Thank you, Brother Norm, for
that reading of the scripture. It's amazing to me when scripture
reading and then Mike's message, they both really tie into what
I'm gonna be looking at today, but I think that's kind of a
normal thing. Well, I feel a little discombobulated. Things are a
little out of order, but thank you for doing the scripture reading
this morning, Brother. The study this morning, we're going to
be looking at Galatians chapter four. It's actually gonna be part one
of two parts, and we'll also be in the same chapter next week. So our text for today's message
is going to be Galatians 4. In my original plan when I started
to put this together, I was gonna be looking at verses 21 through
31. But as I began to look at it, I went back clear to verse
one, through 20, because I was just wanting to get some context,
and it became very obvious that there was just too much there
to just not look at and include in the study. Those definitely
were not what you would call flyover verses. So we'll be looking
at chapter 4, and we'll be looking at starting at verse 1 when we
get there. But before we get there, we'll
be looking at some scripture in Galatians chapter 1. The title
of this morning study is Only the Foolish Fault This, and the
appropriateness of the title will be shown as we dive into
this study of chapter four. We will be starting the study
in chapter one, where Paul has written this letter to the churches
of Galatia, which was made up of both Jewish and Gentile believers. There was also a third group
that Paul refers to as Judaizers, a group I guess you might call
old guard Jewish believers who were pushing a false gospel.
And that's what Paul's addressing pretty much through this book
of Galatians. The result of that false gospel
teaching was a false salvation brought about by the mixing of
law and grace. A teaching which was totally
opposed to what Paul had preached to them at a prior visit. Historians
like Normal, can't agree when Paul's first trip took place,
but most agree it was during his first mission journey in
the late 40s or early 50s AD. And the letter was supposedly
written sometime mid-50s AD. Just a little history there.
So again, though, to start this study, I would like to look at
the first nine verses of chapter one of Galatians. And they establish
the reason Paul writes this letter to the Galatians which is allowing
of this false gospel to enter their ranks, causing problems
as it brings confusion and doubt to the body of believers there.
And the problem is so dire that while Paul greets the church
with a typical salutation, he immediately begins to address
the problem that is the reason for writing this letter. No small
talk that day. So starting in chapter one, verse
one, and reading down through verse nine, Paul, an apostle,
sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the
Father, who raised him from the dead and all the brothers and
sisters with me to the churches in Galatia. Praise and peace
to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave
himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age
according to the will of our God and Father. To Him be glory
forever and ever. Amen. I am astonished that you
are so quickly deserting the one who called you to live in
the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel, which
is really no gospel at all. Evidently, some people are throwing
you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.
But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach a gospel
other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God's
curse. As we have already said, so now
I say again, if anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what
you accepted, let them be under God's curse. So what's going
on? Paul is astonished by their sudden
turn from that good news message which they had previously heard
from him during his first visit with them and had apparently
accepted, at least according to what we read in verse 9, if
anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted,
let them be under God's curse. Many, after hearing the good
news, believed the gospel of Jesus, they heard the simple
truth that it is through faith in Christ that they received
justification for their sin. No extra works were needed. They
were needed to assure their salvation in Christ. Jesus had paid it
all in full by a substitutionary death at Calvary. And that is
the good news of the gospel. Paul and Barnabas were preaching
the same gospel message back in Acts 13, when many of the
Gentiles, after hearing that gospel message, began rejoicing
and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed
to eternal life, believed." That's Acts 13, 48. This seems very
much to be what Paul witnessed with these Galatians while on
his first trip to visit them. He'd preached the gospel to an
accepting and very appreciative crowd, which we will talk more
of when we look at verses 12 through 14 of chapter four. But something had gone wrong
since that trip, and Paul, out of his love and concern, was
writing them to warn them of the dangerous road they were
on. The preachers of the false gospel,
preaching the need to adhere to the Mosaic law, its dietary
laws, Sabbath day regulations, and more especially, the right
of circumcision, had come in and began causing confusion among
the believers. These Judaizers, they were called,
were working hard to convince the believers that, yes, faith
in Christ was an important part of their salvation, but the law
was still a requirement, especially as it pertained to circumcision,
in order for them to be saved and accepted into the family
of God. As for the Gentiles, that was
really confusing because they had never been given the law.
But there, they were now told that they must adhere to it.
But Paul's message was it was Christ and Christ alone that
can provide justification. The law had nothing to offer,
and in fact, it brought about a completely opposite reaction,
rejection by God. So Paul's warning to them, Paul
is so much as saying that to reject his faith alone gospel,
his Christ alone gospel, was not rejecting just him and all
he has taught, but also they were rejecting Christ himself.
