sugar. Oh goodness. Well, like
I said, it's just wonderful to be with you and thankful to be
here with you all. Okay, open your Bibles if you
would to Galatians chapter 4. Today's message is called, Your
Enemy? With a question mark. Your Enemy?
Now Paul loved the Galatian believers. He had went to Galatia and set
up several different churches there. The Lord had saved several
people in that area. And there was not just one church. There were several. This is an epistle of Paul to
the Galatians. So it was written to the Galatian
churches. And so he had a He had a deep love for these folks
because he had seen them turn from idols to serve the one true
God. He had seen the mighty work of
God the Holy Spirit regenerate them. They were born again and
given faith to believe. He had seen it. He was an eyewitness
of it. And so they were very, very dear
to him. And we're in this section where
he's making an earnest plea with the Galatian believers. who'd been bewitched by the false
teachers. Not all the people in the churches
were bewitched, but there was a certain amount who'd been bewitched
by these Judaizers, these false teachers. And they had infiltrated
the ranks of the Galatian churches, and they started spreading their
poison. And that's really what false doctrine is. It's damning
doctrine. It's poison. And because all it does is lead
to the damnation of one's soul. Again, you add just a pinprick
of works and it's no more grace, right? I'll give you that analogy
again, the balloon that John Claude gave me, balloon full
of helium. You take a pin, just put a prick that you can't even
hardly see. What happens to that balloon? That's what happens
to grace. If you put a pinprick of works,
just a pinprick of works, it's no more grace. And so these folks
come in and they said you have to follow the law, the Mosaic
Law. You have to be circumcised to be saved. And Paul is writing
these dear folks. And last week we saw Paul pleading
with our dear brethren in Galatian churches again. Now they're entertaining
what the Judaizers are saying. They started to entertain what
they're saying to them. This false doctrine. The Judaizers
again who mix men's works with grace so that it's no more grace,
right? And we see in chapter one, turn
if you would to chapter one, we see what Paul says about this
so-called gospel that they're preaching of Christ and works. Because he's going to tell us
here in the first chapter in verses six to nine that what
they taught And we can apply this to any kind of religion
that mixes grace and works, okay? Anything. You have to be baptized
to be saved, you have to go to church on Sunday to be saved,
or Saturday to be saved, even Sabbatarians. Anything, anything
that you have to do to be saved is a false gospel. And so he writes them. And we're
told, we remember too, this is by inspiration of the Holy Spirit
of God too. Paul's penning these words, but who are they coming
from? They're coming from the Holy Spirit of God, right? So
whenever we read scriptures, always remember that no matter
who the penman is, these words are the Holy Spirit writing to
his people, writing to us. So these warnings are for us
too, right? They're for us. Look at this
in chapter 1 verses 6 to 9. I marvel that you are so soon
removed from him that called you unto the grace of Christ
unto another gospel. So he puts it right there. Another
gospel. Then he corrects himself, which
is not another. There's only one gospel. He's
saying that's not good news. If there's something you have
to do, that's not good news, is it? If there's something I have
to do to be saved, that's not good news. The amazing, marvelous
news of the gospel is Christ did it all. He completed the
work. That's the most amazing thing.
That's incredible news. That's the best news we're ever
going to hear in our lives as sinners. He says, which is not
another, but there be some that trouble you. See, false doctrine
always causes trouble. always causes trouble, and would
pervert the gospel of Christ. It's a perversion. So a false
gospel is actually a perversion of the gospel. I'm telling you,
anything, remember works is anything man can think and do by action. It's not just actions. We think
it's actions. But in the Greek, when it talks about works, it's
thought works and works of the flesh because we can say, oh
yeah, I don't believe that, but then our minds can say, oh yeah,
I gotta do this to be saved. No, you don't. You have to look
to Christ, right? And Christ alone. That's why
when those old grave clothes come, because we got them, those
old grave clothes will be on us and then something will come
in our mind and we're like, oh man. And then all of a sudden you're like,
no, no. I just need to look to Christ and that grave clothes
falls off. And it's so relieving for our souls because we trust
in Him. We trust in the complete finished
work, the perfect sin atoning death of the Lord Jesus Christ
in Him alone. And he says this, he says, but
though we are an angel from heaven, so any preacher, minister, then
the apostles, or an angel from heaven. Can you imagine an angel
from heaven coming down and saying something? Well, hold on. Hold
on. Who did that Joseph Smith guy
supposedly talk to? Oh, he supposedly talked to an
angel from heaven, didn't he? Angel Maloney or whatever. We
used to call it the Angel Baloney back at West. But supposedly
he talked to an angel from heaven. Well, Paul says here, even if
an angel from heaven, and it wasn't an angel from heaven,
trust me. No, it was a messenger of Satan. And look what he says though.
