Galatians 3:2

Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?

The hearing of faith

I. What faith?

1. A historical (James 2:19).

2. Dogmatical (Acts 8:13; Acts 8:23; Luke 4:41).

3. A temporary (Luke 8:13; John 5:35).

4. A faith of miracles (Luke 17:6; 1 Corinthians 13:2).

5. A saving faith (Romans 10:10; Acts 16:31; 1 Peter 2:6).

II. What is meant by hearing? Hearing the Word of God--

1. Read.

2. Expounded.

3. Preached.

III. How is faith wrought by the Word? Not as a principal, but as an instrumental cause. Thus--

1. The minister commissioned by God speaks it to the ears sometimes of God’s mercy to man, sometimes of man’s duty to God (2 Timothy 4:2).

2. The ears of the hearer take in what is spoken, and convey it to the understanding. But that cannot receive it (1 Corinthians 2:14): therefore--

3. The Spirit goes along with the “Word, and enables the understanding to receive it.

4. And also inclines the will to embrace it (Philippians 2:13; Romans 7:15; Hebrews 4:12). (Bishop Beveridge.)

Directions for hearing

I. Before hearing--

1. Consider what thou art going about.

2. Set all worldly thoughts aside (Nehemiah 13:19) and sins (James 1:21).

3. If thou would have God pour forth His blessing, do thou pour forth thy spirit to Him in prayer (Psalms 10:17; Psalms 65:2).

(1) For the minister (Romans 15:30).

(2) For yourselves, that God would put in with the Word (Isaiah 8:11).

4. Come with an appetite.

5. With large expectations.

6. With strong resolutions to practise.

II. During hearing. Hear--

1. Reverently.

2. Diligently, with hearts as well as ears.

3. Meekly (James 1:21).

4. With faith (Hebrews 4:2).

5. Apply it to thyself (Job 5:27).

6. Renew your resolutions, lifting up your heart in prayer.

III. After hearing.

1. Meditate (1 Timothy 4:15).

2. Confer with others.

3. Square thyself according to it, that thy life may be the commentary (James 1:22; Matthew 7:24). (Bishop Beveridge.)

A lesson for the Church

The helmsman may work the wheel with the greatest dexterity and earnestness, but unless he hears and obeys the captain’s signal, his work will be worthless, and the ship must go out of its course. The builder may accumulate the best materials, and may put them together with industry and skill; but what if he be so busy as to have no time to listen to the architect’s instructions? His labour will be lost, and lost in proportion to his very carefulness: and the house he builds will be thrown upon his hands as not according to the plan, and may possibly be his ruin. A child to whom a father has promised a gift may earn what he deems an equivalent, and may offer it as a filial recompense; but that is not the way to secure it, and will probably lead to disappointment. And so men may work in what moral manner they like, and in what moral direction they like, but they will only labour in vain and go astray unless they hear God’s voice, and obey His directions respecting the Divine gift of the Spirit. “If ye being evil know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask for Him?” The Holy Spirit comes through the believing hearing of that message. Works will only obstruct, but faith will open an entrance for the Spirit. And we have learned this as individuals, but we have yet to learn it as Churches. How many revivals are manufactured, yet how few Churches are revived, but on the contrary made more impotent by the manufacture. The patching of organizations, the utilization of special agencies may be hindrances rather than helps. The Spirit alone quickeneth a dead Church, and He is to be had not by special services as such, but by the hearing of faith. “Not by might nor by power,” etc. “I will pour My blessing on thy seed, and My spirit on thy offspring.” Hear this, ye Churches, and your souls shall live.

The mode of salvation

A great delusion is upon the heart of man as to his salvation. His ways are perverse. He does not love the law of God; nay, his mind is opposed to it, and yet he sets up to be its advocate. When he understands the spirituality and severity of the law, he reckons it to be a sore burden; and yet, when the gospel is preached, and set forth as the gift of sovereign grace, and he is bidden to accept it by an act of faith, he professes great concern about the law, lest it should be made void by the freeness of grace. He takes the broken pieces of the two tables of the law, and hurls them at the cross. He will resort to any pretence to oppose the way of salvation appointed by God. The reason is, that man is not only poor, but proud; not only guilty, but conceited. He will not humble himself to be saved upon terms of Divine charity. Rather than believe God, he will accept the proud falsehoods of his own heart, which delude him into the flattering hope that he may merit eternal life. Against this error the text opposes itself. St. Paul points out to the Galatians that they were bound to admit, each one for himself, that they received the Holy Spirit by faith, and by no other means.

I. An argument of experience for the people of God.

1. See the testimony to this in the early history of the Church (Acts 1:1; Acts 2:1; Acts 3:1; Acts 4:1; Acts 5:1; Acts 6:1; Acts 7:1; Acts 8:1.).

2. In your own experience.

(a) Enlightenment.

(b) Peace.

(c) Sanctification.

(d) Communion with God.

(e) Assurance. These are all received by “the hearing of faith.” They cannot be obtained in any other way but that.

II. An argument derived from observation for the use of seekers. Honesty, generosity, righteousness--these have not justified, cannot justify. Why not abandon this vain method, and try the Lord’s appointed way “the hearing of faith”?

1. Personal hearing. Each for himself.

2. Hearing of the gospel. The faith that saves does not come by just hearing whatever comes first; it only comes by hearing the testimony of the Spirit to the appointed Saviour.

3. Attentive hearing.

4. The hearing of faith. Accepting the gospel as God’s message, and depending upon it fully and wholly. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

The venture of faith

When a man is in trouble of spirit, faith is a venture to him; it appears to him to be the greatest venture possible. He that saith, “This gospel which I have heard is true, and I will venture my soul upon the truth of it,” is the man who has given to the gospel “the hearing of faith.” Let me try to set forth faith yet again: This bridge is strong enough to carry me over the stream, therefore I am going over the stream upon it. That is real faith. Faith is a most practical principle in daily life. The most of trade hangs on trust. When a man sows wheat he has to scatter it into the furrows and lose it, and he does so because he has faith that God will send a harvest. When the sailor loses sight of the shore, he has to sail by faith; believing in his compass, he feels safe, though he may not see land for weeks. Faith is the hand which receives what God presents to us, and hence it is a simple, childlike thing. When a child has an apple offered him, he may know nothing about the orchard in which the apple grew, and nothing of the mechanism of his hand and arm, but it is quite enough for him to take the apple. Faith does the most effectual thing when it takes what God gives. All the rest may or may not be. Faith is the main thing. When God holds out to me salvation by Christ Jesus, I need not ask anything further about it, but just take it to myself and be at once saved, for by faith the Spirit of God is received. (C. H. Spurgeon.)

Faith and works

I heard a grumbler say, “We do not want this doctrine. What we want is more morality and honesty.” You remind me of a poor little child. His father planted bulbs to come up in the spring, and make the garden gay with golden flowers. But the boy said, “We don’t want bulbs; we want crocus cups and daffodils.” The child forgot that flowers never grow without roots. Flowers stuck into the ground without roots are babes, follies, and good works without faith are childish vanities. We preach faith in order that good works may follow, and they do follow. (C. H. Spurgeon.)