Now, as we begin to move towards chapter four, a quick stop in
chapter two is needed. We have pretty much set the stage
for what we will be seeing as we continue on in the study.
But as I looked at the first several verses of chapter four,
And after reading those nine verses of chapter one, there
were two verses in chapter two that just jumped out at me. And
I felt we needed these to finish off our reading in chapter one
as we continue on to chapter four. So reading chapter two,
verse 20, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live,
but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body,
I live by faith in the son of God, who loved me and gave himself
for me. I do not set aside the grace
of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law,
Christ died for nothing. In verse 20, Paul is saying that
we as believers are so attached to Christ by our faith of Christ
in him, that when he was crucified, we were spiritually crucified
with him, and when he rose to life, we rose with him. the resurrected
Christ in us. Paul has been saying that the
saving faith in Christ and in him alone is what saves us. That is all by the grace of God.
And if you set that aside and include your works of any kind,
even as a small part of the reason for your salvation, then Christ
died for nothing. Paul is again addressing the
problem of having them being tempted to set aside the grace
of God and being led to believe by some false preachers that
they would gain righteousness only by combining law and grace
and heavy on the law. This leads Paul to ask the question
in the opening verse of chapter three, you foolish Galatians,
who has bewitched you? Before your very eyes, Jesus
Christ was clearly portrayed as crucified. Paul is not mincing
words here, By you foolish Galatians, he is not using the word foolish
as we might, because the word actually translates better as
thoughtless or even manipulated. He's asking them who has charmed
them into thinking that Christ dying for them was not enough.
Paul is clearly frustrated as he lets them know that by his
preaching Christ and him crucified, They had clearly understood the
simple truth of the gospel of God's grace. They understood
the power of the cross. He went on to say that they had
seen the portrayal, the image he painted when he brought them
the gospel message. They saw that portrayal of Christ
crucified with their own eyes. You foolish, forgetful, and so
easily swayed Galatians, who has bewitched you? And now we
are ready for chapter four. So from the very start of the
book of Galatians, it is obvious that an overall theme of the
book is freedom in Christ. If you look in a dictionary to
get a definition of freedom, there are many to choose from.
In this study, we will be defining freedom as something that is
the result of Christ's work on behalf of all the Father has
given him to redeem. In other words, freedom from
the law and its consequences for all God's elect. As we progress
through this two-week study, this is some of the things we
will be exploring. We are going to see two mothers.
We are going to see two sons. We will see two mountains, Mount
Sinai and Mount Zion. We will see two births, one of
the flesh and one of a promise. We will see two atoms, one who
represents the fall, sin, and death, one that represents eternal
life, hope, and freedom. And we will see the tale of two
cities, the Jerusalem of the world and then the new Jerusalem,
the city from above that is free. All these different pairs represent
the two covenants, the old covenant, which was first and contained
the law and represented sin and death, then the new covenant,
The second one, the covenant of Christ, which brought life
and freedom. And by the end, we will see that
freedom reigns. So let's get started by looking
at a couple things that are brought out in verses one and two of
chapter four, which Mike looked at, and I really appreciated
what he had to say. What I'm saying, so starting
there in verse one, what I am saying is that as long as an
heir is underage, he is no different from a slave. Although he owns
the whole estate, the heir is subject to guardians and trustees
until the time set by the father. Under the Old Testament covenant,
male children born under the law were heirs, and as long as
they were under age, they were just as slaves that a family
might own and remain that way under the care of guardians and
tutelage of trustees until the time that they came of an age
that was established by the father. and it's going to be fun to see
how that applies to us as we go further. Eventually, at the
set time, when they become of age, the father would then allow
them to inherit their portion of the family estate. They were
then heirs and lords of the estate in the sense that everything
was under their eventual authority, but again, only at the time set
by the father. And then we go on to verses three
to seven, which go on to point out to us the spiritual significance
of this practice. So reading verse three, so also
when we were under age, we were in slavery under the elemental
spiritual forces of the world. But when the set time had fully
come, God sent his son, born of a woman, born under the law,
to redeem those under the law that we might receive adoption
to sonship. Because you are his sons, God
sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, the spirit who calls
out Abba Father. So you are no longer a slave,
but God's child. And since you are his child,
God has made you also an heir. We know that Gentiles were not
even in the picture at the time of the giving of the Mosaic law.