But though we or an angel haven't preached any other gospel unto
you than that which we have preached unto you, then the free and sovereign
grace of salvation in and through Christ alone, let him be accursed. Let's let him be anathema, let
him be damned. Oh my. You see how serious the
Holy Spirit is about the gospel? See man trifle with it like it's
nothing. The Holy Spirit has Paul write these words here.
Any other gospel than we preach unto you, let him be a curse,
let him be anathema, let him be damned. As we said before,
so say I now again, if any man preach any other gospel unto
you than that which you have received, let him be a curse.
See, we as believers, we've received the gospel of salvation in and
through Christ alone by the power of God, haven't we? And so Paul's
saying, if anyone preaches any other thing to you, any other
thing, other than salvations in Christ alone, let him be accursed. My. And again, the true author
of these words is God, the Holy Spirit. He's very protective
of Christ, isn't he? In his gospel. And he's sent
to teach us the truth. You see? This is error that's
been going on with these Judaizers. And so he has Paul, God the Holy
Spirit has Paul pen a letter. And remember God the Holy Spirit
is as active as God the Father and the Son. He's God just as
much as the Father and just as much as the Son. But the scripture
says he won't speak himself but he will teach us the things of
Christ. That's happening right here. Salvation's in Christ alone. Any other gospel mixed with any
other works, let them be accursed. Let them be damned. My oh my. Now let's read the context of
the verses which we'll look at in chapter 4. We're going to
start in verse 8 and we're going to go down to verse 20. We'll just read the context here. Paul's personal appeal to the
dear saints in the churches of the Roman province of Galatia. How abate then when you knew
not God, you did service unto them which by nature are no gods.
But now, after that you have known God, or rather are known
of God, how turn ye again to the weak and bakerly elements,
whereunto ye desire again to be in bondage? Ye have observed
days, and months, and times, and years. See, they put themselves
back under the mosaics, all the mosaic days, and seasons, and
months. That's what the Judaizers were
trying to do to them. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed
upon you labor in vain. Brethren, I beseech you, be as
I am. And Paul there saying, trust
Christ just as I'm trusting Christ. Look to Christ, be as I am. For I am as you are. You have
not injured me at all. You know how through infirmity
of flesh, I preached the gospel unto you at first, and my temptation,
which was in my flesh, you despised not, nor rejected. But you received
me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the
blessedness you spake of? For I bear you record that if
it had been possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes
and given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy? He's preaching the truth to them,
right? Look what he says. Look at this. Am I therefore
become your enemy because I tell you the truth? My oh my. All he did was tell
them the truth. All he did was preach the truth
to them. And now all he's doing is telling them the truth that
those Judaizers are preaching a false gospel. And he says,
weren't we walking hand in hand? Weren't we having our arms clasped
together in love? And now, all of a sudden, I'm
your enemy? I'm your enemy? because I tell
you the truth. They zealously affect you, but
not well, yea, they would exclude you, that they might affect them,
that you might affect them. But it is good to be zealously
afflicted, always a good thing, and not only when I am present
with you. My little children of whom I travail in birth, and
he said that because he's their spiritual father, not he didn't
save them, but he's the one who brought the gospel to them. Right? Of whom I travail in birth again
until Christ be formed in you. I desire to be present with you
now and to charge and to change my voice for I stand in doubt
of you. Let's look at verse 13 first. He says. He sets forth
first of all what he what he did amongst the Galatians. It's
exactly what he's being called to do. And it's exactly what
every gospel preacher's being called to do. He says this, you
know how through the infirmity of flesh, I preach the gospel
unto you at first. So all he did was come and preach
the gospel. Just like preachers do. We come,
we preach the gospel, and we leave it in God's hands, right?
