THE AUDITORIUM SUNDAY
SCHOOL CLASS
SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2005
THE OBJECT OF OUR GLORY
I. Paul wrote Galatians in large letters. (11)
A.
There are two views concerning what Paul is saying in this verse:
1.
Paul was referring to the size of the entire letter (epistle).
or
2.
Paul was referring to the size of his writing.
- it was evidently
common knowledge that Paul had bad eyesight (4:15).
B.
Paul is writing this epistle to benefit the churches in Galatia.
1.
He is using himself as an example of verse 10.
2.
He is an example of ministering to others while in need himself (6:2).
3.
He is attempting to distinguish himself from the false teachers.
II. The false teachers were concerned about
themselves (12).
A.
They want to impress others.
1.
They wanted “to make a fair shew in the
flesh....”
2.
They were not teaching a walk in the Spirit but in the flesh (5:16).
3.
Paul had already warned about men-pleasers (1:10).
B.
They are dictators.
1.
“They constrain you to be circumcised.”
2.
The false teachers manipulated the people by their words.
3.
“Language was power” - Edward Gibbon
C.
They are afraid of persecution.
- “.....lest they should suffer persecution
for the cross of Christ.”
1.
The false teachers promoted a compromise of faith and works.
2.
They feared the legalism of the Pharisees.
3.
They were playing both sides against the middle.
III. A works based faith glories in the
flesh. (13
A.
The false teachers claimed that salvation was by the Law.
- but they did not
keep the Law themselves.
B.
The false teachers glories in their converts.
1.
They wanted the Galatians to submit to circumcision in order to brag on
the number of their
converts.
2.
They were trying to get converts for their own glory.
3.
The Lord Jesus spoke of the Pharisaical philosophy in Matthew 23:13-15.
IV. The Apostle Paul gloried
in the cross, not a crown. (14)
A.
Paul gloried in the cross of Christ.
1.
The Judaizers gloried in the convert instead
of the cross.
2.
Paul emphasized his determination not to glory in human works by stating
“God forbid....” (“May it never come to pass”)
3.
It’s not the conversion, the convert, or the converter that gets the glory.
-It’s the Christ of the
conversion who gets the glory.
B.
Paul gloried in his own cross in so far as it was the cross of Christ.
1.
The Cross separates the genuine convert from the world that crucified
Christ.
2.
Paul does not glory in the fleshly works of man but in the spiritual
work of Christ in men.
Conclusion - Christians give all glory to Christ; Legalists (emphasizers of the law) take the glory of Christ and heap it upon themselves.