Sometimes, us Christians can be so silly. pause
Sometimes us Christians are so selective. pause
Sometimes us Christians can be so blind. long pause
We just don’t want to know some things,
Regardless of just how clear the Bible is! pause & explain
Not talking about people who’ve been Christians five minutes!
I am talking about people who have been Christians five years! pause
Talking about people who have been Christians for fifty years! explain
Sometimes we just don’t want to know! pause & explain
Sometimes we just do not want to see. say it slowly & clearly (But we are going to do it!)
There’s things in the Bible Christians just do not want to know about. pause & explain
The Christians in James four, 45 AD, who were murdering each other. James 4:2
The guy in First Corinthians who was having sex with his stepmother. 1 Corinthians 5:1
The church being infiltrated by fifth columnists, that’s in Jude 8 to 16.
And, very long pause
The people who go and toss in the towel after they become Christians. Galatians 1:6
As Paul and Barnabas arrive back home in Syrian Antioch, First Missionary Journey 47-48
Just a matter of maybe a few months after being in Galatia,
Paul hears things are bad in Galatia so, he writes Galatians. late 48 AD, South/Early Dating
After a brief greeting, “Hi to you Galatians, its Paul”,
And a short introduction, “Grace to you and peace”,
Paul launches, I am astonished, I marvel, I wonder, Ta?µ??? present active indicative
That you are so quickly deserting him who called you,
In the grace of Christ and turning to a different gospel! explain
Paul’s flabbergasted, shocked, cannot believe his ears.
Paul is in a continual state of amazement at this news! pause, shake my head
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him!
Galatians 1:6 to 9
Paul is just like us, he knows salvation is a free gift,
Just like us he knows that forgiveness is not earned.
Paul’s just like us, he knows Jesus died for our sins,
And, just like us he knows the Parable of the Sower. pause & wonder
But how can this be for they looked to be so genuine? pause, then continue so hurt
I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him! shake my head
Christians, when we see something that shocks us,
First we go and ask ourselves, “How can this be?”
“Why is it that this particular thing’s happened?” pause
Then, we immediately go straight to our Bibles. hold up my Bible
So quickly deserting him.
Why are they deserting Jesus?
Answer number one.
It is the real before your eyes, gesture to my eyes, pause & explain
Parable of the Sower!
Less than twenty years before Jesus told the Parable of the Sower.
Luke 8:5 to 8(a)
Immediately after Jesus told that parable His disciples asked Him,
Saying, “Jesus, explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field.” Matthew 13:36
Jesus explains, “The ones along the path are those who have heard; explain
Then the devil comes by and takes away the word from their hearts, gesture pluck
That they may not believe and be saved. Luke 8:12, explain
And that’s exactly what happened in the church in Galatia in 48AD.
The devil came along, and he took away the word from their hearts!
The devil had his own agents.
They are called false teachers.
They were working in Galatia. pause & explain
Lying!
That’s exactly all that they do.
Lie, as they talk about people,
Lie when they tell about God.
People! Salvation is not a free gift. liars, sound like a real insincere
God’s not loving and kind hearted.
You need more than simply Jesus.
God needs to be bribed, bought off.
God’s kindness must be purchased. have Tetzel in the back of my mind
Now listen up everybody I’ve got the answer! point to myself, still insincere, still liars
I can tell you exactly how to get God on side. pause then go on with the big announcement
You have to go get circumcised! all of Galatians!
You must observe special days! cf Galatians 4:10
You first have to become a Jew, cf Galatians 5:2
Before you can be a Christian!! pause & warn, still insincere
Go and rely on works of the law. cf Galatians 3:10
Don’t listen to that rat bag Paul. shake my head in sadness
These anti-Gospel people sound so sincere. cf Tetzel the ‘Grand Commissioner’
These anti- Jesus-ers sound so very sincere. pause
Listen to us we are soo very knowledgeable. so insincere
Listen to us ‘cause we are so super spiritual. shake my head in sadness
And some people listened! explain
The naïve and the gullible.
The spiritually non serious.
The loveless, shallow folk.
The seed on that footpath. cf Luke 8:5
The seed that fell in thorns. cf Luke 8:7
The seed lying on the rock. cf Luke 8:6
Gobbled up by birds seed. cf Luke 8:5
Lost and disregarded seed,
Withered and lifeless seed. cf Luke 8:6
Opportunity vanished seed. pause & reflect
The devil smiles and smirks!
And all this produced results!
Eternally devastating results,
Congregationally devastating. pause & explain
The devil smiling type results.
So quickly deserting him.
Why are they deserting Jesus?
Answer number two.
Some liars got into their ears,
Doing their duplicity!
If you listen to the financial liars, con men,
Then you will certainly get financially hurt.
If you listen to sweet talking spiritual liars. long pause to let the conclusion sink in
So, spiritual liars cause deep pain,
It is what their heartless hearts do, pause & reflect
And I think they enjoy every hurt. shake my head
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him!”
“I’ve only been away from you for a couple of months!”
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him!”
“You seemed to be so excited and fired up about Jesus!”
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him!”
“You prayed the sinners prayer and said it so sincerely!”
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him!”