And God, the Holy Spirit, does with it what he wills. And we
rejoice when a lost sheep is brought home. We rejoice when
he reveals himself to a sinner dead in trespasses and sins.
And we rejoice when believers are edified and built up. It's
wonderful. It's absolutely wonderful. Notice, again, how he speaks
of the infirmity of the flesh. He preached the gospel to them.
And this brings forth how he, in preaching the gospel to them,
in delivering, did so in a manner suited with their capacities.
Suited with their capacities. He fed them with milk. He fed
them with milk, not strong meat. All he did was simply set forth
the gospel to them. That's what he did. He set forth
the gospel to them. He set forth before them Christ
and him crucified. And also this can be respecting
his own affirmity, some bodily affirmity and disorder or weakness
of the body in presence, including the great humility in which he
behaved. He's a humble man. Remember,
Paul was pretty puffed up, right? Until the Lord saved him. He'd
been bought low, hasn't he? He knows what he is now. He knows
what he is. He's just a saved sinner. And this would also include the
many reproaches and afflictions that he went through. Turn if
you would to 2 Corinthians chapter 11. Oh, Paul went through many
afflictions, persecutions which attended him. Wherever he went
preaching the gospel, someone was out to get him. Someone was
out to get him. I remember they said that Ralph
Bernard, when he came to town, there'd either be a revival or
a riot. I think that's how it was with Paul. Whenever he came to town, there'd
either be a revival or a riot, let me tell you. Oh my. Look at this in 2 Corinthians
chapter 11. Again, we see Paul bring forth some of the suffering
he went through while preaching the gospel. We'll read verses
23 to 33. Are they ministers of Christ?
I speak as a fool. I am more in labors, more abundant
in stripes, above measure in prisons, more frequent in deaths
of the Jews. Five times received I forty stripes,
save one. Thirty-nine stripes. They'd only
give a man thirty-nine stripes because it'd kill him almost.
Five times he's received that. Some people didn't even live
through the first time. Five times. Do you imagine what
his back was like? Do you imagine when he took his
tunic off? I've seen pictures of guys in
Vietnam that come back and they were tortured. It'd be just like
that, just crisscrosses all over his back. My oh my. What's 40 stripes times 5? What's
that? 80, 160, 200 stripes. Less 5. 195 stripes. My goodness. My. No wonder it says that he had
infirmities. Can you imagine the damage that
did to his body? My, thrice I was beaten with
rods. In some of the Asian countries,
I think it's Thailand and a couple, they still use a cane on people,
they call it caning. And they're caning a person.
My, oh my. That's what that was like. That's
exactly what that was like. Thrice I was beaten with wads.
Once I was stoned. Remember they left them for dead?
Thrice I suffered shipwreck. A night and a day I have been
in the deep. In journeyings, often in perils
of water, in perils of robbers, in perils by my own countrymen.
Remember the Jews sought to kill him and that captain of the guard
stepped in? My oh my. in perils by the heathen, that's
the Gentiles, in perils in the city, in perils in the wilderness,
in perils in the sea, in perils among false brethren, in weariness,
in painfulness, in watchings often, in hunger, in thirst,
in fastings often, in cold, in meekness, beside, look at this,
beside those things that are without, that which cometh upon
me daily, the care of the churches. Look at that. He's going through
all that stuff, but he's daily having the care of the churches
and praying for the churches. By the grace of God, this man
just kept going on. And that's the only way we keep
going on, is by God preserving us. This is amazing. Now turn over to chapter 12,
and we'll look at verses nine to 10. But we're going to read
from verses 7 to 10 together. And marvel at how the grace of
God, Paul says, by the grace of God, Paul says these wonderful
words. After he's told us all those things he's went through,
right? And he writes this in chapter 12, verses 7 to 10. Unless I should be exalted above
measure, I think those things are going to keep you pretty
humble, Paul. But remember, he was caught up in the third heaven.
