<p>On <strong>Hope for Today</strong>, Bible teacher David Hocking begins a new verse-by-verse study through the book of Galatians with the message <strong>“To Whom Be Glory Forever.”</strong></p>
<p>David introduces Galatians as one of the New Testament’s most important defenses of the <strong>true gospel of Jesus Christ</strong>. Paul wrote to churches facing confusion over grace, circumcision, Jewish identity and the place of Gentile believers in the people of God.</p>
<p>A major theme of the letter is the unity of <strong>Jew and Gentile through the cross of Christ</strong>. David examines the biblical festivals, Pentecost and the imagery of the two loaves as he explains
00:00:00 Introduction: The church exists to exalt Jesus Christ
00:02:20 Galatians and the cross, the Jewish festivals, and Jew and Gentile unity
00:05:55 Paul, Peter, and the controversy in Galatians
00:09:33 The true gospel and the letter’s opening verses
00:13:07 Paul the apostle and the glory that belongs to the Lord
00:17:42 Church titles, ministry pride, and building by prayer
00:24:43 Final thoughts on Galatians and the defense of the faith
SPEAKER 03 :
I don’t know about you but I’ve been getting tired of watching speakers on television parade themselves. How about you? It’s getting to be serious folks. The head of the church is not the pastor. Oh there are many pastors who want that.
SPEAKER 1 :
Thank you.
SPEAKER 02 :
When personality takes center stage, something has gone terribly wrong. The church was never designed to build human kingdoms. Its purpose? Its purpose is to exalt Jesus Christ. And when that priority gets lost, even good ministry can become distracted, self-focused, and far removed from the purpose God intends. Welcome to Hope For Today, the Bible teaching ministry of David Hawking, And today we’re beginning a new series in the book of Galatians. And you know, throughout this powerful letter, Paul defends the gospel of grace, he confronts spiritual confusion, and he reminds believers that our freedom, our salvation, and our glory are found in Jesus Christ alone. We’re going to open up Galatians chapter 1, verses 1 through 5 with David as he begins the first message of the series, To Whom Be Glory Forever. And just before David begins, listen, the sermon notes and outlines for the entire series in Galatians, these are the sermon notes and outlines he used to preach these messages. We have the complete set available for just $10, and you can download it now at davidhawking.org. David, H-O-C-K-I-N-G.org. Download your copy and keep it close as we work our way through this important book together. If you’d like a printed copy, give us a call at 1-800-75-BIBLE in the U.S., 888-75-BIBLE in Canada, and purchase the print edition by phone. And here’s David.
SPEAKER 03 :
When we start the book of Galatians, the issue of the cross and the day he died is a fundamental issue that he deals differently whether he’s talking to the Gentiles or whether he’s talking to the Jewish people. And he’s trying to bring them both together, for he is our peace, who broke down the middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile. And he made peace, how? Through the blood of his cross. Well, what day did he die on? Once again, whether you’re Jews or Christians who are Gentiles, you’re fighting over it. I heard, David, that you had a good Friday service. That is true. I had it every year. Why? Because I believe he died on Friday. Does that make me a Catholic? No. They got so much junk related to it that I don’t want to even talk about. But… We definitely know in the New Testament, yes, he rose on the third day, and the Bible’s clear. So we know he rose again sometime after Saturday night on Sunday morning. What difference does it make? Well, it deals with the accuracy of the Bible, for one thing. But also, it deals with Jewish festivals. You say, what are you talking about? Christ, 1 Corinthians 15. is the first fruits of all those who slept. When is the festival of first fruits? The Jewish people know that Pentecost means 50. 50 days after. That’s when King David died and also was born. Shabuot, or the Greek name Pentecost, meaning 50. But when do you start counting? In modern Judaism today, they do it differently than what God says in Leviticus 23. They count from the day that we just discussed. So their efforts to come up with an answer are based on 50 days after the wrong day that God said you start counting. No, in Leviticus 23, you count seven Sabbath days, and then on the morrow is Shavuot, or Pentecost. What does that mean? When that priest got up with two loaves of bread, it’s not easy for the Jewish rabbinical people of today to invite Gentiles to be one with them. First of all, he doesn’t like to even touch regular bread, but on Shavuot, he has to raise two loaves of bread in front of the congregation. It’s a very difficult task for them. So they changed what it means. You