“Fill ‘Er
Up”
Galatians “The Heart of the Gospel” Series
A Sermon By Jim Hammond from Galatians 3:1-24
“Fill ‘er Up”. That’s a phrase I haven’t heard in a
long time. My Dad used to say it at full serve gas stations. Are there
any of these anymore? Or am I just so cheap I haven’t seen one.
With gas prices as high as they are now, would it get
your attention if there was a filling station where you could “Fill ‘Er
Up” for free? The good news is that God will fill our souls for free if
we let him. How many of you could use a fill up right about now? Is
anyone feeling a bit empty, like they have been running on empty for a
while? The good news is that God is willing to fill us with everything we
need for now and eternity.
Some people are empty and they don’t know it. People
don’t fill up until they think they need to.
How do you go about filling up an empty spiritual
tank? Just like at a service station a connection has to be made.
“Connecting the unconnected with God's message of love, hope, and
new beginnings through the amazing grace of Jesus Christ.”
Last Sunday Doug asked how intimate your relationship with God is? How
is your connection right now? How was your connection before this
morning? Have you been unplugged? Have you connected this morning with
the God of the Universe?
Just how do you connect? What do you do? You won’t be able to live
right until you have made connections.
I saw a clever shirt at a coffee shop this
week, it said STRESSED is just desserts spelled backwards. If only it was
really true that STRESSED could be reversed by DESSERTS. Even though I
know desserts are not the answer, I find myself wandering around the
kitchen even when I’m full, looking for comfort foods to fill a void that
isn’t physical. Do you do that? We hunt for temporary relief and
satisfaction. The only thing is, we end up making matters worse. Maybe it
isn’t desserts for you but some other counterfeit fuels. Those
counterfeit fuels we try to put in our tanks when we are feeling empty
don’t last. In fact these false fuels usually leave us with a heaviness,
or hang ups, or hangovers, or other problems.
Wouldn’t it be great to have your spiritual tank
filled today? God is willing to fill us with everything we need for now
and eternity making us whole and satisfied if we will let him, and he will
do this as a free gift to us. Such a filling is Not cheap, mind you. It
was very expensive to God, it cost him his Son, but it is free to us. Do
you want to be filled with everything you need for now and eternity?
Focus: If you are running on empty, go “Fill
‘er Up.”
God is the source of ultimate satisfaction.
Psalm 69:32
(NIV)… you who seek God, may
your hearts live!
(NASB)…
You who seek God, let your heart revive.
(TEV)
… Those who worship God will be encouraged.
(NLT)
…Let all who seek God's help live in joy.
(GW)
… May the hearts of those who look to God for help be refreshed.
Galatians 3 explains how to “Fill ‘er
up”
I. The Law Can’t
Fill You Up (3:1-18).
A. This is demonstrated by:
1. Experience: How did you first receive and live your
spiritual life? (3:1-5)
Galatians 3:1-5 You foolish
Galatians! Who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes Jesus Christ was
clearly portrayed as crucified.
2I would like to learn just one thing from you: Did you receive the
Spirit by observing the law, or by believing what you heard?
3Are you so foolish? After beginning with the Spirit, are you now
trying to attain your goal by human effort?
4Have you suffered so much for nothing--if it really was for
nothing?
5Does God give you his Spirit and work miracles among you because
you observe the law, or because you believe what you heard?
ANSWER: receiving the Spirit by believing what
you heard about Jesus
2. Example: How did Old Testament saints receive spiritual
life? (3:6-9)
Galatians 3:6-9 Consider
Abraham: "He believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness."
7Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham.
8The 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."
9So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of
faith.
ANSWER: “Righteousness” (being right with God)
was “credited” to Abraham because Abraham believed God’s promise.
Insulting the Giver
William McDonald tells us to imagine ourselves invited to a banquet in
the White House by the president of the United States. You are seated at
the table that is filled with the choicest foods. Every effort is made to
give you a most enjoyable evening. At the end of a lovely visit, the
president stands at the front door to bid you good-bye.
What do you do? As you leave, do you press a dime into his hand and
say, "Thank you very much for your kindness. I have enjoyed the evening
very much. I realize it has cost you a lot of money, and I want to help
you pay for the meal"?
Is that the proper response to his kindness? On the contrary, it is a
rude and insulting gesture. To seek to earn, merit, or purchase salvation
is to insult the giver of the gift. So it would be with God’s grace.
[1]
3. Exposition: What does the Scripture teach about how life is
to be received? (3:10-18).
Galatians 3:10-18 All who rely
on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is
everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the
Law."
11Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, "The
righteous will live by faith."
12The law is not based on faith; on the contrary, "The man who does
these things will live by them."
13Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse
for us, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who is hung on a tree."
14He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might
come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might
receive the promise of the Spirit.
15Brothers, let me take an example from everyday life. Just as no
one can set aside or add to a human covenant that has been duly
established, so it is in this case.
16The promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. The
Scripture does not say "and to seeds," meaning many people, but "and to
your seed," meaning one person, who is Christ.
17What I mean is this: The law, introduced 430 years later, does
not set aside the covenant previously established by God and thus do away
with the promise.
18For if the inheritance depends on the law, then it no longer
depends on a promise; but God in his grace gave it to Abraham through a
promise.
ANSWER: REDEMPTION FROM THE CURSE through the
RECEPTION OF THE PROMISE by FAITH IN JESUS (who is the “SEED” OF the
PROMISE).
Scripture teaches that the promise is a gift received by Faith, and
not something earned.
Pushing the Vehicle
Chuck Swindoll gives the following illustration:
Suppose we began a family vacation in a new
car. We filled it with gas, put our family in it, and took off. The car
operated beautifully; the engine purred, and we zipped along at 55, maybe
60 miles an hour down the highway.
However, the further we got along the way,
long before the need to fill up with gas again, we noticed more and more
people were pushing their cars. They’d wave at us as we’d go by and we
would wave at them and keep driving.
Finally we came to a rest stop 250 miles from
L.A., out of the smog, out in the clear country. While we were stopped to
relax a little, somebody who had been pushing his car comes in the same
rest stop and asks, "Hi, how are you doin’?" We reply, "Fine." the
car-pusher asks, "Where are you goin’?" "Well, we’re takin’ a trip up
north. We’re gonna get up into Oregon and enjoy the beautiful country." He
then asks us, "Well, why are you driving? We’re all pushing."
"Yes, we noticed that, but we don’t
understand why," we remarked back to him. "Oh, if you push your car the
air stays clean. It makes a lot of sense to push your car. We used to rely
on gasoline a lot, but no longer. Now that we really understand what it’s
all about, we’re pushers. We’re not drivers," was his explanation.
And so you let your car run out of gas. All
the family gets out and we begin to push this beautiful, lovely,
comfortable car to our vacation site and back.
That’s what Paul is writing about in
Galatians 3:2-3. In essence, he says, "You’re telling me that you who
began with a full tank of the Spirit are now pushing your way through
life? You’re telling me that that’s an advantageous message? I’m telling
you, it’s a degenerating message. That means that Christ, the
miracle-working One, now He lays back and He watches you as you
(so-called) ‘pull off’ a spiritual life that you never had before. Whom
are you kidding? Cars are made to drive, not push."[2]
[1]
William MacDonald, The Grace Of God (sited in Charles R. Swindoll, The
Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, pp. 249-250)
[2]
Charles R. Swindoll, The Tale of the Tardy Oxcart, pp. 340-341
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