Ron Dunn Podcast - Bewitched Believers

Episode Date: October 7, 2020

Ron Dunn speaks from Galatians

But I want you to open your Bibles tonight to the book of Galatians chapter 3. Galatians chapter 3. Last night we spoke from the first chapter of Galatians and I said the Lord willing, during these three sessions together we would be speaking from Paul's letter to the church at Galatia, Galatians. And tonight we're going to read chapter 3, verses 1 through 5. Galatians chapter 3, verses 1 through 5. Where Paul says, You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you?

Before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. I would like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish after beginning with the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? Have you suffered so much for nothing if it really was for nothing? Does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law or because you believe what you heard? Let's go ahead and read verses 6 through 9. Consider Abraham. He believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness. Understand then that those who believe are children of Abraham.

The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham, all nations will be blessed through you. So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. O foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? About 30 years ago, while I was a young pastor, I had a very bad sleeping problem in that I could not do it. And I have never been a good sleeper, but I went through about six months where I just could not sleep at all. And so I went to the

doctor to find out what was wrong, if there was something physically wrong with me, and he put me through a bunch of tests, and I went back a few days later to receive the results of that test, and he said to me, he said, there is nothing that we can see, nothing physically wrong with you that's causing you to stay awake, and he said, by the way, you're not overweight either. I thought I was. He said, by this chart, you're not overweight, you're too short. And by this chart, you ought to be 7 feet 10 inches tall. And so I have found it easier to stretch than reduce. But anyway, he said, but we've got to get you some sleep. And I said, you're right, that's why I'm here.

And he was the kind of doctor who did not like to give sleeping medicine and such as that. So he said something that kind of scared me at first, put me off. He said, what I'd like to do is to teach you self-hypnotism, to put yourself to sleep. And I, you know, flags went up because when I thought about hypnotism, I was thinking of some nightclub magician, you know, hypnotizing somebody, making them bark like a dog or cackle like a chicken or something. And I just had severe reservations about this hypnotism business. And he said, no, he said, I'm not talking about anything like that. He said, all hypnotism is self-hypnotism. This is very natural, very normal. And he said, you can put yourself to sleep when you want to, and you'll wake up without any drug hangover

or anything. And he said, it'll take me about six weeks to put you through the course. And I said to myself, well, I'll just give it a go. I'll give it a try and see what it does. I was very disappointed in it, actually. Not because it didn't work, it did, but I was disappointed in that it was so simple. I thought I was going to be introduced to some deep, dark, mysterious secret, you know, and maybe have a second career in hypnotizing people. But it was so simple. All you do, really, all you do is, you know, you lay down or you sit down and you fashion your eye on something. I mean, a greasy spot on the wall or a dead fly stuck in the window screen or something like that.

And you just focus on that and you tell yourself you're sleepy. You know, you just say, I'm sleepy. I'm sleepy. I'm getting sleepy. And I am getting sleepy, as a matter of fact. See, it works. I'm getting sleepier and sleepier. And after a while, you begin to believe what you're saying to yourself, and you go to sleep.

It's simply a matter of mind over mattress, you see. You just, you know, you finally go to sleep. It's simply a matter of mind over mattress, you see. You just, you know, you finally go to sleep. And it worked for a while, but it just took too much concentration, you know. And I could not always find a greasy spot on the wall or something. But anyway, you know, he taught me self-hypnosis and nothing bad happened from it. I wasn't delivered into the devil for it or anything. But it's always fascinated me. But Paul is not quite speaking of that when he speaks to these Galatians. But he uses a stronger word. He says, O foolish Galatians, who has

cast a spell on you? Who has cast an evil eye upon you? And this word, bewitched or to cast a spell is always used in a bad context it means that someone has cast an evil eye on you in order to do you harm and so Paul writing to these Galatians and as as I said last night, he didn't, you know, this is the only letter in which he didn't have a lot of nice things to say about them, and he still doesn't have anything much nice to say about them. He comes out and he said, oh, foolish Galatians. And the word foolish there means without discernment, lacking any kind of insight, being a thoughtless person. He said, you've acted like a person that has no wisdom and hasn't thought through anything. Who has cast a spell on you? Who has cast a spell on you

and bewitched you and caused you to think in a wrongful manner, to change the character of the salvation that you have received in Jesus Christ. Those are arresting words to me. And so I'm going to talk to you tonight on the subject of bewitched believers. Believers who have been bewitched, who somehow have had a spell cast upon them, not necessarily by the devil or by a person, but by some kind of thinking, by some ideology.