The law was given only to the Israelites. So then how or why
does this apply to the Gentiles that Paul is speaking to. Let's
turn to Romans chapter two for an answer. In Romans two, Paul's
addressing a question about sin and the law. Just like in Galatians,
there are many who think that following the law of Moses would
make them right with God. He answers the question so that
it applies to the Jews who still think following the law brings
justification, but he also addresses the Gentiles, and why it also
applies to those who aren't under the Mosaic Law. So let's read
Romans 2, starting with verse 12. All who sin apart from the
law will also perish apart from the law. And all who sin under
the law will be judged by the law. For it is not those who
hear the law who are righteous in God's sight, but it is those
who obey the law who will be declared righteous. For when
Gentiles who do not have the law by nature do what the law
requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have
the law. So Paul is saying that as Gentiles,
apart from the law, they still have a moral compass and know
when they are off course, which we know is pretty much all the
time. Notice as he is talking about
both Jews and Gentiles, the common denominator here, they have all
sinned. As scripture says, for all have
sinned and fallen short of the glory of the Lord, and it matters
not under the law, not under the law, the fact remains, all
have sinned. All who are God's elect, Jew
or Gentile, we are all sinners saved by grace. And there's something
else that connects both Jews and Gentiles, the fall. Another truth often forgotten
or overlooked in this context of sin and death, there was a
sin in the garden where all men, because of Adam's disobedience,
fell from grace. That happened long before Moses
and the law. That sin convicted all men for
all time to both a physical and a spiritual death, again before
the law. It brought about a complete separation
of that perfect fellowship with God that Adam had enjoyed until
he disobeyed God, committing what is generally called the
original sin. Then turn a few chapters over
to Romans chapter five, where we'd be reading verses 17 and
18. And so it says that an all, an
Adam all died. He sometimes referred, he is
sometimes referred to as the first Adam. But there's something
called the good news of the gospel, and that is when the second Adam,
Christ, came, and by his sacrifice, his death at the cross, he brought
life to all. There was no difference, Jew
or Gentile. They were now the same in the eyes of God. So even
though there was no law from the time of Adam to the Mosaic
law, there was still consequences for sin. Reading starting at
verse 17 of Romans 5, For if by the trespass of one man death
reigned through that one man, how much more will those who
receives God's abundance provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness
reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ. Consequently,
just as one trespass resulted in condemnation for all people,
so also one righteous act resulted in justification and life for
all people. So the first Adam, being the
first man ushered sin and death into the world by the one sin,
this again before the Mosaic Law, how much more would the
gift of life be for those who receive God's abundant grace
and righteousness in the one man, Jesus Christ, the second
Adam. As we look at the different legacies
of the two Adams, we can see the same picture with the two
covenants. Adam represents the old covenant as they both correspond
with condemnation and death, and then the new covenant of
Christ that brings life, hope, and freedom from that condemnation.
The writer of Hebrews states, in speaking of a new covenant,
he has made the first one obsolete, and what is obsolete and aging
will soon disappear. In 2 Corinthians, Paul states,
he has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant, not of the
letter, but of the spirit, for the letter kills, but the spirit
gives life. So the old order is fading away
in order to make room for what is the new covenant. And with
the new replacing the old, we now have a new standard to live
up to, and that is Christ himself. As Paul says in 1 Corinthians
11, verse one, follow my example as I follow the example of Christ. So going back to chapter four
of Galatians, we can see that we also were held in slavery
to the elemental spiritual forces of the world. We were subject
to worshiping idols, things we held in higher regard than we
did God. We had our heroes, we had our
philosophies, our desires for self-gratifications. In Ephesians
2, we are told that we all followed the ways of the world and the
ruler of the air gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following
its desires. We believe and preach in this
church of God's predestination and complete sovereignty over
all things. That applies here as Paul goes
on to speak of that set time established by God and the Father
when He would send His Son, revealing Him to the world. There's also
though, and this is important, There is a set time for each
of us. Mike was referring to this earlier
today. There's a set time for each of us when God would reveal
his son in us. That's what Paul is teaching
here, that instead of being based on the law, God and his predestination
and providence cared and provided for us, his children, before
the creation of the world, living yet completely unaware of our
place in God's plan and we could have cared less. God, when it
pleases Him, when He does reveal His Son in us by that same Spirit,
we then see all our shortcomings, all our evil deeds, and we know
we have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. But we also
see Jesus, our advocate, our justification, our perfect presence
before God in His Son. And each of us can look back
