_O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you?_ A FOOLISH CHURCH I. In its origin. II. In its idea of the sustaining energy of the Church. III. In its retrogression. IV. In its estimate of the true position and requirements of humanity. V. In having left its first love. (_D. Allport._) THE FOL... [ Continue Reading ]
_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 Cori [ Continue Reading ]
_Having begun in the Spirit._ I. The commencement of salvation is the holy spirit’s work. Salvation is not begun by-- 1. The means of grace alone. 2. The minister or priest. 3. Self-effort. II. What the holy spirit does at the beginning. He-- 1. Regenerates the soul. 2. Teaches the soul that... [ Continue Reading ]
_Have ye suffered so many things in vain?_ THE VANITY OF PAST CHRISTIAN LIFE IN THE CASE OF APOSTASY Unless you continue faithful to the end, all your former Christian life must remain without the recompense God longs to bestow. Your struggles, your self-sacrifice, will all be unrewarded. The apos... [ Continue Reading ]
_He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles._ MORAL INSPIRATION I. Its nature. The supernatural power of the Holy Spirit in man. 1. In ordinary Christians: regeneration; Christian energy” moral influence. 2. In extraordinary ministers, as apostles and prophets: miracle... [ Continue Reading ]
_Even as Abraham believed God._ THE FAITH OF ABRAHAM I. A simple, child-like dependence on the naked word of God. II. An acceptance of and trust in God’s promised Saviour. III. A renouncing of his own works as meritorious. IV. A faith that wrought by love, making him the friend of God. V. One... [ Continue Reading ]
_They which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham._ THE CHILDREN OF ABRAHAM By grace all believers are such. I. By imitation: in that Abraham is set forth as a pattern in the steps of whose faith believers walk. II. By succession: in that they succeed him in the same blessing. III.... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith._ THE SCRIPTURE FORESEEING I. God foresaw that He would justify the heathen through faith. II. Foreseeing this issue, God announced it by word of mouth to Abraham. III. Moses recorded it in the spirit of prophecy. IV... [ Continue Reading ]
_Are blessed with faithful Abraham._ ASPECTS OF FAITH I. Faith as a possessor--“of faith.” 1. Men are hardly believers in the fullest sense until they have been mastered and subjugated by their faith. 2. History, secular and sacred, is full of examples of men who have not only had faith, but hav... [ Continue Reading ]
_For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse._ THE CURSE AND ITS REMOVAL I. The curse of the law is of universal application. All are born under the law, and are bound to observe it. But all have broken it, and their guilt remains. There is no question of mercy here. Law, viewed... [ Continue Reading ]
_But that no man is Justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident._ JUSTIFICATION NOT BY THE LAW BUT BY FAITH IN CHRIST I. What is justification. 1. To be justified is to be brought into a right relation to law. 2. Justification is the bringing of a man into right relations with all la... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the law is not of faith._ THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL I. They differ in the work of our justification. 1. The law promiseth life to him that performs perfect obedience, and that for his works. 2. The gospel promiseth life to him that believes for the sake of Christ. 3. The law then requires doi... [ Continue Reading ]
_Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us._ SIN AND REDEMPTION I. The divine execration of sin. 1. Under a moral government a righteous governor will, yea, must, append blessing to good and cursing to evil. 2. There is a law above all human laws: (1) In the p... [ Continue Reading ]
_That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ._ THE PURPOSE OF REDEMPTION I. That the blessing of abraham might come upon the gentiles. 1. Whence comes this blessing? From the cursed death of Christ. 2. Where is it to be found? In Christ Jesus, who is (1) the sto... [ Continue Reading ]
_Though it be but a man’s covenant, yet if it be confirmed, no man disannulleth, or addeth thereto._ COVENANTS I. It is allowable to use human analogies in the enforcement of divine truth--“after the manner of men.” II. The conditions of covenant-making in human life. 1. A covenant is an arrange... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now to Abraham and his seed were the promises made._ THE GREAT PROMISE The promise was twofold. I. A lower or temporal blessing: II. A higher or spiritual blessing. III. The two are intermingled. The spiritual could not have come without the temporal, nor the temporal without the spiritual. (_... [ Continue Reading ]
_And this I say, that the covenant, that was confirmed before of God in Christ, the law, which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul._ GOD’S COVENANTS WITH MEN A covenant is an agreement or contract, in which the parties to it solemnly bind themselves to the fulfilment of certai... [ Continue Reading ]
_For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise._ LAW AND PROMISE I. The law was restricted and conditional--“added because of transgression”: the promise was absolute and unconditional. II. The law was temporary and provisional--“until the seed should come”: the promise was perma... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore then serveth the law?_ It was added because of trasgressions_._ THE FUNCTION OF THE LAW Of what use, then, is the law, if (as you assert) it is not simply a codicil to--a substitute for--God’s promise to Abraham? “It was added.” Not being a part of the original scheme, but made necessar... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now a mediator is not a mediator of one, but God is one._ I. The key to the apostle’s argument--“One.” 1. (Galatians 3:16) One is the seed of Abraham, to whom the promise was made. “In thee shall all the nations be blessed” (Galatians 3:8), was the proposition with which St. Paul started to prove... [ Continue Reading ]
_Is the law, then, against the promises of God?_ THE HARMONY BETWEEN THE LAW AND THE GOSPEL I. The gospel gift of righteousness is not made of none effect by the law. Abraham was justified by faith. 1. Which is God’s old covenant. 2. Resting on God’s own promises. 3. And still endures. II. The... [ Continue Reading ]
_But the Scripture hath concluded all under sin._ A CHARGE OF SIN I. The scripture statement of man’s natural condition. And what now do you expect to hear? That man, though fallen and frail, has nevertheless many native virtues and excellences? that, if his conduct be sometimes amiss, yet his hea... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore the law was our schoolmaster._ THE LAW WAS OUR SCHOOLMASTER I. The condition of humanity and the ultimate purpose of God respecting it. The Jews a type of mankind. Humanity is the Son of God, legally disinherited by apostasy, and gross and sensual. The heart of the Father is set upon it... [ Continue Reading ]
_For we are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus._ LIBERTY, EQUALITY, AND FRATERNITY “Liberty, equality, and fraternity,” is the three-fold watchword of the masses in modern society. These words are written up in large characters on public buildings, and even on some of the churches, i... [ Continue Reading ]
_Have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ._ BAPTIZED INTO CHRIST HAVE PUT ON CHRIST I. The clothing is twofold. 1. The putting on of a garment. This is also twofold. (1) To take the outward name and profession. ‘This doth no good (Haggai 1:6). It may be done to delude others, but God ca... [ Continue Reading ]
_There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free._ THE UNITY OF TRUE BELIEVERS The Christian scheme is a uniting scheme, and all real saints are one in their glorious Head. I. There is a sense in which the saints are too much one, viz., in that which is evil. They spring from the s... [ Continue Reading ]
_For we are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus._ LIBERTY, EQUALITY, AND FRATERNITY “Liberty, equality, and fraternity,” is the three-fold watchword of the masses in modern society. These words are written up in large characters on public buildings, and even on some of the churches, i... [ Continue Reading ]