But we've had a spell cast upon us so that we're not thinking wisely, basically is what he's saying. Now, at what point were these Galatians bewitched? At what point areatians bewitched? At what point are Christians today bewitched? You'll find the answer in verse 3. He says, Are you so foolish after beginning with the Spirit? Are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? The point of deception was this,

that these people who had truly been saved thought now they would be made perfect, they would be made complete, they would grow and mature in Christ through the works of the flesh by human effort. Now, I'm a Baptist, and I make no apologies for that. I was born a Baptist, and then when I reached the age of accountability, I stayed a Baptist. And I'm a Southern Baptist, which means you're really, really Baptist when you're a Southern Baptist.

And one thing we Southern Baptists preach is saved by grace. Saved by grace. And what we practice is staying saved by works. No, we don't preach that. We would never preach that you're saved by grace

but in practice we're preaching but you grow and come to perfection by human effort and Paul says are you so foolish to believe that once having received this salvation, you can now come to the fullness of that salvation and reach your goal in Christ's likeness by the works of the flesh, by human effort? Who has bewitched you? Now, in studying this idea of casting an evil eye or bewitching somebody or even hypnotism, there is a very important point, and it is this. Somebody has to capture your attention.

That means you must turn your attention from other things and focus on something else. Nobody can hypnotize you. Nobody can cast a spell on you. Nobody can bewitch you unless, first of all, they detract you from other concerns and get you to focus on something else. Now, what was it that these Galatians were distracted from? What was it that they turned their eyes away from? What was it, had they kept their eyes on these things, they would have gone on and been perfected as God intended. But instead, I love it when he says in verse 7 of chapter 5, you were running a good race. You started chapter 5, you were running a good race.

You started off well. You were running a good race. Who cut in on you? And it's a picture of somebody cutting you off. You probably had somebody do that to you today in the automobile. Who cut you off and kept you from obeying the truth. He said you started well. You had a great start.

But now it's coming to a tragic end. Somebody cut in front of you. Somebody cut you off. You were running well, but something happened, and somebody cut you off and turned your eyes from the things you ought to be focusing on, and that's why you believe now that your Christian life is going to grow and mature by your own human effort. Can I share with you the three things that Paul mentions in this passage that these Galatians, and I'm afraid many of us, have turned our attention from? And I could put it in the negative, I could put it in the positive, that if we focus on these things, we will grow.

I like that much better, don't you? If we focus on these things, keep our attention on these things, then we will be perfected in the faith as God intended. First of all, he says we need to keep our eyes focused on the cross, on the manifestation of the cross. We talked about that last night, but we're entering here a new dimension in thinking about the cross.

Let's read again verse 1. You foolish Galatians, who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes, Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. The NIV reads clearly portrayed, and actually that is kind of a weak reading. It means that you were, that Christ was put on a bill poster, that Christ was put on a billboard, that there was a public display. It's like driving down the highway, and you see this sign over here. I'll tell you the one I love. I love this since I've come over here. It's the one, who's it, what's it advertising,

Phil, the one that I like? What? A car. Yes, I know it's a car, but what kind of car? You don't have the slightest idea. But, you know, it's the one that says, Honey, I'm just going to pop down the road for some milk. You know the one I'm talking to? And it's run into a whole bunch of stuff and wrecked and everything. Anyway, but as you drive down the road, you see these huge signs, and you can't miss them. I mean, they're right there in the these huge signs, and you can't miss them. I mean, they're right there in the middle of the street.