on our lives and see, no matter what our minds or our selfish
egos thought, every step in our lives, every turn we have taken,
every place we have lived, every job we have taken, they have
all been predetermined by God as he has protected us and led
us to that place where we finally hear the gospel. And at that
fullness of time, We became of age to be full heirs of the kingdom
of God. As verse 6 says there in Galatians
4, we receive the spirit of the son into our hearts, the spirit
who calls out, Abba, Father. As a newborn child of God, we
can now call him Abba. Now, we as fathers know what it's like when we hear
our children's first words, Dada. Now, mothers might see it a little
differently, but that's OK. Our calling out, Abba, is also
music to our Father's and Heaven's ears. And as children of God,
we no longer are slaves, but as God says in verse seven, we
have been made heirs. Verses, and then we'd like to
look at verses 24 and 25 from chapter three of Galatians, because
they very clearly state this. So the law was our guardian until
Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that
this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian. The
law or its implications cannot set people free from sin, only
guide them through the minefield of sin until true freedom came. The law was a guardian a guiding
place to teach us what sin was and then make us aware of our
inabilities to uphold those laws. Now that Christ, the Savior,
had arrived to set his people free from sin through faith in
him, the guardian was no longer necessary. We were of age to
be heirs. In Romans chapter 6, 6 verse
14, Paul says much the same thing when he says, for sin shall no
longer be your master because you are not under the law, but
under grace. We were like sheep gone astray,
but by his grace, we were still under the good shepherd's care
and guidance until when it pleased the father and at his set time,
he revealed the son in us. And then we learned by God teaching
us of our position, we as children are now heirs of God. I'd like to turn back again all
the way back to Galatians chapter 1. This time I want to read verses
15 and 16. Here we have a further affirmation
as to what is being said. We all have different paths we
have taken, but Paul's was certainly a unique one. Being a persecutor
of the church, fully steeped and full of zeal for the law,
a Pharisee of Pharisees, yet still he considered God revealing
his son to him as an act of grace and mercy. So reading verses
15 and 16 of Galatians 1, but when it pleased God who separated
me from my mother's womb and called me by his grace to reveal
his son in me, that I might preach him among the nations, immediately
I conferred not with flesh and blood. But when it pleased God
to reveal his son in me, the words of Paul, We all remember
the story of Paul while on the road to Damascus. There was a
sudden bright light that surrounded him, and then he was struck blind
for three days. But still, what would he say
except, God called me by his grace. He was made blind so that
he could see. Paul many times labels himself
the chiefest of sinners. yet saved by God's grace. We
may not have been struck blind in the same manner that Paul
was, but we too were blind until we were made able to see. So
staying in chapter one, I want to look once again at a few verses
we read earlier and get a bit deeper view of them as to what
Paul has to say about the condition of the church then compared to
how he had left it after his earlier visit. So let's read
again in Galatians 1 starting with verse 8. But even if we,
or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than
what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have
said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other
gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. So Paul goes back to what his
concern is. why again he is writing this
letter. He asks, why are you so quickly
turning away from him, meaning Christ and his grace, and turning
to a different gospel, which isn't really a gospel at all?
And as we have already mentioned, he sees the problem here. Someone
is preaching a false gospel, a gospel that's not really gospel
at all, but what they are preaching is mixing grace with works. which
is completely opposed to what Paul has preached to them in
the past, the gospel of freedom in Christ. Paul's displeasure
is pretty clear when he says, let them who spread these lies
be accursed. Now a little farther on in Galatians
chapter five, he is speaking to them about the Judaizers insisting
that the Gentiles had to be circumcised And he shows his real displeasure
here as he goes so far as to say, as for those agitators,
I wish they would go all the way and emasculate themselves. Now, that is probably the worst
display of anger that we see from Paul in all his writings,
but there is a deeper meaning in the words that he uses here.
His anger aside, it is true. Someone castrated can't produce
new offspring like themselves. but also in a spiritual sense,
if the lies of that false gospel of works were spiritually castrated,
cut off, then their lie could no longer be passed on to future
generations. Their false spiritual perspective
would die out. And that was Paul's true wish
to rid the church of that poisonous doctrine. Unfortunately, we are
still waiting for that time. The preaching of a grace plus
work salvation is still alive and well in today's pulpits. I have heard, though, more than
one grace preacher give this bit of good advice. If ever you
are visiting a church and you hear the preacher start off proclaiming
that in order to be saved, you need to accept Jesus in your
heart, or say the sinner's prayer, or sign a card expressing your
choosing Jesus, By any of these ways, you will be saved. You
need to immediately get up on your feet and run out the door.