ask them, what do the two loaves mean? Some of them say Israel and Judah. or the priests and the Levites, or Isaac and Ishmael. No, no, no. It represents Jew and Gentile being brought into one loaf. That’s why it’s not matzah or unleavened bread. It is leaven with yeast in it. because it’s representing that. Jew and Gentile in one loaf. Listen, if I ever wanted a book in the New Testament to tell everybody, the Jews and the Gentiles, no matter who they are, how God wants us to be one, I would choose Galatians. And you’re going to hear a lot of stuff that probably will trouble you. That’s okay. I usually cause trouble anyway, even when I don’t have that stuff. Now, we understand there’s a problem. But there’s a big problem here. And Paul is trying to confront that problem without offending too much. But he did offend them. And he offended his own apostle brethren. So the question that you will read sometimes in a commentary on Galatians, is Paul right or was Peter right? Did Peter back down because Paul is more persuasive? Well, it couldn’t have been his voice. He had a speech impediment. And it couldn’t have been his good looks. He had an eye disease that made him look horrible. So much so that the Galatians would have taken out their own eyes if they could and give it to him. Wow. A lot of interesting little facts in this book. And we’re going to have a good time talking about it. We were unable to start our series of Galatians in our last week together. But I think we had a wonderful time, didn’t we? we began to ask questions and answer the question. And one of the things that I read was a letter of a young man who came to know the Lord and then was caught in the Hebraic Roots movement, and he began to be excited about all the things he was learning, but there were things he was troubled about. But in his letter… He brought out what is the real controversy of the book of Galatians and why many pastors, believe it or not, ignore it or come to a conclusion that is not plausible, is unprovable. The Galatians lived in central Turkey up in the highlands and the mountains. I’ll mention that in a moment. They were pagans to say the least. but they came to know the Lord. A group of people were following Paul everywhere he went. We call them Judaizers. They were demanding that Paul circumcise these Gentile converts, that they wear a prayer shawl and a kippah, Even though there’s no record in the New Testament that our Lord or his disciples ever wore a kippah, they did wear a prayer shawl when they prayed and preached. He began to be troubled, very troubled. And I wrote him back and said, I hope you’ll be able to listen to the series I’m going to do on Galatians. It’s actually one of the more difficult New Testament books I believe Paul wrote. I think he wrote 14 epistles. but this one was really tough. And how you come out on it is very interesting. A lot of people come out with a doctrine of freedom and liberty that lets them do whatever they want to and not be troubled at all. There is also, in the book of Galatians, arguments regarding circumcision and uncircumcision. Remember this, as we will learn in chapter 2, that Paul was commissioned by the church of Jerusalem to take the gospel to the uncircumcised Gentiles. That’s where the problem happened. And Peter, the apostle Peter, Simone Peter, he was commissioned to take the gospel to the Jews, especially the Orthodox Christians. And one of the strangest passages that we will deal with, we’re not going to skip any verses, I assure you. But one of the difficult passages is Galatians 2, where we will learn that Paul confronted Peter and revealed that what he was doing was wrong. But a lot of people to this day, especially in the Jewish Messianic movement, actually believe Peter was right. But Galatians makes it clear that he was wrong. So you have your Bibles open? Galatians 1 to 5. Some of you may wonder, how do you outline? I mean, how do you know where the brakes are? That’s a great question. You could find out yourself if you get a Greek New Testament. Because the breaks are either a spacing between the two paragraphs, so you know it’s a new paragraph, or they are an indented word that has a giant unctual capital to it. And that is another paragraph as well. So in my studies, I try to pay attention to that. Since the New Testament was written in Greek, the largest language in the history of the world, we will refer to that many, many times in Galatians. It brings us the answers that we look for. Galatians 1, 1 to 5. Paul, an apostle. Not of men, neither by man. but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. And all the brethren which are with me under the churches of Galatia, grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world, according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever, and all God’s people said. That’s a definite break.
SPEAKER 02 :
To whom be glory forever.
