Let us turn back in our Bibles
to Galatians chapter 4. As you're turning there, let
me comment upon something that Bill said a few minutes ago,
and that has to do with fellowship that we need. Fellowship with
each other as believers, encouraging one another. It's not just coming
together to hear the Word of God and sing these hymns. That
is certainly part of our worship service. But just to be together,
to encourage one another in the things of the Lord, in serving
the Lord, following Him. Now tonight, in Galatians chapter
4, the title of my message is Paul's Passion for the Galatians. Because these verses that we
are looking at tonight contain his most compassionate appeal
to those who he dearly loved, those to whom he had brought
the gospel, preached the gospel, and had professed to know Christ. And now he is writing to them
as they were tempted to be turned aside unto another gospel, which
he said is not another gospel. But he makes this passionate
appeal unto them. Our text begins with him calling
them brethren in verse 12. Brethren. And then if you notice
down in verse 19, my little children. So we see the heart of the Apostle
Paul here for these believers in the churches of Galatia. My
message has four divisions. First, you notice in verse 12,
Paul beseeches them to be as he was, for he was as they were. Notice that in verse 12. When
you read that, at first it sounds somewhat startling or different. I beseech you, be as I, for I
as you. Those words in italics of course
have been added by the translators. I beseech you be as I am for
I am as you are. You have not injured me at all. We know that the issue, the issue
with these to whom the apostle wrote this letter was the law
of Moses. These men that we call Judaizers. They would bring these believers
who had embraced Christ and the gospel of the grace of God, they
would bring them into bondage, teaching them that it was necessary,
their acceptance with God was necessary by their obedience
to the law of Moses. They would have them to take
up that old covenant that God made with the nation of Israel
at Mount Sinai and observe those rites and ceremonies. There was
rules concerning what you could eat. There was rules concerning
your clothes. There was rules concerning certain
feast days. You know, there was a new moon
every month was a feast day or a day of worship. There was a
Sabbath day every week. There was a year of Sabbath every
seven years, and a year of Sabbath the 49th year, and then another
year of Jubilee. I mean, there was just all kinds
of rules and regulations to keep the nation of Israel separate
from the other nations until the seed came. The seed of Abraham,
who was promised, in whom all the nations of the world would
be blessed. And of course we know that is
Christ. Now Paul had come here preaching
the gospel and teaching them that Christ is all. But after
he left and these from Jerusalem, and because they were from Jerusalem,
they naturally had some clout among these Gentile believers. They just seemed to have some
authority, you know. They were bound to be important
because they came from Jerusalem, and they were of the Pharisees
most likely, and religious leaders of the Jews. But Paul tells them,
or beseeches them really, you notice he says, Brethren, I beseech
you. I beg of you. Remember in Romans
chapter 12 and verse 1, he uses the same kind of terminology.
Paul was not a person even though he had the authority as an apostle
and to the church in Corinth you remember because of that
man who was in their midst who was living in adultery with his
His father's wife, not his mother, but his stepmother, as we would
say today. And Paul was very offended and
he said, when you are gathered together and my spirit is with
you, you put that man out. You deal with that man. But when
Paul dealt with believers, he was as a nurse among her children. as a mother among her children. He dealt very gently with God's
people, with God's sheep. I've known some men over the
years who used the law like a whip to try to force men and whip
men into doing what they think they ought to be doing. The Apostle
Paul was not that type of teacher or preacher. He besought them. I beseech you, he said. I beseech
you, be as I am, for I am as you are. He said, I am like you. That is, he was like these Gentiles
without any righteousness of his own to claim. One writer
paraphrases this with these words, cast aside all thought of being
able, by means of law works, to become righteous before God. For that is exactly what I, by
the grace of God, was taught to do. At one time I, a proud
Jew, imagined that I would be able to achieve my own righteousness
before God. But I became as you Gentiles
are, by nature, condemnable in God's sight, with nothing of
self to appeal to. You be as I am, because I am
as you are." Now, when we read here, I am as you are, you be
as I am, because I am as you are, how was Paul? How was Paul? And the best answer in the scripture
is in Philippians chapter 3. Look with us in Philippians chapter
3. This is his testimony. Philippians chapter 3. Beginning with verse 4. He says, Though I might also
have confidence in the flesh, If any other man thinketh that
he hath whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. If there
comes a person among you and he believes that because of his
works, his doing, his keeping the law of Moses that he has
cause to have confidence in the flesh, Paul says, I can beat
him. I have more. And then he lists
a number of things here. For though I might also have
confidence in the flesh, if any other man thinketh that he hath
whereof he might trust in the flesh, I more. Circumcised the
eighth day, and that was very important. That was in the law
of Moses, wasn't it? It was given before the law,
no doubt about that. It was given to Abraham 430 years
before the law was given, but it was incorporated into the
law, just like this Sabbath day was. circumcised the eighth day,
of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, and Hebrew
of the Hebrews." And there is something to say on each one
of these statements. And Hebrew, or of the stock of
Israel, usually I believe meant that he spoke Hebrew. He wasn't
like Jews of that day. Many of them couldn't speak their
own language because they had been scattered among the nation.