You can't miss them. And Paul is saying, when I came to you, I billboarded, I billposted Christ before you so clearly, so magnified. And so he says, who has bewitched you? And the word you there is in an emphatic position in the Greek text. It means you of all people, you of all people. I mean, when I was with you, I just, I labored and labored and labored the subject of the cross and I made it so clear to you and I made such a big deal of it. You of all people should not have been turned aside from that. How can it happen to you? How can it happen to you?

I proclaim to you and magnify before you Christ crucified. Crucified. Somebody has captured your attention. Somebody has got your eyes off the cross and how that cross manifests itself in our lives and so now you're trying to perfect your faith by human effort now if you go back to Galatians chapter 2 and verse 20

we could quote that verse from memory couldn't we I have been crucified I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live but Christ lives in me and the life I live in the body I live by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself for me.

I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing. Now, I said he's introducing here a new dimension of the cross in our lives, how it manifests itself in our lives. Not just the fact that Christ died on the cross, and in dying on the cross, He bore our sins and carried them away, but also that we have been crucified with Him, that we have died with Him, that something has happened to us. It's not just that Christ has died, but we also have died. Oh, that something has happened to us. It's not just that Christ has died, but we also have died. Oh, Paul elaborates on this in the sixth chapter. Would you turn there

to the sixth chapter and verse 12? And Paul says, those who want to make a good impression outwardly are trying to compel you to be circumcised. The only reason they do this is to avoid being persecuted for the cross of Christ. Look at verse 14. May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Now notice he doesn't say anything here about the cross taking away his sins. He's speaking of another dimension. He says, God forbid that I should boast save in the cross of Christ my Lord, through whom, through which the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. Neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything. What counts is a new creation. Paul is saying that when the cross is applied to my life and manifested in my life, two things happen.

Number one, I get a new life. I have a new life. These Judaizers, and they're always with us. You may not call them Judaizers, and their ceremonies may be different, but they're always those people around who think that Christianity is a rule book religion, you know? And that if you follow rules and regulations and all of this, then by your human effort, how much time you spend doing this and how much time you spend doing it, you're going to grow and you're going to grow and you're going to

grow. Paul said, listen, the only thing that really matters is not all these rites and rituals and ceremonies. The only thing that really matters is whether or not you're a new creature in Christ Jesus. And when the cross is applied to your life, what happens? Well, you die with Christ. And Paul further amplifies that in Romans 26, says that not only have we died with Christ, but the implication is we have also been raised with Him to walk in newness of life and creation. I don't need reformation.

I don't need to turn over a new leaf. I don't need to try to do better. I just need to be a new creation. I mean, all over again. By the way, you know what creation is, don't you? It's making something out of nothing. I'm a real conservative evangelical, and I believe that God originally created

heavens and the earth out of nothing. And that's the way He still does it. Friend, when He made you a new creation, He did it out of nothing. You see, the problem most of us is we won't admit that we're nothing. Nothing is a zero

with the rim knocked out. Nothing. Nothing. We have a new life, but we have a new lifestyle. Notice how Paul puts it. He says, By which, through which,

the world has been crucified to me and I to the world. I have a new life. I'm a new creation. But there's a new lifestyle too. What is that lifestyle? Well, I have been crucified to the world and the world has been crucified to me. Now, what does he mean by that?

Well, what he means by that is as far as the world is concerned, Paul is dead. As far as the world is concerned, Paul's dead. He was a promising young man. Bright, educated, highly educated, at the feet of the greatest of all teachers. But he got mixed up in this religion business, see? Started following this Jesus. So you may as well count him out. As far as the world is concerned, Paul no longer exists.

