WEBVTT 00:00:00.320 --> 00:00:06.080 Like I said, we're going to be in Galatians chapter 4, and we're going to be reading verses 8 through 20 here this morning. 00:00:06.160 --> 00:00:08.960 If you don't have a Bible and you would like one, just raise your hand. 00:00:09.119 --> 00:00:11.119 We will bring one right to you. 00:00:11.359 --> 00:00:14.960 And if you uh would like to take it with you, you can. 00:00:15.119 --> 00:00:17.920 That's our gift to you if you don't have it. 00:00:18.079 --> 00:00:25.039 A CSB translation specifically, that's the translation that we teach out of here on Sunday mornings. 00:00:25.920 --> 00:00:30.000 So Galatians chapter 4, verses 8 through 20. 00:00:30.079 --> 00:00:33.840 If you're able, will you please stand for the reading of God's word? 00:00:39.679 --> 00:00:47.039 But in the past, since you didn't know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not God's. 00:00:47.200 --> 00:00:55.840 But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elements? 00:00:56.000 --> 00:00:59.200 Do you want to be enslaved to them all over again? 00:00:59.520 --> 00:01:03.679 You are observing special days, months, seasons, and years. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:08.239 I am fearful for you that perhaps my labor for you has been wasted. 00:01:08.480 --> 00:01:14.640 I beg you, brothers and sisters, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. 00:01:14.879 --> 00:01:16.400 You have not robbed me. 00:01:16.560 --> 00:01:21.359 You know that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a weakness of the flesh. 00:01:21.599 --> 00:01:28.319 You did not despise or reject me through my physical condition, though my physical condition was a trial for you. 00:01:28.560 --> 00:01:34.879 On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself. 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:37.200 Where then is your blessing? 00:01:37.519 --> 00:01:45.040 For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:49.200 So then have I become your enemy because I told you the truth? 00:01:49.439 --> 00:01:52.159 They court you eagerly, but not for good. 00:01:52.319 --> 00:01:56.560 They want to exclude you from me so that you would pursue them. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:03.359 But it is always good to be pursued in a good way, and not just when I am with you. 00:02:03.599 --> 00:02:09.120 My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you. 00:02:09.360 --> 00:02:16.319 I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice because I don't know what to do about you. 00:02:16.479 --> 00:02:17.520 Let's pray. 00:02:17.840 --> 00:02:27.360 Lord, I pray as we open your word here this morning that you would speak the message that you have for each one of us. 00:02:27.599 --> 00:02:54.960 That we would have open ears and hearts and minds for the things that you have for us this morning, that we would approach you with all humility and that you would you would change us this morning, that we would be more and more like Jesus as we allow your word to take a chisel to us, Lord, to shape us and to make us to be more and more like Jesus as we abide closer with Him. 00:02:55.120 --> 00:02:57.199 Lord, we pray these things in Jesus' name. 00:02:57.439 --> 00:02:57.919 Amen. 00:02:58.240 --> 00:02:59.520 You may be seated. 00:03:00.560 --> 00:03:15.759 So last week we finished up chapter three and we started chapter four, and Pete did a great job of covering the purpose of the law, and that God gave it to Israel to be a guardian until Christ. 00:03:15.919 --> 00:03:20.800 And then Paul stated, and you can look at it with me in chapter 3, verse 27 through 29. 00:03:20.960 --> 00:03:28.960 He stated, For those of you who were baptized into Christ have been clothed with Christ. 00:03:29.280 --> 00:03:36.800 There is no Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female, since you are all one in Christ Jesus. 00:03:36.960 --> 00:03:43.520 And if you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, heirs according to the promise. 00:03:43.759 --> 00:03:49.360 And I wanted to reread that because that's going to be very important for us as we move forward. 00:03:49.680 --> 00:03:51.439 Who is Abraham's seed? 00:03:51.680 --> 00:03:54.560 It's those that belong to Christ. 00:03:55.199 --> 00:03:56.639 So think about that. 00:03:57.280 --> 00:04:01.439 Christ was the seed of Abraham, as Paul already talked about. 00:04:01.599 --> 00:04:04.400 He's the promised Messiah that would bless all nations. 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:10.479 And Christ provides a way for Gentiles to be Abraham's seed. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:13.360 Paul's not talking about bloodlines here. 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:22.240 The Jews and the Judaizers who are leading these Galatian churches down the wrong path, they wanted to talk about bloodlines and things like that. 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:28.399 And that if you weren't Jewish, that you needed to become Jewish before you could actually be a true Christian. 00:04:28.639 --> 00:04:36.000 But Paul's biggest message to the to Galatia is that it's always been about Abraham's faith. 