This is right after he tells us he was caught up in the third
heaven. So if you read verses one to six, he's talking about
being caught up in the third heaven. He says, and lest I should
be exalted above measure, through the abundance of the revelations,
there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of
Satan, to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For
this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart
from me. Three times he asked the Lord to take this thorn away
from him. three times. And he said unto me, My grace
is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Most gladly, therefore, I would rather... Now look what he says
as a result of that. Most gladly, therefore, will
I rather glory in my infirmities that the power of Christ may
rest upon me. Therefore, I take pleasure in the infirmities and
approaches and necessities and persecutions in distress for
Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then am I
strong. My, oh my. Marvel at these wonderful words.
My grace is sufficient for thee. That's what God tells us, isn't
it? He tells us that through his word here. So the Lord refused
to take that thorn away from Paul. thorn in the flesh, tell
him that his grace was sufficient to support him, to strengthen
him, to uphold him under any trial and in any circumstance. And that's true for us, too.
No matter where we find ourselves in life, his grace is more than
sufficient to sustain us and to keep us. And he's proved that,
hasn't he? Over and over and over again in our lives. It's
absolutely incredible. And Our great God's strength
and grace are never more glorified or appreciated by the born-again
blood-washed believer than when we are in our greatest weakness. You know, folks talk about mountaintop
Christianity, and that's, I'll tell you what, I've been there
too. That's nice, isn't it? And some days you wake up, you're
just so, just, but other days you're dragging yourself out
of bed, and your heart's so heavy. But in our weakness, beloved,
he's strong. He's strong. He's right there
with us. And he's proven it over again
and over again, like I said. Paul says there, I will rejoice
in my infirmities and accept my weaknesses, that the power
of Christ may rest upon me. My oh my, God give us the grace
to say those words too. Now look at verse 13, let's go
back to Galatians chapter 4, verse 13 now. We see Paul didn't
preach the law to them, did he? Nope. He didn't come saying,
I preach the law. No, he says, I come and preach
Christ to you. Christ in him, Christ in me. Law can't save.
So he can preach the savior of sinners. He says, you know how
through the infirmity of flesh I preach the gospel unto you
at first. He preached Christ. He preached salvation in and
through the perfect sin atoning work of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Redeemed by the blood of Christ. Redeemed, purchased by the blood
of Christ. So we see here, upon Paul's first
entrance into the Galatians, he just preached Christ. He preached
the gospels. He set Christ before them. He taught that salvation was
only in and through the Lord Jesus Christ and His shed blood.
And then the preaching of the gospel by the power of God the
Holy Spirit, the Lord used that to save some of those Galatians,
right? And then they formed the churches.
And he went all through Galatia preaching the gospel, setting
forth first before them Christ and Him crucified. My oh my. And Paul is their spiritual father,
as I said. He pleads with them. He pleads
with them. Cast aside those false teachings.
Don't listen to those Judaizers. And his words would have some
weight with those folks, right? Because they knew him personally.
They didn't just know him as Paul the Apostle. They knew him
as Paul. There's a difference, isn't there? Paul, my brother. Like you know me, Wayne, your
brother, right? And you're my brothers and sisters.
We know each other personally. Like, people can come into this
congregation, but they don't know us how we know each other.
You see? That's how it was for them with
Paul. And look at, let's read verses
13 to 16. He says this, he says, Know ye how through infirmity
of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at first, and my temptation
which was in my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected, but received
me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the
blessedness ye spake of? They were so thankful that God
sent him. They were blessed that God sent him. For I bear you
record that if it had been possible, you would have plucked out your
own eyes and have given them to me. My oh my. Then he says, now here it is.
Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? They were in sweet fellowship. And then all of a sudden, this
group says, you're our enemy Paul. And Paul's perplexed. Every preacher
that's went through this is perplexed at this time, because you're
like, what just happened? What changed? Paul's not understanding
this. He's like, you're hand in hand
with me, brothers clasped together, shields locked together, going
forth, or standing firm. And all of a sudden, you say
I'm your enemy? What happened? Well, these false
teachers came in. These Judaizers came in and started
whispering in their ears. You think Paul's preaching the
gospel? I think you have to be circumcised to be saved. I think
what Paul's teaching is wrong. What do you think about Paul's
preaching? You see how they are? They're so subtle. And they never
did it in earshot of Paul, because you know Paul would have unloaded
on them. Right? But they always did it subtly.