And then he says, but not only has the world been crucified to me but I've been crucified to the world he says as far as the world is concerned I no longer exist and as far as I'm concerned the world no longer exists see

as far as I'm concerned this age is not what is important it's that new age in Christ Jesus. As you and I focus on the manifestation of the cross, on the cross in our lives, not just Christ dying for our sins, but our dying with Him. The world being crucified to the world, as far as I'm concerned, the world is dead and holds no attraction for me. And as far as the world is concerned, I'm dead. I hold no attraction to the world. Have you noticed how Paul

keeps coming back to this again and again and again? We talked last night about, he says, if I please men that I'm not a servant of God. Folks, I tell you, when the cross manifests itself in your life, I mean, you're a goner as long as far as this world is concerned. So first of all, there is the cross. The Galatians took their eyes off the cross. But not only the cross, but also the Spirit.

Now, these three things we're going to talk about tonight, the cross being the first one, the Spirit being the second one, these three things are the three major themes of the book of Galatians. First of all, they took their eyes off of the cross, and then secondly, they took their eyes off the work of the Holy Spirit. To put it positive, if you and I want to grow and want to be perfected in our faith, first of all, we allow the cross to manifest itself in our lives through that dying with Christ. But secondly, we allow the Holy Spirit to minister to us.

We do not forget the ministry of the Holy Spirit. For he goes on to say, and I like the way he puts this. Paul's a little sarcastic. Did you catch that? He said, I'd like to learn just one thing from you. And this is a good question, by the way. I'd like to learn just one thing from you. How were you saved?

Well, friend, as I said last night, you grow the same way you were saved. I mean, the means are the same. Notice what he said. I'd like to learn just one thing from you. Did you receive the Spirit by observing the law or by believing what you heard? Are you so foolish after beginning with the Spirit? Are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort? He said, how in the world can you be so foolish, so stupid, so non-thinking? How can you be so devoid of wisdom that you believe that once having begun in the Spirit,

now you're made perfect by the works of the flesh? My goodness. How can anybody be so foolish? But we are, aren't we? Don't we normally gauge spirituality by how much a person does? Now don't get me wrong, I'm not preaching a passive Christianity. I believe we ought to be doing everything we can in the service of God. But I remember when I was pastor that we had a couple of organizations in our church. One was a men's organization. The other was a women's organization that were always just on the verge of death.

Well, actually, the men's organization had died before I got there, and I made no effort to resurrect it. But the women's organization was pretty close to dying, and they couldn't understand. Well, my wife went once. It's nice for the pastor's wife to go to these things, and she went once. Which is why I'm on the road, you know. Phil keeps saying the church released me.

Yeah, yeah. Deacon said, with the way I preach, it's better if I stay on the move. But, you know, so there were a few women gathered there. And you know what they did? They talked about the ones that weren't there. That's all they did. Talked about the ones that weren't there. I remember one church, we had this brotherhood organization.

Right on Monday night. And this one man who was head of it, boy he had me pushing it from the pulpit, just pushing it from the pulpit, just pushing it from the pulpit. And you know everybody has their own thing and that's

fine. We pushed, we pushed, we pushed. We had a hundred men there that night. 100 men. The leader of this thing got up and he said, well, good to see all of these men tonight. We've counted it. We have 100 men tonight.

Isn't that wonderful? Unfortunately, we didn't have time to prepare a program. Say what? What? I mean, you're boasting and you're happy about the fact you have a hundred men, but in the meantime, you didn't have time to prepare a program. You see, you're spiritual if you're there. I mean, you may not be doing anything but gossiping about those who aren't there,

but that's a spiritual status symbol, you see. And sometimes you and I, we pick out things. You know, most people, their friendships, they form friendships according to common sin, and sometimes we form fellowship according to common virtue. And so here's something that we all like to do, you know. And so we get together, and that becomes a spiritual status symbol. And just by being present, I mean, you know, you don't have to do anything. Just by being present, sitting in the seat, being inside the church, being counted, being put down a number on the book. That, you know. Now Paul says, are you so foolish that having begun in the Spirit,

do you think that human effort and all of that is going to make you what you ought to be in Christ? He said, oh no, not at all. Well, what does he have to say about this? He expands in this in chapter 5 y'all are going to have to listen much faster than you're listening for me to finish listen to what he says chapter 5

verse 16 so I say live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. For the sinful nature desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the sinful nature. They are in conflict with each other, so that you do not do what you want. But if you are led by the Spirit,

you are not under the law. Now, the works, these acts of the sinful nature are obvious. Sexual immorality, impurity, debauchery, idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions, and envy, drunkenness, orgies, and the like. In case I left out something, I warn you as I did before that those who continually live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God, but the fruit of the Spirit is love and joy and peace and patience and faithfulness.