SPEAKER 03 :
The whole theme of Galatians I have chosen is the true gospel of Jesus Christ. And this is lesson one. Lesson one is that all the glory belongs to the Lord. Amen? There are some pretty powerful guys here, Paul, Peter, others. But the glory belongs to the Lord. Let’s start by looking at the author of this letter. And not always can we read Paul like in the book of Hebrews. But I believe there’s enough in there to tell us Paul wrote Hebrews as well. Another book dealing with the tough issues of the Messianic Jewish movement, Galatians. Paul, he’s the author, an apostle, not of man, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father who raised him from the dead. Throughout Paul’s writings, you will see him presenting the gospel over and over again. He never leaves it out. He wants all of us to know what the true gospel of Jesus Christ is. As we will learn, for there were people going around perverting these new converts and leading them astray with false doctrine. A young man came up to me this weekend at Christ Community Church. He was visiting from another church. He told me the name of the church. It was a Christian church. That’s the name of it. And I said, oh, you folks are all millennial. He said, yes, we are. And I noticed that you are pre-millennial. You just noticed it? Wow, I’m going to hammer away at it. And I said, what else do you have that you want to ask me about? He said, I haven’t heard you say that you have to be baptized to be saved. Oh, that’s right, the Christian church, baptismal regeneration. I said, you know, you might be interested to know that I’m one of the few non-Christian pastors who has ever spoken at the North American Christian convention in Oklahoma. Well, I bet they like that. I said, no, they didn’t. They’ve never asked me back. Unfortunately, they opened it up for questions afterwards. That was their mistake. But he said, how do you know that you’re right and they’re wrong? It’s a good question, isn’t it? And I used my friend John MacArthur, his statement. I said, I know I’m right, otherwise I’d change my view. And he looked at me for a long time. He couldn’t figure it out. Wait a minute, he said. But you know, there are differences of opinion, aren’t there? And even about Paul. He is clearly the author of this book as he begins his letter as he does others. Paul, an apostle. Now let’s start by taking a look at his name. What is his name? His name is Polos, or short, Paul. What does that mean? Well, it was a surname according to the Bible. It was given to him after he came to know the Lord. And Paul means little one. I like that. Here’s a guy that’s going to blast away and confront people about the true gospel, and he calls himself little one. to whom be glory forever and ever. I don’t know about you, but I’ve been getting tired of watching speakers on television parade themselves. How about you? It’s getting to be serious, folks.
SPEAKER 02 :
The head of the church is not the pastor.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, there are many pastors who want that. I remember the first time as a young man, I was 27 years old, and the church was debating about the titles that they should give to all of us. And so one of the men who was very churchy, he said, well, David, you’re the one that teaches here. I think you should be senior pastor. Senior pastor? I said, I’m only 27. I’m not very old. Well, there were many other issues. For example, they felt the senior pastor should have the biggest office. So I kept giving the office away to other staff members. I wound up being in almost a closet, and I loved it. A lot of things have changed in the Christian world. The offices have gotten bigger. And money! That’s the name of the game. Why pray for it when you could figure out a plan to get it? We needed to build a building because an arsonist had burned our church building down. We were meeting in a little school auditorium, and they were debating about what we’re going to do, how we’re going to build this. And a group of the elders stood up and gave their opinion. They said, We have contacted a church growth expert, and he tells us how we are going to raise all of the funds and build a building. I was on the platform and just looking at him, and finally the guy said to me, Well, Pastor, what do you think of that? We’re going to take care of this. You won’t have to worry about a thing. I said, The moment you start talking, I start worrying. I said, no, I don’t want to pastor a church like that, so I’m going to turn in my resignation tonight. They were in shock. Well, how are you going to build a building? I said, I’m just going to talk to the Lord about it. Oh, prayer meetings are going to do it? That was the kind of talk. I said, yes, prayer meetings are going to do it. And over there in Long Beach sits a $6 million building and facility, and it’s an answer to prayer. Amen?