No, he could speak Hebrew. And we have one example of that
in the book of Acts when he was arrested and actually saved by
that Roman centurion. And the Jews, you know, they
were crying out for his blood. And he asked that centurion if
he could speak to them. And when he began to speak in
Hebrew, They listened. The people listened. Now they
listened to him until he mentioned the fact that God had called
him and sent him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. And they
didn't want to hear any more of that. Yes, all of these things
that he mentions here were somewhat important. Of the tribe of Benjamin,
you remember when the ten tribes deserted? David, David's family,
Judah, and what other tribe was it? Benjamin. All of these things
had some signification. That's what Paul means. If anyone
else thinks he has cause to boast, let me tell you, I've got more.
The Hebrew of the Hebrews, that's touching the law, a Pharisee.
And you know that was the strictest sect among the Jews. They were the fundamentalist
of that day. They were more fundamental than
the Sadducees. The Sadducees, they didn't believe
in resurrection, they didn't believe in angels. Pharisees,
they were the fundamentalists. Concerning zeal, persecuting
the church, touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.
But what things were gained to me, those I counted lost for
Christ, Yea, doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency
of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord. For whom I have suffered
the loss of all things, and do count them but done, that I may
win Christ and be found in him." Now, Paul says, you be as I am
because I am as you are. Now, how are you, Paul? Well,
here it is, right here. This is the way I am. not having
my own righteousness which is of the law, but that righteousness
which is through the faithfulness of Christ, the righteousness
which is of God, and I've received it by faith. That's the only
way anyone receives God's righteousness which allows God to proclaim
and declare a person to be just by faith. I want, Paul said,
you be as I am. Paul would have these Galatians,
turn back if you will to the letter of Galatians, Paul would
have these Galatians to turn from the teachings of the Judaizers
and look only to Christ. Don't look to the law. Don't
look to your obedience to the law. Don't look to your morality.
Look to Christ. Come to Christ. As one of the
hymn writers wrote, I believe it was Augustus, top lady. Come to Christ. Nothing in my
hand I bring. Simply to thy cross I cling. Nothing. No righteousness of
mine own. No works of mine own. Nothing.
But I cling to Christ. He is the Savior. He is the only
Savior. Come to Christ as guilty for
pardon. Someone says, well, how do we
come to Christ? Well, here it is. Let me give it to you. Come
to Christ as guilty for pardon. Come to Christ as filthy for
cleansing. Come to Christ as condemned for
justification. In other words, just as I am
without one plea, but that thy blood was shed for me. O Lamb of God, I come. That's how we come to Christ,
with nothing, nothing to commend ourselves unto Him, but as a
sinner condemned and worthy of eternal wrath. Come to Christ. And what do we find? We find
a willing and an able Savior. Come now. We sang in a hymn One
of the hymns we sang, I forget which one it was, I think the
first one, but, How our sins may be laid as white as snow.
Come now, let us reason together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be white as wool. Come to Christ. Trust in Christ. So that's the first thing. Paul
says, I beseech you to be as I am, for I am as you are. Come to Christ, look to Christ
and Him alone for acceptance with God. As he wrote in Ephesians
chapter 1, to the praise of the glory of His grace wherein He
hath made us accepted in the blood. Do you want to be accepted
by God? I do. And I know you do. There's only one way and only
one place where God will accept a sinner like you and a sinner
like me. And that is in Christ. Nowhere else. In Christ. To the
praise of the glory of His grace, wherein He hath made us accepted
in Christ. You know, people want to be accepted.
We all want to be accepted, don't we? And I'm not talking about
only being accepted with God. We want that. But we all want
to be accepted by others. Well, there's only one place
one person in whom God will accept us and that is to be found not
having my own righteousness as the Apostle Paul said but the
righteousness of Christ. Now here's the second part of
the message Paul reminds them of how they had received him
in verses 13 through 16 You know how, through infirmity of the
flesh, I preached the gospel unto you at the first, and my
temptation, which was in my flesh, you despised not, nor rejected,
but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where
is then the blessedness you spoke of? 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. Am I therefore become your
enemy? Because I tell you the truth."