The fruit of the Spirit. We used to have a farm in Arkansas. And we used to spend the summers down there. There was a lake at the end of the road. We had a beautiful 12-acre lake there on that farm. And we called it a farm. We didn't farm it. It was just a place to go and get away.

But somebody years ago had planted three or four big oak trees that lined that road. I did a beautiful walk down that road. So one summer, I was there walking down that road, and I came to that last tree, and I noticed something very strange about it. On one side of that tree, the leaves were green. On the other side of that tree, the leaves were brown, dead. That tree was half alive and half dead. It was as though somebody had taken a pencil and ruler and just drew a line down the center of that tree and said, this is alive and this is dead. Well, I didn't think that much about it

except I knew we were going to lose that beautiful tree. I went back that November. All the leaves had fallen off the trees. I was walking down that road again, and I came to that tree, and I was amazed at what I saw. The leaves on the living side of that tree had all fallen to the ground. The branches were bare. The leaves on the dead side of that tree were still there.

They were still there, clinging to those branches. I said, that's funny. That's something. isn't that something and then I looked around and my brother and I had done some trimming

and stuff that summer cut off a bunch of limbs and trees and such and I noticed that those dead limbs scattered on the ground still had their dead leaves on them. Well, I got back home and there was a man who was my mentor

who knew a little bit about everything. And I explained to him that phenomenon. I said, Dr. Macbeth, why were those dead leaves still on the branches? Why hadn't they fallen off like the others. And Dr. Macbeth said, Oh, he said, dead leaves don't fall off dead trees. Dead leaves don't fall off trees. They're pushed off by the new life.

As the sap drops in the trees, it releases those leaves. As the life in that tree courses through that tree, it pushes off those dead leaves. But there is no life in the other side, and so there's nothing to push off those dead leaves.

That's why they stay there. Because dead leaves don't fall off trees. They're pushed off. I think that's remarkable. I think God had a good idea. Yeah. What if it didn't work that way? Let's say I've got a dozen big trees in my front yard.

Well, spring's over, summer's over, fall is coming. Oh, it's time to pull off all those dead leaves. Or else there'll be no green leaves, no fruit next year. So I get my ladder and I climb this tree and I'm pulling off all these dead leaves. I don't think I'll ever finish pulling off all these dead leaves, all these dead leaves. It takes forever to do one tree, pulling off all these dead leaves, all these dead leaves. God says, what are you doing? Well, Lord, I'm pulling off these dead leaves so that there'll be green leaves in the spring.

He said, oh, you foolish Galatians. He said, you don't have to pull off the dead leaves. All you have to do is to make certain that the life of the Spirit leaves. All you have to do is to make certain that the life of the Spirit is flowing through you and the Holy Spirit will automatically push off those dead leaves.

And in their place will come fruit of love and joy and peace. Isn't that wonderful? I mean, wasn't God smart? Friend, that's the way it works in the Christian life. You know, sometimes we say, well, I've got this problem. I've got this problem. I've got this problem. And we zero in on it.

We zero in on it. We say, I'm not going to do this anymore. I'm not going to do this anymore. As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. And the more you concentrate on that, the more power you're giving to it. No, listen, I'm not asking you to leave this building tonight committed to a set of rules and regulations, but surrender to a person. And as the Holy Spirit has His way, as we walk in the Spirit, and as we keep in step with the Spirit, listen, He'll push off the dead leaves, and He'll the fruit of Christ's likeness in your life. So, there is the manifestation of the cross as it manifests itself in our life.