You are hearing a poisonous doctrine that no ear should ever hear.
So just run. Returning back to Galatians 4,
let's read now verses 8 through 11. In this little section, Paul
is expressing his sincere concern for his brothers and sisters. And no matter what the situation
is, His love for and belief in those who are being tempted to
follow another gospel is obvious by his genuine concern. Reading
through Galatians, you can tell he is not giving up on them,
as he has a sincere belief that they truly are sons and daughters
of God. He continually calls them brothers
and sisters. In chapter 5, he even expresses
confidence in them when he says, I am confident in the Lord that
you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into
confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty.
You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But as
we read, beginning with verse eight, Paul is still expressing
his love, but also his concern for the churches of Galatia.
And he is warning them of the consequences of returning to
their formal life of idolatry. So verse 8, but then indeed,
when you did not know God, you served those which by nature
are not gods. But now, after you have known
God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn back
to the weak and beggarly elements to which you desire again to
be in bondage? You observe days and months and
seasons and years. I am afraid for you, lest I have
labored for you in vain. Paul is warning them that they
are returning back to their past, back before they knew God, back
to when they worshipped the law of Moses, when all they knew
was worshipping false gods and idols. They again were, as Paul
said in Ephesians 2, just following the ways of the world and the
ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is at work and
all who are disobedient. So he asks, how is it that you
would turn back? again to desire again to be in
bondage. He reminds them of what he said
back in verse seven. You are no longer a slave, but
God's child. He goes on to say to them that
they had left that bondage, received that spirit of adoption, being
known by God and knowing God. Why is it that they would turn
back again? He expresses his concern for
them by saying, I am afraid for you, lest I have labored for
you in vain. You can't serve two gods. You either choose the law or
you choose Christ. And if you choose the law, I
am labored for you in vain. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians 15,
one and two for our next reading. Paul's concern is real because
there's always the possibility of false salvation. You know,
you might mean it at the time when you raise your hand or pray
the sinner's prayer, get talked into a baptism, any number of
ways. but are those instances of a
real salvation. In 1 Corinthians 15, verses 1
and 2, he says this. Now, brothers and sisters, I
want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you
received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel,
you are saved if you hold firmly to the word I preached to you.
Otherwise, you have believed in vain. Paul speaks first to
what happens when a believer is truly saved. They receive
the gospel, the message of God's grace and forgiveness of sin
through faith in Christ. And they will stand in their
belief through the gospel because of their faith in Christ and
God's grace. But they have believed the gospel
in vain if they do not stand and they are not believing the
true gospel of Christ alone as he is preached to them. In other
words, if anyone is believing a false version of the gospel
of Jesus, that person should not think that they have any
standing before God. This is basically the same warning
that Paul is now giving the churches in Galatia. And then moving on
to verses 12 through 16 of chapter four, I plead with you, brothers
and sisters, like me, become like me, for I became like you. You did me no wrong. As you know, it was because of
an illness that I first preached the gospel to you. And even though
my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt
or scorn. Instead, you welcomed me as if
I were an angel of God, as if I were Christ Jesus himself.