You know, this has caused a lot of conjecture on the part of
men as to what this infirmity of the flesh was. And because
of what Paul said, about them being willing to pluck out their
eyes and give them to Paul, and also because if you look in chapter
6 of Galatians, in verse 11, we read, you see how large a
letter, it's not a large letter as far as the length of the letter,
but how large letters, the letters in which he wrote. He wrote this
letter himself, he didn't use secretary to write it like he
normally did. And it was written in large letters,
as a person who had poor eyesight might write in larger letters
than someone with good eyesight. And that's caused people to believe
or to say, well Paul was suffering from malaria or he was suffering
from blindness of some sort when he preached the gospel to these. That's all conjecture, isn't
it? We don't know that. We do know this, that when he
was preaching in this area of Galatia, he suffered greatly.
You read about it in Acts chapter 14. One place, remember, they
took him out of the city to stone him, and the only reason they
stopped stoning him is they thought he was dead. And many people
believe he was dead. Many people believe that this
is when he was caught up to the third heaven. But they stopped
stoning him. They left him for dead. And God
raised him up. But he's not talking about affliction
here, he's talking about some sickness, some infirmity of the
flesh, that's very clear. But it's not necessary that we
know what he means by this, but it is true, and I think this
is worth considering, The Jews and Gentiles, the Jews believed
in one God, the Gentiles believed in many gods, but there was the
superstitious belief among Jews and Gentiles that when a person
had some infirmity, it was God striking that person. You remember
in John chapter 9, when our Lord passed by that man who had been
born blind, his disciples asked him, Who sinned? This man or his parents? I mean,
that was just a common belief among people, superstitious belief,
that if anyone was sick and firm, it was because God had struck
them in a special way because of some sin they were guilty
of. But here's the thing, by Paul's
preaching the gospel in the power of the Holy Spirit, If these
people of Galatia, these Gentiles, if they had believed such superstition
as that, it was overcome, it was overcome by Paul coming and
preaching in the power of the Holy Spirit. The power and demonstration
of the Holy Spirit and the good news, the gospel of how man might
be reconciled unto God. It overcame any superstitious
idea they may have had because He came among them with a message
of salvation, a message of hope, good news. It is good news, isn't
it? It's good news, my friends. Here
we are in this world and we are sinners, all of us. There's no exception. And our
sin means that we deserve eternity in hell separated from God. And the good news is that God
sent His Son to save us. That's good news. Good news. And no matter what superstition
they may have had, when Paul came preaching in power and demonstration
of the Spirit and the gospel that he brought among them, they
received him as, he said, an angel of God, a messenger of
God, as though God had just sent a special angel or messenger
there among them from heaven. Yea, more than a messenger, even
Christ. Now, Paul was convinced that
they appreciated and loved him and loved the gospel and loved
Christ that he preached and the God he represented so much that
if it had been possible, they would have plucked out their
eyes and given them to Paul. That's how much they appreciated
the message, the gospel that he had brought among them. Now
what has happened? What has happened? He asked them,
where is the blessedness of which you spoke? When I was there,
you were praising God and thanking God for how He had blessed you
by sending the gospel here among you. What's happened? What's
taken place? God is the God of truth. Jesus Christ is the truth. And
God blesses the truth for His glory and the good of His children.
But one of Satan's devices, and remember he said to the church
at Corinth, we are not ignorant of Satan's devices. One of Satan's
devices is to speak evil and to misrepresent those who preach
the gospel of the grace of God. Have you ever heard a preacher
called an antinomian? That may not mean anything to
you, but I've heard other men called that. I've been called
that. All those preachers are antinomians. Anti-law is what
it means. And they would have us, they
would represent us the same way they did the Apostle Paul, that
he gives men a license by his teaching, a license to live in
sin. By teaching that men are justified
freely by his grace apart from the works of the law. The same
is true today. The more a pastor preaches the
freeness of the gospel, the more he is exposed to being maligned
by others as the Apostle Paul was. And that's what had taken
place. These people had loved Paul,
appreciated Paul, but something had happened. And we know what
it was. These false teachers came among
them. The same is true today of those
who preach the truth about God's sovereign election of men. You
know, it's just as clear as it can be. You can't read the Bible
and not see that the Scriptures teach that God chose a people
from before the foundation of the world unto salvation. And
yet men hate this truth and so what do they do? They speak evil
of those who preach the truth. The same was in the day of Paul. The same is true today. Where
is the blessedness? Paul asked them. Am I therefore
become your enemy because I tell you the truth? Now the third
point I want to make is that Paul speaks of bad and good zeal. Bad and good zeal. Verses 17 and 18. They zealously,
that is these false teachers, these Judaizers, they zealously
affect you, but not well. Yea, they would exclude you that
you might affect them. But it is good to be zealously
affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present
with you. The Judaizers were zealous in
their efforts to turn these believers away from Paul. Now turn these
believers away from Paul and the gospel that he preached.