And there is the ministry of the Holy Spirit. And then I must hurriedly finish, there is the message of faith. The message of faith, a message of faith. In verse 5, does God give you His Spirit and work miracles among you because you observe the law or because you believe what you heard? Consider Abraham. God, and what? It was credited to his account as righteousness. So, in verse 9, those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. And then in verse 11, clearly no one is justified before God by the law. Oh, by the way, there's something I forgot to mention. You see the word law over and over again in Galatians? Now, in your translation, more than likely, it says the law, right? The law has a definite article. Take your pen and draw a little X through the word the because it doesn't have a thee there.

Now, most of you may know this and many of you may not. So I'll just... In the Greek text, in the Greek language, if there is a noun that has an article before it, like thee, it is pointing to a specific object, a definite thing. So if it said the law, it was talking about the law of Moses, the Ten Commandments and that. But when there is no definite article before it, it just means law. And it refers to any system of rules and regulations that you follow in your religious life. He's not talking here just about keeping the Ten Commandments and keeping the Mosaic Law,

but he's talking about those 647 other commandments that the Pharisees added to it. And literally what he's talking about is any system of religion that believes that you grow and that you please God by what you say, what you do, by rules and regulations, a human effort type of religion. And I just wanted to point that out, that what Paul is getting at here is not just the keeping of the law of Moses, but he said, those of you who try by some system of religion to perfect yourself, to perfect your faith, he said, oh, you're foolish. That'll never do it. That'll never do it. For he says in verse 11, clearly no one is justified before God by the law or by law because the righteous will live by faith.

The law is not based on faith. On the contrary, the man who does these things will live by them. Now you have a choice. You can live by the law or you can live by faith. But if you're going to live by the law, you're going to die by the law. When I was in seminary,

we had a class on missions. And in every class on missions in seminary, there's always one bright or unbright student who says, well, I just believe that if the heathen never hear the gospel, they'll go to heaven anyway. And our class was no exception. It wasn't me. I learned early on in seminary to keep my mouth shut. And so one day, Dr. Cal Guy, who was a great missionary,

was teaching. Dr. Guy, Dr. Guy, Dr. Guy. I just believe that if a heathen will do the best he can, just do the best he can, that he'll be saved whether he hears the gospel or not. Dr. Guy said, trot out that heathen.

Show me any man who does the best he can. Show me anyone who has always done the best they can. You see, even if that were possible for a person to be saved apart from the gospel by doing the best they can, is there anybody here tonight who can stand up and say, Preacher, since I reached the age of accountability, of knowing right from wrong, I've always done the best I knew to do.

I've always lived up to the highest demands of my conscience. I've always done the best I knew to do. I've always lived up to the highest demands of my conscience. I've never once violated my conscience. Anybody here? If you're going to live by the law, you're going to die by the law. Or you can live by faith. The just shall live by faith. God says that four times in the Bible. Three in the New Testament, one in the Old Testament. Habakkuk, Romans, Galatians, and Hebrews. Now I want to tell you something. If God, knowing God's brevity in the Bible,

if God says to me the same thing four times, I get the idea he's trying to tell me something. And four times God says the just shall live by faith. You know what I think he's trying to tell me something. And four times God says the just shall live by faith. You know what I think He's trying to tell me? I think He's trying to tell me the just shall live by faith. By grace are you saved

through faith and not of yourselves. It is the gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. Thank God. You see, faith makes it possible for everyone to be saved.

Christmas Evans. Was he Welsh? Yes. Oh, I love the story of Christmas Evans. I was reading one of his sermons years ago. And he said, the thing about faith is you can put a man in a barrel and wrap a chain around that barrel and padlock it and then knock out not whole and shout through there how to be saved and he he can be saved, locked in that barrel.

Why? Because it's by faith. It's by faith. And so how does God take us? We began so well. And how does he intend to perfect us in the faith? Well, by the application of the cross to our daily lives. By the ministry of the Holy Spirit as we walk in him and we keep in step with him.

And he is producing in us the Christ-like character. And by faith. That our standing before God, our justification before God is not by anything we've done or are doing, but it's simply, I believe. I believe.

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