Where then is your blessing of me now? I can testify that if
you could have done so, you would have torn out your eyes and given
them to me. I have now become your enemy
by telling you the truth. Have I now become your enemy
by telling you the truth? Paul starts in this message encouraging
them, pleading with them. He calls them brothers and sisters,
again showing his affection and acceptance. He says, become like
me, for I became like you. In other words, he is saying,
I came to you free from the law and justified in Christ just
like you were after I came and preached the gospel to you. He
goes on to say, you did me no wrong. Because of that acceptance
and care for him and their acceptance of his message of grace and love
of Christ at the time of his visit, which was a blessing to
Paul, he then asked, where then is your blessing of me now? What
has happened? Why are you so quickly turning
to another gospel that isn't the gospel? He's saying, you
all in appearances were like me, justified by the faith of
Christ, free from the penalties of the law, and made aware of
the blessings of this by the gospel of Christ. He asked, where
is your blessing now? Have I now become your enemy
by telling you the truth? And I think it's logical to say
that they don't necessarily see Paul as an enemy, but they now,
because of the Judaizers' false gospel preaching, they've been
thrown into a real state of confusion causing a distrust of the very
message that Paul has been preaching to them. Paul is understandably
disappointed by that, but will continue preaching to them, and
once again, by the grace of God and in his will, they will return
to a full confidence in the message that it's by Christ and Christ
alone they are justified. They are not questioning their
salvation, just asking if trusting in Christ alone is enough or
works also part of the plan? Well, by asking that question,
they were in truth questioning their salvation. They needed
a grace preacher to tell them to get up on their feet and run
away from that poisonous doctrine. Paul was there now doing just
that. So moving on to verses 17 through
20. Those people are zealous to win
you over, but for no good. What they want is to alienate
you from us so that you may have zeal for them. It's fine to be
zealous, provided the purpose is good, and to be so always,
not just when I am with you. My dear children, for whom I
am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you,
how I wish I could be with you now and change my tone because
I am perplexed about you. These verses are probably the
most self-explanatory of all the verses we have gone through
so far. Paul is pretty clear here. These Judaizers are not
your friends. Their true motive is to drive
a wedge between Paul and the believers in Galatia so that
their allegiance would turn to them instead of Paul. Well, Christ
has a warning for people like them. So if you will turn to
Matthew chapter seven, chapter 7 verse 21 in Matthew
there Jesus in Matthew chapter 7 Jesus is coming to the end
of his sermon on the mount. When he gets to this part leading
into verse 21 he is teaching about the true and false prophets
and the true and false disciples. This is where we will be picking
up our reading in verse 21 of Matthew chapter 7 Not everyone
who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter the kingdom of heaven,
but only the one who does the will of my father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day,
Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name
drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles? Then
I will tell them plainly, I never knew you away from me, you evildoers. You cannot be a true disciple
or a teacher of the gospel if you are preaching a false gospel,
which almost always is intended to build up the speaker instead
of glorifying Christ. As Paul says back in chapter
one, verse 10 of chapter one, am I now trying to win the approval
of human beings or of God, or of God, or am I trying to please
people? If I were still trying to please
people, I would not be a servant of Christ. These false teachers
that Paul is dealing with in Galatia will, unless by God's
grace he reveals his son in them, they will hear the words, depart
from me, you evildoers. I never knew you. And as Paul
says later in Galatians, the one who's throwing you into confusion,
whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty. The penalty? Depart from me, I never knew
you. And that's not a pleasant place
to be when that time comes. Let's turn, if you will, to 2
Timothy chapter 4. We will be reading starting at
verse 3. As Paul has already stated, he
is not particularly worried about them, the Judaizers, and the
way that he is his congregation of people, since they seem to
have fallen into what he describes as hearing something that tickles
their ears. He writes to Timothy about this
very concern of people having an affection for false gospel
rather than the true gospel. So in 2 Timothy, we'll pick up
reading there in chapter four, verse three, for the time will
come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead,
to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great
number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
He goes on to say, will they turn their ears away from the
truth and turn aside to myths? Brothers and sisters, this is
why it is so important to sit under a true gospel preacher
and not wander from church to church to church. And it's also
important to do as the Bereans did, search the scriptures daily,
to find out whether these things were so. And so returning to
the chapter four of Galatians, just one more time, considering
what Paul said to Timothy, I believe he is convinced that this is
what's happening there in Galatia. That would be a good reason as
why he goes on to say in verse 19 of chapter four of Galatians,
my dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth
until Christ is formed in you." Paul describes himself as being
in anguish as a mother in labor pains while he is waiting for
them to escape those false teachings and once again put their full
trust in Christ and Christ alone. To fully trust the good news
about their status in Christ. Christ in you is your only justification. The law can't do it. Mixed law
and grace can't do it. It is at Calvary where Christ
accomplished all that was required for their justification and the
eternal life that is God given. It is the Christ in you and him
alone who justifies. Christ in you and him alone is
your hope of glory. And what Paul really wants to
say is his brothers and sisters in Glacier is what he says to
the church in Colossae, where in 2.5 he tells them, for though
I am absent from you in body, I am present with you in spirit,
and delight to see how disciplined you are and how firm your faith
in Christ is. How he would love to be able
to say that to the churches of Galatia. Well, time is up, so
we'll stop here, and we will pick up with verse 20 next week,
Lord willing. I did, though, want to close
with this one stanza from a hymn we sang a couple weeks ago as
our worship song at the beginning of this early Sunday morning
service. I'm singing and I thought I really wanted to use this for
at least one of the closings as it fits so well with what
Paul is expressing to those he is writing to in Galatians. No
works or deeds that I have done can a single sin atone. To Christ
the Lord alone I flee, O God be merciful to me. Amen.