00:04:36.160 --> 00:04:39.360 It's always been about Abraham's trust in God. 00:04:39.839 --> 00:04:42.319 It's not about Abraham's genes. 00:04:42.720 --> 00:04:50.480 And as long as Gentiles have that same trust in God as Abraham did, they don't need to worry about bloodlines. 00:04:50.639 --> 00:04:56.399 They don't need to worry about Jewish practices and the observance of feasts and festivals. 00:04:56.720 --> 00:05:08.240 Because their faith in Christ is what saves them and is what makes them of Abraham's seed, a partaker of the promise given to Abraham. 00:05:08.480 --> 00:05:15.279 And more importantly, what allows us to become sons and daughters and heirs of the Most High God. 00:05:16.160 --> 00:05:28.240 And as we get into verse 8 here, Paul's going to let them know that if they continue to work backward, as we've talked about so much already, working from grace to the law. 00:05:28.399 --> 00:05:36.319 It's no different than going back to the idolatry that they came out of before they were following Jesus. 00:05:36.560 --> 00:05:44.639 And as a side note, as we jump in, take note throughout this passage of how much Paul cares for these people. 00:05:44.879 --> 00:05:48.240 His heart is really going to come out in these verses here this morning. 00:05:48.319 --> 00:05:50.560 He's going to call them my children. 00:05:50.800 --> 00:05:56.560 And he says his suffering of labor pains for them. 00:05:56.720 --> 00:05:59.839 I mean, these are parental things that he's talking about here. 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:05.839 This whole section really shows Paul's deep and personal concern for these people. 00:06:05.920 --> 00:06:07.759 So just take note of that as we jump in. 00:06:07.839 --> 00:06:10.000 So look at verse 8 with me. 00:06:10.879 --> 00:06:18.959 He says, But in the past, since you didn't know God, you were enslaved to things that by nature are not God's. 00:06:27.519 --> 00:06:30.959 Paul was in Lystra in Acts 14. 00:06:31.120 --> 00:06:43.040 He's preaching the gospel, and after seeing this lame man that was lame from birth, and seeing that the man had faith to be healed, God used Paul to heal this man. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:50.480 Then the crowds started saying when they saw all this in Acts 14, they said, The gods have come down to us in human form. 00:06:50.720 --> 00:06:55.759 Barnabas they called Zeus and Paul Hermes because he was the chief speaker. 00:06:56.079 --> 00:07:04.240 Then, as the story goes on, the chief priests of the temple of Zeus brought sacrifices to offer to Barnabas and to Paul. 00:07:04.399 --> 00:07:09.600 And Paul and Barnabas are doing everything they can to stop this and say, no, it was God that did the work. 00:07:09.680 --> 00:07:11.360 You know, it wasn't us. 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:24.240 And then it says that they said, We are people also, just like you, and we're proclaiming good news to you that you turn from these worthless things to the living God. 00:07:24.639 --> 00:07:37.360 And then once things calmed down a little bit, it says, Some Jews came from Antioch and Akonia, and when they won over the crowds, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. 00:07:37.519 --> 00:07:46.399 After the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went into the town the next day, and uh he and Barnabas left for Derby. 00:07:46.800 --> 00:07:50.800 So what do we learn about Lystra, which is in Galatia? 00:07:51.199 --> 00:07:59.360 Well, I think we learn from that story that they're very superstitious, that they're very fickle in who or what they worshiped. 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:13.199 I mean, they went from trying to worship Paul and Barnabas to believing the next wind of doctrine or the next wind of philosophy that came through town, and then they stoned the same guys that they were just trying to worship. 00:08:13.839 --> 00:08:21.519 I think we also learned that they worshiped mythical gods, you know, like Zeus and Hermes and a plethora of other idols as well. 00:08:21.680 --> 00:08:29.120 So in verse 8, Paul says, You were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods. 00:08:29.360 --> 00:08:38.720 So mythical gods and idols and carved images, you know, things that were made by the people that worshiped them. 00:08:39.200 --> 00:08:45.519 Worshiping, you know, stone, iron, clay, carvings, whatever it might be, things that by nature are not God. 00:08:45.919 --> 00:08:53.519 Really worshiping the elements of the earth instead of the one that created the elements of the earth. 00:08:53.679 --> 00:08:55.360 Look at verse 9 with me. 00:08:55.840 --> 00:09:02.080 But now, since you know God, or rather have become known by God. 00:09:02.240 --> 00:09:19.039 I want to stop right there because I want to point out that Paul didn't write, you know, but now since you know God, and then think, oh shoot, I wrote that wrong, and I don't have erasable ink, you know, and um, oh, I'll just say, or rather have become known by God. 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:24.720 No, this is a very well thought-out thing that he's writing here. 00:09:24.799 --> 00:09:30.799 He's using a scribe of some sort, we learn, to help him write this. 