And they did it not for the good of these people, but to promote
themselves and to gain followers. and their conduct is much like
these men today who stand in the pulpit and in order to gain
crowds and to gain followers they promise people health wealth
and happiness that's what they say you just come to Christ and
you're going to be healthy you're going to be wealthy and you're
going to be happy you're not going to be in afflictions and
things of that nature. But the gospel, the gospel of
Jesus Christ, it speaks of mercy, it speaks of grace, it speaks
of forgiveness, and it speaks of the redemption of sinners. That's bad. Bad zeal, Paul says. They zealously affect you, but
they do it to cause you to follow them, to listen to them. And they do it to turn you away
from himself, that is Paul, and others who preach the gospel.
Now there's a good zeal, that's a bad zeal. There's a good zeal
and we cannot have too much of it. Think about it. There's a good
zeal and we cannot have too much of it. Would to God that we were
all, that our church, our congregation, would to God we were all baptized
with a zeal that most of us have only heard about. I mean that
we became zealous in the things of God, in reaching others, and
teaching others, and witnessing to others, and spreading the
gospel far and wide. Zealous in the things of the
Lord. Would to God that we would be
more zealous. That's a good zeal, isn't it?
Now here's the last thing. Paul declares his love for them
in verses 19 and 20. My little children of whom I
travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. He uses
this analogy of a woman giving birth to show his love and his
deep concern for them. A woman going through the ordeal
of giving birth has one purpose. And that is to bring a living,
healthy child into this world. And Paul's purpose when he first
brought the gospel among these of Galatia, and now that he was
separated from them, was still the same. It hadn't changed.
His one purpose was that Christ be formed in you. Now what does
that mean? be formed in you." Well, that's
what we call salvation. That's just another term for
salvation. Christ be formed in you. You see, salvation is not merely
religion. You know, if salvation was just
religion, everyone we know would be saved. this world would be
a garden of saved individuals because all men by nature are
religious but salvation is more than religion and salvation is
more than morality many people are moral people but they don't
know God they don't know Christ and religion is more than profession
Salvation, rather. It's more than profession, more
than just walking down a church aisle and having your name on
the list of some church membership. Salvation is more than religion,
it's more than morality, and it's more than profession. Salvation
is knowing God and Jesus Christ whom He sent. That's what our
Lord said. to know God and Jesus Christ
whom he has sent. Salvation is Christ in you. The hope of glory is Christ in
you. Eternal life is Christ in you. You say, where does it say that?
Look with me in 1 John, just a moment. 1 John chapter 5. Let
me say those three things again. Salvation is Christ in you. The hope of glory is Christ in
you. Eternal life is Christ in you. 1 John chapter 5 verses 11 and
12. And this is the record that God
has given to us eternal life. And this life is in His Son. He that hath the Son hath life,
hath eternal life, hath salvation, he that hath the Son. And he
that hath not the Son of God hath not life, does not have
salvation, does not have eternal life. Salvation is Christ in
you. Now, Paul concluded this part
of the scripture that we are looking at tonight, stating his
desire to be with them. It was not possible for him to
be there with them, but he desired to be with them and hear them
acknowledge that Christ is all in all in salvation. Notice what
he says, I desire to be present with you now and to change my
voice for I stand in doubt of you. At the present he says I
stand in doubt of you but I desire to be among you and hear you
say Christ is all. Christ is all my salvation and
not to be speaking about your obedience to the law and things
of that nature, but to clearly state Christ is all my salvation,
all my salvation. What's your hope of salvation?
What's your hope of eternal life? You say, well, I try to be a
good person. That's a bad hope. It really
is. Well, I was raised in a Christian
home. That's good, but that's not a
good hope. What is your hope? What is my hope of salvation? Is it what I've done? Is it something
I hope to do? Or is my salvation Jesus Christ
and Him alone? I depend upon Him, trust in Him,
who He is and what He has accomplished. May the Lord bless this word.
Let's sing a verse or two of a hymn before we are dismissed.