SPEAKER 02 :
You’re listening to Hope for Today with Bible teacher David Hawking. And we’re in our new series in Galatians, and the first message in the series, To Whom Be Glory Forever, from Galatians chapter 1, verses 1 through 5. You know, Paul wastes no time in establishing what matters most, the authority of God, the grace of Jesus Christ, and the glory that belongs to him. forever. You know, as we move deeper into Galatians, we’re going to see just how passionately Paul defends the truth of the gospel against anything that would distort it. And David will share day two of this message on our next broadcast. But for today, he’s coming back in just a moment with some final thoughts on what we’ve covered so far. Stay tuned. Just before that, Matt and I want to tell you about a couple of very special study tools.
SPEAKER 01 :
And to help our listening friends get the absolute most from the series, we’re featuring a pack of my dad’s original sermon outlines and notes.
SPEAKER 02 :
These are the very notes that your dad used to preach the series back in the day. And folks can use these notes as they listen to the Galatians series here on radio, following along point by point, and they can add their own notes as well, reviewing and catching anything they might miss.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah, reliving highlights or teaching the book from the years ahead. And the sermon notes, they have proven quite popular with our listeners. And you can get the complete Galatians sermon outlines and notes pack now and be ready for the series launch September 1. Outlines help guide you through each and every verse, but they’re really much more than that, Matt, aren’t they? They’re more than a straight line, one, two, three point list. Well, yeah, because for any given message, my dad’s sermon outline and notes start with an engaging introduction, a key verse for the passage, which is great for memorization, by the way, and a theme. And then we have outline points to guide your study along with definitions.
SPEAKER 02 :
I look at these notes, Matt, there’s cross references with vital notes for the context and much more.
SPEAKER 01 :
Yeah. Well, how about the exploration of the historical context, the cultural idioms, the background, the faith-assuring apologetic points, and that is evidence for the truth of the Scripture. It’s all included in the sermon notes.
SPEAKER 02 :
Again, get the special pack of David’s sermon notes for our upcoming series in Galatians, and the price, Matt? $10. Just $10. This resource is going to be a blessing to you. And your purchase helps the ongoing ministry of Hope for Today.
SPEAKER 01 :
And as always, please pray faithfully for Hope for Today. And do let us know how we can pray for you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, we also want to let you know that the complete Galatians series is available in MP3 format. The whole series, just $25. You know, this is a wonderful way to keep these messages available for personal study, family devotions, or to share with someone else who needs the clear, uncompromised truth. of God’s Word. And again, the complete Galatians series on MP3, just $25. To order this or any of the materials we’ve mentioned today, visit davidhawking.org. That’s David, H-O-C-K-I-N-G.org. Or call us at 800-75-Bible in the U.S., 800-75-242-53. In Canada, call 888-75-BIBLE, 888-75-242-53. And again, while you’re at the website, be sure to visit the Media Center. In the Media Center, you’re going to find years of David’s Bible teaching available to stream and share. It’s a tremendous library of scripture-by-scripture teaching, and it’s available anytime you’re ready to dig deeper into God’s Word. And the hope for today, Media Center, everything there is free. By the way, if you’d like to help us continue bringing the Media Center to you and the truth of God’s word here on radio around the world, you can make a donation on the website at davidhawking.org. To make a donation by mail, write to Hope for Today, Box 3927, Tustin, California. Your support helps keep David’s Bible teaching through Hope for Today on radio and online around the world. Thank you for standing with us as we continue proclaiming God’s Word without compromise. Well, with the final word for today, Here’s David.
SPEAKER 03 :
Hi, friends. Our Bible teaching is bringing us to a very important book and somewhat difficult at times, Galatians. And we’re beginning with a simple title, to whom be glory forever. Galatians 1, 1-5. Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Yeshua HaMashiach, Jesus Christ, and God the Father, who raised him from the dead, and all the brethren which are with me under the churches of Galatia. Grace be to you and peace from God the Father and from our Lord Yeshua HaMashiach, who gave himself for our sins, that he might deliver us from this present evil world according to the will of God and our Father, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. Well, folks, this is a critical book for our understanding. The defense of the faith is powerful here. There’s some issues related to legalism and whether circumcision and Sabbath-keeping is really what we’re supposed to do today. So we’re going to go after it, and I’m glad that you’ve joined us for this. We’re going to have a wonderful time studying.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, thank you, David. And next time, David continues with day two of To Whom Be Glory Forever from Galatians chapter one. Don’t miss it. And we’ll see you then right here on Hope for Today.