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:35.279 And on top of that, this is inspired by the Holy Spirit. 00:09:35.360 --> 00:09:40.960 There's no mistakes, there's no typos in the original text of what Paul wrote here. 00:09:41.120 --> 00:09:44.399 So this is a very intentional thing that he writes. 00:09:44.639 --> 00:09:50.159 You know, when I do premarital counseling, we talk a lot about becoming one. 00:09:50.480 --> 00:09:54.639 And the two shall become one, as we see in Genesis. 00:09:55.840 --> 00:10:04.720 And we talk a lot about how that process of becoming one is about knowing your spouse and being known by your spouse. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:16.639 Paul realizes that this relationship with Jesus is a two-way street, and that becoming one with Jesus is about knowing and being known. 00:10:16.879 --> 00:10:22.639 Not on a, yeah, I'm acquainted with, I know of that person or who they are, not that kind of level. 00:10:22.960 --> 00:10:33.039 This has to do with perceiving and understanding on the level of a husband and wife, with us being the bride and Jesus being the groom. 00:10:33.360 --> 00:10:40.320 You might be thinking, yeah, but Chris, you know, if Jesus knows everything, how can he know us any more than he already does? 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:48.559 And yes, becoming one with Christ is about us becoming more like him because he's perfect and doesn't need to become more like us. 00:10:48.879 --> 00:11:01.200 But being known by a spouse is just as much about us allowing that person into the deepest and sometimes darkest places of our lives. 00:11:01.840 --> 00:11:06.720 With the hopes of acceptance, but the risk of rejection. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:26.000 So being known by Christ has to do with us surrendering the deepest places of our life and exposing those things to the light of Jesus Christ and saying, I trust you with this sensitive and vulnerable part of my life. 00:11:26.320 --> 00:11:32.000 Knowing that I will be accepted by the blood that you spilled on the cross for me. 00:11:32.159 --> 00:11:40.159 And I trust you with it, you know, to not shame me and to not throw it back in my face the next time that I fail miserably. 00:11:40.399 --> 00:11:52.879 You know, it's saying, you know, I recognize that you know about this, even though nobody else does, yet I still expose it and I still surrender it to you and I trust you with it. 00:11:53.279 --> 00:11:58.480 You know, I think we think that we can hide things from God, but we don't. 00:11:58.799 --> 00:12:08.960 But until we surrender it, we're not allowing him to do the work that he desires to do in those places. 00:12:09.279 --> 00:12:25.200 So Paul says in verse 9, but now since you know God, or rather have become known by God, have entered into this two-way relationship, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elements? 00:12:25.360 --> 00:12:34.159 How can you go from knowing and being known by the creator of everything to then worship the things that he created? 00:12:35.200 --> 00:12:40.159 You know, he already addressed the elements in verse 3 of this chapter. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:46.000 You know, how the Galatians, he said, were enslaved to the elementary principles of this world. 00:12:46.320 --> 00:12:50.639 And if you don't know what that means, Paul wrote more about this in Colossians 2.8. 00:12:50.879 --> 00:12:54.799 And he used this same word, element, there, but he expounded a little more. 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:55.840 So I want to read it to you. 00:12:55.919 --> 00:13:09.679 He says, Be careful that no one takes you captive through philosophy and empty deceit based on human tradition, based on the elements of the world rather than Christ. 00:13:10.080 --> 00:13:16.799 Basically, don't worship what humankind comes up with on their own, is what Paul's getting at here. 00:13:17.519 --> 00:13:31.679 And as we keep this all in context, he's relating their past, who they were before Christ, you know, living in this superstition and this fickle passing winds of philosophy and human tradition. 00:13:31.840 --> 00:13:42.720 And he's relating that to their current legalism that they've received from these Judaizers, from these false teachers that are coming in and trying to turn these Christians into Jews. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:49.360 Because legalism is something that we come up with on our own. 00:13:49.679 --> 00:13:52.639 Legalism is idol worship. 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:54.879 Which idol, you might ask? 00:13:55.200 --> 00:13:55.679 Self. 00:13:56.320 --> 00:14:03.360 Legalism is self-worship, where we are the idol that we are lifting up and that we are worshiping. 00:14:03.519 --> 00:14:11.360 You know, having the mindset of, you know, I've got this all figured out, you know, I'm I'm everything that I need to be for God. 00:14:11.519 --> 00:14:17.360 It's because I'm so sanctified, it's because I'm so disciplined that I'm accepted by God. 00:14:17.519 --> 00:14:21.200 You know, it's because of what I do that God has accepted me. 00:14:21.519 --> 00:14:24.320 Legalism is self-worship. 