward, and all their past sufferings for the Lord's sake would have been in vain. So when we suffer for Christ, we will rule and reign with him in the millennial kingdom. There's degrees, brother. I don't know how it's going to work. I can't explain it all to you. I got some men that teach. Everybody won't rule and reign in the Millennial Kingdom. I know some men teach. Some will be in heaven. And some will be ruling and reigning with Christ. But the Bible does say, and forever we will be with Christ. So I don't know about that. But I do know that some of you might be over the Dog Pound, some of you might be over Ripley, some of you might be over Jackson County, some of us, a man might be over the United States. Daniel Buchanan wants to be over Myrtle, Mississippi, a man down there at Camp Zion. I don't know how we'll rule in rain, but there are rewards for those thousand years and in that thousand year rain, and you will suffer loss of those rewards. Most all the commentary necessary to the last one here Now if the just shall live by faith but any man draw back My soul shall have no pleasure in him Finally we see in the last verse there's somebody working miracles There's a little disputation here that I'd like to give you Most commentaries of independent fundamental type guys believe that the he in the text is God But if you follow the context, one or two of the men I read after said they don't believe it's God, it was somebody at the Church of Galatia performing miracles. Remember, apostolic doctrine was still open. They were still apostles. The Apostle Paul is there at their church. Could the Apostle Paul work miracles? Did he do different things? Did he heal people? Did he work miracles? Yes, he did. Amen. So did Peter. These different apostles had that ability. So someone could have been there working miracles in their midst, amen, and doing things to them. So here it says, he therefore, he, that's the subject of question, all right? Is that talking about God or is that talking about an apostle or somebody there at the church, some of the churches in Galatia working miracles? He therefore that ministered to you the Spirit, That's why they say it's God, because He's ministering to you the Spirit. The New Bible's changed that. Instead of ministering the giving of the Spirit, they changed it. Although I've been studying all this Greek text history and stuff, Brother Jeff, that's not in any of the originals or whatever you want to call it in the text that we have. No reason to even change that stuff, except the Vaticanists and the Catholic Church likes to change things like that. So they changed all that so that it would fit their meaning that they have. We'll get off of that. Amen. I'll get confused. But he therefore that ministereth to you the spirit and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? Now why are we asking if God's doing something by the works of the law? That don't make sense to me either. I see both sides of it, but God wouldn't need the hearing of faith to be able to work miracles. He's God. He can do whatever He wants. And because the ministering of spirit in salvation would come from God, that's why they use that. He therefore that minister to you the spirit and worketh miracles among you. Doeth he it by the works of the law or by the hearing of faith? The Galatians had experienced miracles and Paul's asking them if those miracles were done in the flesh or in the spirit. I mean, you got an apostle, we can't hardly think of it. I mean, I guess you go down to the Charismatic Church. Go down here to Victory, y'all. And turn the fog machines off, turn the lights on, and get somebody up there that needs healed and they start healing. I don't know if they do all that stuff. I shouldn't be picking on them. But some Charismatic Church, hey man, they want to heal people and do these miracles. Well, somebody, they really could do it back then. You understand that, right? They had apostolic. That's where the apostolic people get their doctrine is by applying the wrong text to us. There's no apostles in today's day and age, amen? So the Glastead experienced miracles by Paul and asked them if those miracles were done in the flesh and the spirit. And the apostle Paul had been ministering in the spirit and doing miracles amongst them. Here's what one commentator says about this, I'll read this to you and we'll be done. He is no reference to God at all. The he referring to the who of verse 1. Who have bewitched you, who have done this, who have done this. God is not in verse 1 through 5 nowhere, contextually. And Abraham, believe in God, which we'll study next week, verse 6, had no spirit supplied to him. That's Old Testament. In verse 8, God is justifying the heathen through faith. and is not ministering or supplying spirit or miracles to anyone, so therefore God didn't even show up in the manner, in the context that they're speaking of. However, someone bewitched those Galatians after Paul had left, and he's ministering to them. Furthermore, if he is going to compete with Paul, he's going to have to work miracles. Because Paul could work miracles, right? If you're gonna come in here and say Paul's wrong, you're gonna have to do something spooky. And did people do that in your Bible? You ever heard of Simon the Sorcerer? Yeah, you ever? You don't think people can conjure up demons and do powerful things? Huh? Tyler don't believe a lot of that stuff. Hey man, it's gonna come in at the end of this age, son. If we're near the end, spooky stuff gonna start happening, I'm telling you. I know you'll get scared at night. You can come upstairs, sleep with me and your mommy. It'll be okay. but the miracles are the apostolic signs given to the apostles and every gentile church that had manifestations of them outside of the apostolic preaching had them performed by people not by God God wasn't showing up in the spirit and performing a miracle it was the apostles Stepping in there or Simon the sorcerers and men conjuring up demonic spirits. So here's the meaning of the text. It's clear He said who's the bird up there that got you off your track. Is he a miracle worker? He said I was when I was around you. I work miracles Is he a channel through whom you're receiving the truth? Is he preaching in a demonstration the power of the Spirit? All right well if he is is he carrying on a his ministry by following the Old Testament mosaic law by living by works or is he carrying on his ministry by preaching the truth of the gospel and living by faith that's all he's saying there it was all about a personal experience that they had what all have we said that a personal encounter with Christ they knew they were filled the Spirit of God and they had seen the power and the miracles of God in their life amen so what about you tonight Do you know that you know that you know you've had a personal encounter with Jesus Christ? And when you had that personal encounter with Him, a transaction was made and the Spirit of God was imputed in you and placed in you and you're indwelt by the Spirit of God in your life. You're guided by Him, you're led by Him, you're convicted by Him. He's got something to do with every day of your life. Man, I'm telling you, I don't know how we can live and ignore the Spirit of God so many times in our life. We're saved, we've got him living inside of us and he's guiding us and he's helping us. And yes, I said it earlier, you can grieve him, you can quench him, and you can shut him up and quiet him pretty good, but that ain't a good thing to do as a Christian. Do you know there was a time that you had an encounter with him? Do you know you're filled by the Spirit of God? Do you live and operate in that Spirit of God? Have you seen the power of God in your life? Did any of that stuff happen by you following some rules or some law? No, it did not. That's what Paul's teaching tonight. Don't be a fool. I should have titled this one, I Pity the Fool. I'll go in there and change it as I check my lighting, Brother Blake, and see how good it was during the singing. Amen. Let's pray it will be dismissed. Father, we love you. Lord, thank you for your book tonight. Thank you, Lord, for the doctrine, for the teaching. Lord, help us learn it. God, we love you. We praise you and thank you in Jesus' name. Amen and amen. You're dismissed. Is it playing, Blake? Benny Han!