They did it after Paul left. Here they come. Like Dave said, circling around.
Circling around. My, oh my. And Paul's perplexed. He really is. He loves these
people. He loves them dearly. And remember, the Galatians were
eyewitnesses to his preaching. You guys are eyewitnesses to
my preaching. They were eyewitnesses, like we are here. They heard
him preach the gospel, however passionately he did it, however
he did it. They heard him. And they saw him face to face. with their own eyes and heard
them with their own ears. And he says, my brethren, now
you're my enemy? What happened? What happened? And he preached, all he did,
all he did was set Christ before them. That's all he did. And
that's what every gospel preacher does, right? We are called to
come to where we're called, planted, and preach the gospel. And that's
all he did. He preached the gospel in Galatia.
He went to all these different churches. I don't know how long
he spent there, but obviously he spent long enough time and
he's very, very close with them. Very close with them. And we
all know it does not take long. It does not take long for brethren
to get like that, does it? It don't take long at all for
us to get like that. My, oh my. And so he's doing
what every sent gospel preacher desires to do, setting forth
Christ before them and telling them the truth. And I'm going to tell the truth.
I can't compromise, beloved. You know, I was talking to some
people I know across the road there. And two of them are mixed
up in this false gospel stuff. And I told him, I said, I just
thought I told him. I'm not going to lie to him.
I'm not going to comfort them in what they're in. I said, what
you're involved with is wrong. It's wrong. And he said, well,
are you saying it's all the devil? And I said, the scripture says
there's another Christ. There's another gospel and there's
another spirit. You figure it out. He wasn't
very happy with me. I'm not going to lie to him.
He's supposed to be my friend. I'm not going to lie to him. Paul, these people are his friends.
His heart goes out to them. He loves them. My oh my, look what he brings
out in verse 14 here, he says, and my temptation which was in
my flesh ye despised not, nor rejected, but received me as
an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Now, angel there is just
messenger. Just messenger. He's not saying
I'm an angel. He's just saying I'm a messenger
of God. That's what every gospel preacher is, a messenger of God. And Paul came among the Galatians.
They had received him as an angel of God, even as Jesus Christ.
I think it was Scott and Henry used to say that when a preacher
gets up and preaches the gospel, when the gospel's preached, Christ
is the one who's gonna speak to your heart. We preach the words, but Christ
is gonna make it effectual. The Holy Spirit's gonna make
it effectual. And he head to these Galatians, and that's why
Paul's so perplexed, because he's like, was my labor in vain
with you? He's just perplexed. So they
received him as God's messengers to their souls, as though Christ
himself spake by him to them. And indeed, that's exactly
what God's servants are to his people. Faithful pastors are
described as God's messengers. That's what we are. I'm just
a messenger. And people say, don't shoot the
messenger. Don't shoot the messenger. No,
but we're just messengers, aren't we? That's how we are. We're
just messengers to his churches, to who God speaks. Scripture
says this, Paul wrote this, now then we are ambassadors for Christ.
I'm an ambassador from a far off country. I speak of a far
off country. I speak of the king of that country.
Right? Remember, I think it's in Hebrews,
it says, we seek a better country. I'm an ambassador for him. I've
been sent into the world. So have you. Do you know we're
all ambassadors? We're sent into this world. And we speak of another country.
There's another country I'm going to. This is not my home here.
No, no, no. No, I'm going to a far better
country. And so are you, beloved. Isn't that wonderful? So we're
ambassadors for him. That's what we are. Just an ambassador. He says, now, then we are ambassadors
for Christ, as though God did besiege you. We pray you, in
Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to God. And see, we as born-again
believers are reconciled to God now. And so, as the gospel is
preached and proclaimed, we're saying, be ye reconciled to God.