00:14:24.559 --> 00:14:30.639 You know, at the end of verse 9, he says, Do you want to be enslaved to them? 00:14:30.799 --> 00:14:33.759 It's referring to idols all over again. 00:14:33.919 --> 00:14:38.159 You know, idols, including self-worship, are slave masters. 00:14:38.639 --> 00:14:44.480 Some of our idols today may look a lot different than the Galatians had before Christ. 00:14:44.639 --> 00:14:47.279 I mean, some still do bow down to images. 00:14:47.440 --> 00:14:49.120 We don't find that a lot in our culture. 00:14:49.279 --> 00:14:59.200 But largely our idols in our culture look different today, and we don't physically tend to bow down to them externally, but we do internally. 00:14:59.440 --> 00:15:08.320 Things like money and status and possessions and position, sex, individualism. 00:15:08.480 --> 00:15:20.080 You know, we idolize famous people, we idolize political figures, and somehow see them as being more important or more valuable than the people that we sit next to on Sunday mornings. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:28.879 You know, an idol is anything that steals our time and attention and our honor away from God. 00:15:29.919 --> 00:15:35.120 Idolatry is us choosing a master that is not God. 00:15:36.080 --> 00:15:40.320 You know, am I going to let alcohol be my master? 00:15:40.559 --> 00:15:43.200 Am I gonna let pot become my master? 00:15:43.519 --> 00:15:47.919 Pornography, possessions, relationships. 00:15:48.320 --> 00:15:53.679 You know, we have to ask ourselves, what is the majority of our day spent thinking about? 00:15:53.840 --> 00:15:55.919 It's a great way to find out what our idols are. 00:15:56.159 --> 00:16:01.600 You know, when we aren't in the middle of a task and can think about whatever we want, what are we thinking about? 00:16:01.840 --> 00:16:10.320 Or when we're driving or walking or whatever it might be, is that time thinking spent thinking about God and the things of God? 00:16:10.559 --> 00:16:14.240 Or is it spent thinking about another master? 00:16:15.519 --> 00:16:33.440 And Paul's simply pointing out here how ridiculous it is to give our mental and our physical and our spiritual resources to things that God created, allowing those things to be our master instead of allowing the creator himself to be our master. 00:16:33.759 --> 00:16:35.679 Paul goes on in verse 10. 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:41.360 You are observing special days, months, seasons, and years. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:48.559 You know, this is most likely referring to the Judaizers telling these Gentile Christians in Galatia to observe the Sabbath. 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:55.840 You have to observe the Sabbath, or the new moon, or Jewish feasts and festivals of many sorts. 00:16:56.080 --> 00:17:04.559 And who knows, you know, some may have gone back to worshiping Zeus and Hermes, but in this context, he's still talking about false teachers. 00:17:04.720 --> 00:17:14.720 And Paul's trying to relay that observing the Sabbath or observing the Passover or whatever it might be didn't make them holy. 00:17:14.880 --> 00:17:16.720 It didn't make them more saved. 00:17:16.960 --> 00:17:18.240 Not that those things are bad. 00:17:18.319 --> 00:17:21.599 I mean, how many of you have been to a Passover meal before? 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:22.880 How dare you? 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:25.039 Haven't you read this before? 00:17:27.200 --> 00:17:30.240 Celebrating Passover is not a bad thing. 00:17:31.680 --> 00:17:42.880 But if you want a Passover to celebrate a Passover meal because you thought you were going to be more saved when it was done, then your heart wasn't in the right place. 00:17:43.920 --> 00:17:47.920 Celebrating the Passover or the Sabbath isn't your ticket to heaven. 00:17:49.200 --> 00:17:54.319 When we do those things with a heart of legalism, then it becomes a bad thing. 00:17:54.640 --> 00:17:58.000 And this is what the Galatians are dealing with right here. 00:17:58.240 --> 00:18:03.200 So Paul tells them in verse 11, I am fearful for you. 00:18:03.440 --> 00:18:06.000 So it's hear that personal tone that's coming. 00:18:06.160 --> 00:18:07.599 I'm fearful for you. 00:18:07.759 --> 00:18:11.519 That perhaps my labor for you has been wasted. 00:18:11.680 --> 00:18:14.480 That time spent with them when they first got saved. 00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:24.480 He says in verse 12, I beg you, brothers and sisters, become as I am, for all I also have become as you are. 00:18:24.960 --> 00:18:28.000 Now there's two ways that we can look at verse 12. 00:18:28.480 --> 00:18:31.119 And they really lead to the same outcome. 00:18:31.359 --> 00:18:34.319 But the first is that this is kind of a play on words here. 00:18:34.400 --> 00:18:42.000 He's saying, Become like me, free from the law, for I have become like a Gentile, in that I'm free from the law. 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:46.559 Because these Galatians who are never under the law are now saying, hey, maybe we should try it out. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:51.039 Well, you know, maybe we should try out being under the law and see how that goes. 00:18:51.200 --> 00:18:53.680 Maybe we will become more saved somehow through it. 00:18:53.839 --> 00:18:59.279 So Paul says, Become like me in my freedom from the law. 00:18:59.519 --> 00:19:08.559 Now the second thought of how you can look at this is Paul's referring to how he tried legalism his whole life before Christ got a hold of him. 00:19:08.720 --> 00:19:12.400 So he's saying, I became like you in trying legalism. 00:19:12.720 --> 00:19:14.160 Don't go down that road. 00:19:14.319 --> 00:19:15.200 It's horrible. 00:19:15.279 --> 00:19:17.519 It's a miserable, cursed life. 00:19:17.839 --> 00:19:21.440 So become like I am now free from the law. 00:19:21.680 --> 00:19:26.640 So regardless of how we look at verse 12 there, his meaning is the same. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:31.359 Become like me in my freedom from the law. 00:19:31.599 --> 00:19:35.200 And he ends verse 12 with, You have not wronged me. 00:19:35.359 --> 00:19:40.000 So Paul's not writing this letter because he has personal hurt feelings here. 00:19:40.160 --> 00:19:43.599 It is personal, but it's out of his care for them. 00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:47.039 It's not out of offense by what they have done. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:51.519 He just truly cares about them walking down the right path. 00:19:51.759 --> 00:19:53.279 Look at verse 13. 00:19:54.000 --> 00:20:00.559 You know that previously I preached the gospel to you because of a weakness of the flesh. 00:20:00.880 --> 00:20:08.079 You did not despise or reject me through my physical condition, though my physical condition was a trial for you. 00:20:08.319 --> 00:20:14.720 On the contrary, you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself. 00:20:15.359 --> 00:20:19.519 Now remember, as we're reading through Galatians, we're reading somebody else's mail. 00:20:19.759 --> 00:20:27.440 The Galatian church knew exactly what Paul was talking about here, and we can only speculate as to what he is talking about. 00:20:27.680 --> 00:20:33.839 It is, however, known that Paul had a bad eye condition, which he's going to mention here in verse 15. 00:20:34.079 --> 00:20:40.160 And he's going to end this letter in his own handwriting, and he's going to note how big it is. 00:20:40.400 --> 00:20:49.119 And there are a lot of other references that lead us to believe that he had this permanent poor eyesight, something he was dealing with with his eyes. 00:20:50.880 --> 00:20:57.359 And there's a lot of speculation over whether this is the thorn in his flesh that he speaks about. 00:20:57.920 --> 00:20:59.599 But we don't know for sure. 00:20:59.839 --> 00:21:04.960 And we don't know how this eye condition came about, how it happened. 00:21:05.200 --> 00:21:08.480 But we just read out of Acts that he was stoned. 00:21:08.559 --> 00:21:13.279 You know, a couple of rocks to the temple or directly to the eyes could definitely cause some issues. 00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:15.599 But look at the wording in verse 13. 00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:21.119 It makes it sound like Paul came to that region for health reasons. 00:21:21.359 --> 00:21:24.400 It was his condition that brought him there. 00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:28.880 So some point to the possibility of malaria. 00:21:29.200 --> 00:21:36.400 And that Paul could have contracted it at a lower elevation, maybe in Perga or something like that, which is known for malaria. 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:42.640 And he went to a higher elevation in Galatia to escape those conditions and to heal up. 00:21:42.880 --> 00:21:48.640 Because mosquitoes can't survive in that climate in the higher elevations of Galatia. 00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:54.960 And malaria doesn't um doesn't survive because mosquitoes can't survive at that elevation. 00:21:55.279 --> 00:22:04.319 But it's all speculation, you It doesn't really add to what Paul is communicating here to the Galatian church. 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:06.960 But it does speak to something else. 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:13.279 You know, there is this teaching that goes around that says if you have enough faith, you'll never get sick. 00:22:13.599 --> 00:22:18.640 If you have enough faith, you're never going to experiment ailments or hardship. 00:22:18.799 --> 00:22:22.960 And if you have enough faith, then God's going to make you rich financially. 00:22:23.680 --> 00:22:27.920 It's never been about how much faith we have in an outcome. 00:22:28.240 --> 00:22:34.000 It's always been about how much faith we have in God, how much we trust Him. 00:22:34.240 --> 00:22:38.799 And you'd be hard-pressed to find somebody that has more faith than Paul, right? 00:22:39.839 --> 00:22:47.599 And here he is talking about this ailment and how God used this ailment to spread the gospel. 00:22:48.559 --> 00:22:53.680 It wasn't discipline or punishment or some sin issue that Paul had. 00:22:54.240 --> 00:23:00.880 Again, we don't know if this was Paul's thorn in the flesh or not, but the Lord did tell Paul regarding his thorn in the flesh. 