“Everyone up in Galatia seemed to be on fire for Jesus!” pause
“I’m just so absolutely dumbfounded and flabbergasted!”
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him!”
Says Paul, and Keith and Melody Green found the same, in 1975
Some nineteen hundred, and twenty-seven years latter! explain
“They’d prayed the sinners prayer,
But they weren’t acting very saved”! absolutely shocked, No Compromise, p135, explain
Didn’t know Galatians chapter one!
Not even, the Parable of the Sower!
New Christians, Keith and Melody Green realised,
It was apparent that the attitude of many Christians was pretty lax.
It seemed like you could be a Christian,
And do almost anything you wanted, pause & explain
Sleep around, smoke dope and swim nude in mixed company.
And it seemed as if nobody was objecting. No Compromise, p138
Keith fell into a real depression over what we were seeing.
“Something’s really wrong here,” he said.
“I’ve struggled too long and hard to find Jesus.
I’m not going to quit now,” Keith said.
“But I’ll tell you one thing,
I’m not going to compromise what I know is right,
No matter what people around us are doing.”
“It seems so crazy to play games with God,” I added.
“Yeah,” Keith concluded, commitment
“We have to give God more than lip-service, pause & announce
We need to give Him life-service.” No Compromise, p138
We need to give Him life-service,
That is what Jesus requires of us!
“I’m not going to compromise what I know is right.” says Keith Green
No Compromise is what Keith Green is known for. explain
No Compromise the album.
No Compromise the book. pause & explain
No Compromise the life.
So where does that leave us?
The non-serious surround us.
Deserters, slackers, loafers,
Liars, frauds, false brethren,
They’re all there everywhere. pause & explain
Just like the kind and loving,
Authentic heart Christians! smile, long pause
What does this all mean for us? lean forward, pause & look around
Deserters or no-compromisers?
Do you see how Paul responds to this unbelief? look around
He corrects the wrong stuff that is going round.
Galatians 1:8 to 10
First off, Paul clearly re-states the Gospel,
So that no one can be left with any doubts. pause & ‘Paul’ speaks
“What I told you people before still stands,
Anybody who changes anything is cursed,
That includes even me and even an angel!”
Then, expectant pause
To touch their minds and hearts,
Paul gives to them his testimony! pause & explain
It stretches from verse eleven,
Way, w-a-y into chapter two. pause
Long testimony!
Good testimony!
We too should have our testimony,
All ready on the tip of our tongues.
And, most certainly,
Our pre-testimonies.
Our lives publically lived for Jesus. explain
Real hearts and genuine lived lives.
One day Keith spent the whole morning telling Feather, Keith’s testimony – how to do it
A young hippie girl, about the Lord. … No Compromise, p136 & 137
Feather was very sceptical about Christians,
And she gave Keith a run for his money. pause & state
“I don’t think they’re any better than I am.
The Christians I’ve known have all been a bunch of hypocrites.
They say one thing and do another.” pause
“Real Christians aren’t like that,” insisted Keith.
“They really love the Lord and they live holy lives.”
“Well, I don’t need a list of do’s and don’ts in my life.
I believe there’s a supreme being, but I don’t want anybody telling me what to do.” …
As Keith started to share from his own life,
I could tell Feather had really started listening.
We both knew exactly where she was at,
Because we’d been there ourselves once.
The more open Keith got about himself,
The more I could see she started to believe him.
Keith said, “God wants to be in a relationship with you.
I think he’s been speaking to you for a long time.
You need to start listening.”
As her attitude grew softer,
Keith really encouraged her to open her heart to the Lord.
“Just pray with me.
You don’t have anything to lose, pause & explain
And you have everything to gain.”
Finally, after a few hours, she came to a point,
Where she was willing to pray and ask Jesus into her life.
Keith led her in a really precious prayer,
And then wanted to take her to meet some of our friends.
He said, “I want to introduce you to some,
Of your new brothers and sisters who really love God. pause & explain
We want you to meet some real Christians.”
We drove up to Hollywood and ended up at the home of our friends the Cramers,
But they weren’t around. pause & explain
The Cramers happened to live next door to Leo,
And now we heard some noise coming from Leo’s backyard, we walked over.
There were a few people from the Bible study swimming in Leo’s pool,
And we pulled up a few chairs at the poolside,
All the while telling our new sister, Feather,
How great being a Christian was.
She was starting to look more relaxed,
And I knew we were getting through to her at last.
We were only there a few minutes, ‘slackos’ testimony – how not to do it
When the sliding glass door from Leo’s house flung open wide. explain
A new Christian we’d met at the Cramer’s home came charging out at full speed.
He ran across the concrete with his arms raised over his head,
Yelling – “Praise the Lord!”
And dived into the pool.
There was only one problem. pause, then explain
He was totally naked.
Now there he was, swimming around in front of us,
With nothing on but a big smile.
I quickly glanced at Feather to see her reaction.
She looked upset. …
The incident had unravelled our whole testimony to Feather,
Who was just hours old in the Lord. pause
Even though nudity was widely accepted among hippies,
We’d told her Christians were different. very long pause, then sadly say
We never saw her again after that day. shake my head sadly