We don't know who the elect are, so we preach the gospel to everyone,
right? God does the saving. That's what he does. And notice
in verse 15 now, he says this. He sets before them their sweet
fellowship. They had such sweet fellowship that he says, if it
had been possible, you would have plucked your own eyes out
and gave them to me. Look at this. That's love. That's love,
beloved. Some think that Paul had an infirmity
with the eyes. I'm just gonna read what it says
here. It says, I think those infirmities we read before, 39
stripes times 5, that's a lot of, you'd be wearing them scars
for forever. This note in verse, again, he
sets forth the sweet fellowship. How their love was manifest to
him by what they would have given him. Look at verse 15. Where is then the blessedness
you spake of? For I bear you record that if
it had been possible, you would have plucked your own eyes and
given them to me. Your love for me was so great
that you would have given me your eyes if you could, so my
sight could be better. Oh my. And note in verses 14
and 15 as he's bringing this out, they're not offended by
his body elements. So if he took his shirt off and
his back is just like a... Oh my goodness, I don't even
want... They weren't even bothered by
it. He wore the marks of the afflictions, the suffering for
Christ, within his body. And they weren't ashamed of him.
No. They were so glad to hear the good news. They were so glad
to hear Christ preach. They were just rejoicing, beloved.
They were rejoicing. Oh my. And they were blessed
by the message of salvation in and through Christ alone, by
his free grace alone. Now let's read verse 16. We're
going to just touch on this quickly. Look at this. So he writes all
that. He tells them about the great
love that they had for him and he has for them. And then he
says, am I therefore become your enemy? because I tell you the
truth. Again, that's why gospel preachers
are perplexed when something within the body happens and a
group like these Judaizers were going around saying he wasn't
preaching the gospel and he's like, I'm just telling you the
truth and now I've become your enemy? What in the world happened?
What happened? Yeah. Things have changed here,
haven't they, with what Paul's bringing? In one verse he says,
look at the great love you had for me. And in the next verse
he says, now I'm your enemy. And like Dave said, it's a heart
issue. There's something gone wrong. Someone has poisoned the
well. Someone's poisoned the well.
And they're treating Paul as an enemy now. He simply brings
forth the truth to them. Even in this letter he's bringing
forth, do you see how gentle he is with them? He's speaking
strong words, but he's also very gentle with them. He's pleading
with them in this section. My oh my, he asked them, what's
become of the respect and regard that you had for me? He's saying these people were
happy in Christ in the gospel of God's free grace, and now
that the law preachers had influenced them, they not only turned away
from the gospel, but because of the influence of the false
teachers, now they become Paul's enemies. You see how damaging it can be? That's why we need to be on guard
too, don't we? Oh my. Again, he asked him, and
look at this, he asked him. He's dealing with him sincerely
here, isn't he? He's saying, am I your enemy
because I told you the truth? That's all I ever did. I just
told you the truth. My, oh my. My, oh my. Am I your enemy because
I preached that we're complete in Christ? That's what he was doing, right?
He said, you don't need those law works. I'm saying you're
completing Christ. You don't need any other law
works. Am I now become your enemy because I tell you that? Am I now your enemy because I
tell you, you don't need to be circumcised to be saved? That's
what he's, he's contemplating all these things. And again,
when he first came there, he preached the gospel. He preached
it so clearly, didn't he? He set forth before them the
truth. And that's what gospel preachers do. We set before our
hearers God's free and sovereign grace in Christ, and he did so
in weakness, he did it in humility, he did it through persecution,
he did it through bodily afflictions. My oh my. He's God's messenger
to them. But the Galatians were different.
They had received the gospel with gladness, having been born
again by the Holy Spirit of God, and we see that Paul does not
neglect to praise them for that. And Paul bestows upon them joy in their faith that they
had. But now he's asking them, because
I told you the truth, am I now your enemy? Again, what changed? He's still preaching the same
gospel, right? He didn't change his message or modify his message.
No. So we see here how God's people
can even be influenced to speak against God's preachers by the
enemies of the gospel. It can happen. It can happen,
beloved. May God, the Holy Spirit, guard
us against this sinfulness. And may we be quick, here's the
key, may we be quick to forgive one another. Just let it go. Something bothers you, take it
to the Lord and just let it go. Leave it there. Leave it there. And you know, that'll breed unity.
We have that, don't we? We have unity. Look what the Lord's done. It's
amazing. And I hope that that happened
in the Galatian churches. We don't know. We don't hear
anything afterwards. But I hope that's what happened. I hope
that they left the Judaizers. Now, some of them probably went
with them. No doubt. But I hope that the majority
of them stayed. and that God was glorified. Brother Jim.