00:23:01.039 --> 00:23:07.200 He said, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is perfected in weakness. 00:23:07.920 --> 00:23:14.559 God used Paul's weakness to spread the gospel to the churches in Galatia. 00:23:16.240 --> 00:23:22.000 You see how that health and wealth and prosperity gospel stuff does not line up with Scripture? 00:23:22.319 --> 00:23:29.599 If the Lord's power is perfected in weakness, why would God desire for us to never be weak? 00:23:31.359 --> 00:23:38.319 But the point of all this is the Galatians saw Paul in a very weak physical condition. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:45.440 And it sounds like he was there for that physical condition, the weakness of his flesh. 00:23:45.759 --> 00:23:56.160 So the Galatians had to decide when he was first with them in this weak state if they were going to reject him or accept him and his message of the gospel. 00:23:56.720 --> 00:24:05.279 You know, being superstitious and worshiping fickle gods previously, they could have easily said, you know, he's being judged by the gods. 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:09.599 Get him out of here and don't believe a word he's saying, because look at what's happening. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:11.359 It must be judgment on him. 00:24:11.920 --> 00:24:16.160 But they chose to receive him and not reluctantly. 00:24:16.480 --> 00:24:20.559 It says, but like an angel of God or even Christ Himself. 00:24:20.799 --> 00:24:26.720 They accepted him wholeheartedly and they treated him really well when he was first with them. 00:24:27.279 --> 00:24:30.799 And he cared for them and he labored for them. 00:24:31.039 --> 00:24:33.200 But something has changed since then. 00:24:33.440 --> 00:24:35.039 Look at verse 15. 00:24:35.759 --> 00:24:38.079 Where then is your blessing? 00:24:38.240 --> 00:24:40.000 Their blessing of him now. 00:24:40.319 --> 00:24:47.119 For I testify to you that if possible, you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. 00:24:47.279 --> 00:24:51.200 So back when I was with you, you would have done anything for me. 00:24:51.440 --> 00:24:56.319 My eyes were so bad, you would have given me your own if it was possible. 00:24:56.559 --> 00:24:58.160 But something has changed since then. 00:24:58.240 --> 00:24:59.519 Look at verse 16. 00:25:00.000 --> 00:25:04.559 So then, have I become your enemy because I told you the truth? 00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:10.400 You know, Paul's heart here, you kind of get the idea, he's like, man, we had a good thing going, you guys. 00:25:10.640 --> 00:25:13.920 A great caring relationship for one another. 00:25:14.240 --> 00:25:15.519 What happened? 00:25:15.839 --> 00:25:16.960 Verse 17. 00:25:17.200 --> 00:25:22.480 They, referring to the Judaizers, court you eagerly, but not for good. 00:25:22.720 --> 00:25:27.759 They want to exclude you from me so that you would pursue them. 00:25:28.319 --> 00:25:34.319 If you highlight and underline, look in verse 17 where it says exclude, highlight and underline that word. 00:25:34.720 --> 00:25:37.599 These Judaizers weren't interested in the truth. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:39.839 They were interested in followers. 00:25:40.400 --> 00:25:50.799 So much of the reason, as you read through the Gospels, that the Jewish leaders in Israel hated Jesus and wanted him dead was because it was rooted in jealousy. 00:25:50.960 --> 00:25:52.799 They didn't want to lose followers. 00:25:52.960 --> 00:25:57.359 They didn't want to lose status or position to Jesus. 00:25:59.279 --> 00:26:05.440 You know, we see the same thing in Acts 13, 45, when Paul and Barnabas were in Antioch of Pisidia. 00:26:05.759 --> 00:26:14.960 It says, But when the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy and began to contradict what Paul was saying, insulting him. 00:26:15.200 --> 00:26:29.119 And then in Acts 20, 29, and 30, when Paul was saying fare farewell to the felt to the elders in Ephesus, he says, I know that after my departure, savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock. 00:26:29.359 --> 00:26:38.160 Men will rise up even from your own number and distort the truth to lure the disciples into following them. 00:26:39.200 --> 00:26:45.039 And these Judaizers that we're talking about, that Paul's talking about here in Galatia, they have that same spirit. 00:26:45.279 --> 00:26:51.759 They want to exclude you from me, he says, so that you would pursue them. 00:26:53.920 --> 00:26:56.720 So what's our lesson from this? 00:26:57.039 --> 00:27:08.000 You know, I think our lesson is be wary of anybody that claims to own the exclusive rights to the truth that no one else has. 00:27:08.240 --> 00:27:11.920 And then try to exclude you from everybody else. 00:27:12.160 --> 00:27:15.680 You know, that's usually the basis of how a cult gets started. 00:27:16.000 --> 00:27:18.799 David Guzick has this in his commentary, and I want to read it to you. 00:27:18.880 --> 00:27:28.400 He said, the zeal cultivated by legalism is often more a zeal for the group itself than for Jesus Christ. 00:27:28.640 --> 00:27:41.119 Though they name the name of Jesus in practice, the group itself is exalted as the main focus and usually exalted as the last refuge of the true super Christians. 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:47.039 You know, the Bible owns the exclusive rights to the truth. 00:27:47.359 --> 00:27:58.960 Not a group that claims that they understand it better than everybody else, and then therefore sees themselves as some sort of super Christians that have this isolated truth that nobody else has. 00:27:59.279 --> 00:28:00.079 It's just us. 00:28:00.240 --> 00:28:03.839 The Bible is the only one that owns those exclusive rights to the truth. 00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:05.519 Look at verse 18. 00:28:06.240 --> 00:28:12.319 But it is always good to be pursued in a good manner, and not just when I am with you. 00:28:12.480 --> 00:28:17.839 You know, the Judaizers no doubt pursued the Galatians with zeal, but not for good. 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:26.400 Paul also pursued them with zeal, but it says in a good manner, all the time, and not just when he was with them. 00:28:26.960 --> 00:28:33.039 So much so that he says in verse 19, My children, so again, hear that parental tone? 00:28:33.200 --> 00:28:42.319 He says, My children, I am again suffering labor pains for you until Christ is formed in you. 00:28:43.200 --> 00:28:50.720 You get the idea that Paul's asking, Do I need to preach the gospel again so that you can be born again in Christ? 00:28:51.680 --> 00:28:54.720 He's saying, Do I have to go through labor again? 00:28:55.440 --> 00:29:02.079 Any mothers out there that after they had their kids thought, I would love to go through labor for that same child again. 00:29:03.039 --> 00:29:04.480 Probably not, right? 00:29:04.640 --> 00:29:06.079 But that's Paul's heart here. 00:29:06.240 --> 00:29:12.319 It was worth it the first time, but I don't want to have to go through that again for the same person. 00:29:12.640 --> 00:29:15.039 You know, and I love the language that Paul uses here. 00:29:15.119 --> 00:29:19.039 He says, until Christ is formed in you. 00:29:19.680 --> 00:29:22.880 That's the language of a discipler, right there. 00:29:23.519 --> 00:29:32.640 Caring only that Christ is formed in those that he's discipling, coming to a place of being more like Christ. 00:29:33.039 --> 00:29:39.440 Paul got to witness the beginning stages of this formation in their life when he was first with them. 00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:46.720 But now it seems like that formation of Christ becoming more like Christ is starting to go a little bit backwards. 00:29:47.039 --> 00:29:54.720 And as they start leaning into the law, they're finding themselves further and further away from the grace of Christ Jesus. 00:29:56.160 --> 00:29:58.480 This is why Paul is perplexed. 00:29:58.720 --> 00:30:02.720 Why he called them foolish Galatians in chapter three. 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:08.240 You know, I've coached youth basketball here in town for a long time. 00:30:08.559 --> 00:30:20.240 And with the young ones, you know, like the kindergartners, first grade, second grade, you know, that kind of that age group, you spend a lot of time in the first couple games with those kids just saying, okay, run that way. 00:30:20.400 --> 00:30:21.680 You have the ball, run that way. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:23.039 Okay, they have the ball. 00:30:23.119 --> 00:30:25.279 Now run that way, run that way, you know. 00:30:25.440 --> 00:30:29.200 And you're just sitting there the whole time, just telling them which way to go. 00:30:29.279 --> 00:30:33.839 And they're running the wrong way, and you just yell out, you foolish children, what are you doing? 00:30:34.160 --> 00:30:36.079 I've never done that, I promise. 00:30:37.039 --> 00:30:43.680 But I see Paul watching the Galatians from afar, like, you were running in the right direction. 00:30:44.160 --> 00:30:48.559 Why'd you turn around and start running in the opposite direction? 00:30:49.200 --> 00:30:50.960 Look at verse 20. 00:30:51.279 --> 00:31:00.799 He said, I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice because I don't know what to do about you. 00:31:01.440 --> 00:31:07.359 Can you feel Paul's frustration and why he's so perplexed? 00:31:07.599 --> 00:31:12.079 Yet all at the same time, just see how much he loves and cares for these people. 00:31:12.640 --> 00:31:21.519 He doesn't want to call them foolish Galatians, but he's had to use some harsh words with them so far in this letter to get his point across. 00:31:21.680 --> 00:31:24.720 You know, they had things figured out. 00:31:25.039 --> 00:31:34.799 He had them pointed in the right direction when he left, but now he gets word that they're turning around and they're heading away from grace and towards Allah. 00:31:35.119 --> 00:31:40.799 He wants to use a gentler tone, but gentleness is not what the Galatians need right now. 00:31:40.960 --> 00:31:42.640 They need the blunt truth. 00:31:42.799 --> 00:31:48.400 And that is what Paul's providing for them because he cares so deeply for them. 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:52.640 You know, I'd like everybody to turn to Philippians chapter 3, verse 4. 00:31:52.799 --> 00:31:55.759 That's two books to the right in your Bible. 00:31:57.599 --> 00:31:59.279 And we'll end with this. 00:32:01.759 --> 00:32:09.359 And I want us to turn here because if anyone can relate to the Galatians and to the legalism that they're struggling with, it would be Paul. 00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:28.240 And I'm sure it took a long time before Paul could wrap his head around this notion of grace. 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:39.279 That he could wrap his head around the fact that all that he had learned and accomplished and done for the Jewish religion was adding nothing to his salvation. 00:32:39.680 --> 00:32:42.079 And he explains that so well in Philippians. 00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:42.960 So I want to read it to you. 00:32:43.039 --> 00:32:45.279 Philippians 3, starting in verse 4. 00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:54.720 Although I have reasons for confidence in the flesh, if anyone else thinks he has grounds for confidence in the flesh, I have more. 00:32:55.359 --> 00:33:13.200 Circumcised the eighth day of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews, regarding the law, a Pharisee, regarding zeal, persecuting the church, regarding the righteousness that is in the law, blameless. 00:33:13.680 --> 00:33:20.000 But everything that was a gain to me, I have considered to be lost because of Christ. 00:33:20.400 --> 00:33:27.920 More than that, I also consider everything to be lost in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. 00:33:28.240 --> 00:33:50.319 Because of him I have suffered the loss of all things, and consider them as dung, so that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own from the law, but one that is through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. 00:33:52.480 --> 00:33:58.640 Salvation is based on faith in Christ, and our righteousness comes from God. 00:33:58.880 --> 00:34:06.400 You know, in Isaiah, Israel's own righteous acts are likened to filthy menstrual rags. 00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:12.719 Paul sees his attempts at righteousness, as we just read, through the law, as dumb. 00:34:14.800 --> 00:34:22.480 Yet somehow we want them to count as a great accomplishment toward our own salvation. 00:34:24.320 --> 00:34:27.519 The main point here is we can't do it on our own. 00:34:27.760 --> 00:34:29.760 And that's why Jesus had to come. 00:34:30.159 --> 00:34:38.400 To make a way for God to declare us righteous through the acts of Jesus, through faith in him. 00:34:39.199 --> 00:34:48.239 To the point where all we have to do is confess with our mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in our heart that God raised him from the dead, and we will be saved. 00:34:48.800 --> 00:35:01.280 You will be declared righteous in the sight of God, washed and cleansed, and the promise of eternity with God will belong to you. 00:35:01.840 --> 00:35:08.639 And if you haven't done that, let today be the day where you realize you cannot do it on your own. 00:35:08.880 --> 00:35:16.000 And through faith and trust in Jesus Christ and God the Father, you will be saved. 00:35:17.119 --> 00:35:18.639 You can do that right where you're sitting. 00:35:18.719 --> 00:35:20.239 You can come up and talk to us after. 00:35:20.400 --> 00:35:21.679 However, you want to do it. 00:35:21.760 --> 00:35:23.280 It's as simple as that. 00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:25.679 And that is why Jesus came. 00:35:25.920 --> 00:35:27.920 Will you please pray with me? 00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:37.599 Lord, we thank you that you loved us so much that you gave your son Jesus Christ. 00:35:38.239 --> 00:35:50.239 Lord, I pray that you would forgive us for all the ways that we have strived to be more saved, to be more holy, apart from you. 00:35:50.559 --> 00:35:58.000 Where we've looked at our own righteous acts and thought a lot of them, Lord, when when you see them as dumb. 00:35:58.320 --> 00:36:11.360 So, Lord, I pray that all of our righteous acts would be out of love for you, out of obedience to you, not to earn a single thing, but because we love you so much. 00:36:11.760 --> 00:36:15.840 Lord, would you show us how to walk in grace? 00:36:17.199 --> 00:36:33.039 How to allow you, through the Holy Spirit, Lord, to guide us through this life, step by step, thought by thought, breath by breath, living out of love for you. 00:36:33.840 --> 00:36:41.199 Understanding the grace that you have given us, that you shower on us. 00:36:43.360 --> 00:36:48.239 Lord, realizing that your power is perfected in weakness, not in our strength. 00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:51.119 Because when it's our strength, we always want to take the credit. 00:36:51.360 --> 00:37:05.119 So, Lord, I pray that you would just show us how to walk by your Spirit, how to abide closer with Jesus Christ as we become more and more like Him, and how to surrender to you on a deeper level. 00:37:05.440 --> 00:37:07.440 God, we love you so much. 00:37:08.559 --> 00:37:16.079 And we thank you that we can call you Father, and that you call us your sons and daughters and consider us heirs.