Amen, all right, well, at this time, if you have your Bibles, would you turn with me once again to the book of Galatians? The book of Galatians, and we are in chapter number four this morning. Galatians chapter number four, and when you found that, if you're able, go ahead and stand as we read God's word this morning. Galatians, and chapter number four, we're gonna be looking specifically at verses 12 through 20. verses 12-20 of chapter 4, beginning to read in verse 12, the Word of God says, Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first. And though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus. What then has become of your blessedness? For I testified to you that if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me. Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out that you may make much of them. It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose, and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. This is the word of God. Let's pray. Father, we thank you this morning once again for your word, and we pray that you would bless it to the hearing of our hearts and our minds. Help us, Lord, as we seek to study it, to rightly divide it, and rightly apply it to our lives. As your servant, cleanse me of sin, empty me of self, and fill me, Lord, with your spirit. Help me to be a blessing to these, your people, and God will give you all the praise, the honor, and the glory. In Jesus' name, amen and amen. Thank you for standing. You may be seated. Title of the message this morning is Until Christ Be Formed in You. Until Christ Be Formed in You. Paul has been undeniably firm and unflinching in his argument concerning the nature of the gospel. In Galatians 1-4, verse 11, we could categorize this portion of the book as Paul the theologian, the warrior for truth. But we see a transition take place here in verse 12 of chapter 4, and we're entering into this last section of the book of Galatians through the remainder of the book itself, chapter 6 and verse 18, and we could categorize this as the Apostle Paul, the pastor and loving brother in Christ. And I think that, again, this is another perfect example of how we receive in proportion to the inspiration of the Spirit of God in the manner in which we need to hear these things. So again by design God has given us the the truth and the doctrines of the first four chapters and the first verse 11 verses of chapter 4 but now we come into a practical section in a in a section where we really truly see where Paul Paul is is somewhat changing his approach and and and we could just simply say it this way verses 12 through 20 are really not theological at all. There's there's implications of of the theological in verses 12 through 20, but they're just simply the heart of a man. This is the Apostle Paul, the man, the elder, the pastor. And his character, first of all, we see towards the Galatians. So we see the character of the Apostle's reproof in verse 12. Notice how he begins this section and he says, brothers, I entreat you, So back one verse, we've seen that Paul seems to be questioning whether or not he has labored in vain over these Galatians. In other words, he wasn't really sure if they were Christians or not, and then in verse 12, he turns around and calls them Adelphos brothers, suggesting that he believes that they are, in fact, in the fellowship, but they are in fact, true, genuine believers in Christ. And so, you know, you feel that tension between the two, because what Paul was getting across to them is what you're believing and how you're behaving. Do not, do not demonstrate that you're actually in the faith, but at the same time, I know what you received. I was there and I preached the gospel to you. And so I want to believe that you are in fact, genuine believers in the faith. And so He approaches them as brothers, Adelphos, and he says, I entreat you, or the King James says, I beseech you. In other words, he's coming to them and he's asking for them to hear him out, right? If I were to sort of summarize brothers, I beseech you, or brothers, I entreat you, I would just simply put it like this. Brothers, I need you to understand the significance of this, the importance of what we're talking about. Hear me out. Hear my heart in these things. So Paul is approaching them, and he's approaching them in a fellowship way, in a family relationship way, in the family of God. And notice what he says next. He says, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. So Paul is entreating them to be imitators of himself. Now, when you ask somebody to imitate you, right, you better be sure that what you're asking them to imitate is good, right? And so when Paul says, become as I, because I have become as you, Paul, what are you saying? Paul, what is it that you're asking the Galatians to imitate in you that they would become as you are? Well, when Paul speaks in first person back in chapter number two, I think that this is probably what he's pointing to specifically. So just flip back a page to chapter two and look at verse 19 through 21. Paul says this, for through the law, I died to the law so that I might live to God. And then here's one of our most quoted verses, right? He says, for I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me and the life I now live in the flesh. I live by faith in the son of God who loved me and gave himself for me. I do not nullify the grace of God for if righteousness were through the law, then Christ died for no purpose. So brothers, I, I entreat you. I beseech you become as I am. How is he? He's, he's living in the grace of God. He's living in the grace of the gospel. He's liver living in the Liberty that has been given to him from the freedom of the law. No longer is he, is he bound up in this, this bondage to the mosaic law that, that nobody could ever keep. but rather He's been given the gift of God, eternal life, through simply believing and trusting in Jesus Christ Himself. And so when He says, become as I am, what are they doing? They're going back into that system, that system that does not save, that they have to be circumcised, that they have to daily give these sacrifices, and on and on and on, and withhold table fellowship from other Gentiles. So Paul is saying, become as I am. I've become as you. Well, how were they well because they were Gentiles they were never subject to circumcision or the Mosaic law But that's what they were going to he and and so Paul's argument is don't go to what I was I've become like you now you become like me right live in the grace of God live in the liberty that is given to you through faith in Jesus Christ Paul was dead to the law and he was living by faith in Christ, fully embracing the gospel of grace. For I as you, that is, he is as you are. He was freed from the yoke of the law to live in the liberty of Christ. Paul was very expressive of this kind of mentality, that he would do whatever it took to not only reach somebody, but that he would actually gain a listening, a standing with them. This is what he told the Corinthians in chapter 9 of 1 Corinthians. He says, to the Jews I became as a Jew in order to win the Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law, though not being myself under the law, that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law, this would fit to the Galatians, to those outside the law, I became as one outside the law, not being outside the law of God, but under the law of Christ. Why? That I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some. I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessings. Paul exercised his liberties in the grace of Christ to share in full fellowship with the Galatians. And so that was table to table, that was home to home or house to house as one body redeemed by one Christ. In other words, the emphasis that Paul places here is that They're separating now themselves from their Gentile roots is actually creating a division in the body of Christ, right? And we already looked at that, how Paul called out the apostle Peter, because when the Judaizers showed up, Peter separated himself from the Gentiles and changed what he was eating, right? And so Paul is now going to great lengths to say, listen, you guys are, you're setting yourselves up for failure because what it is, is you're going into legalism rather than grace, right? And anytime you go from grace to legalism, uh, I can just put it this way. It's going to die. It's going to die. The death that legalism brings, right? You, The system of the Mosaic law and circumcision never saved anybody, right? The law never saved anybody, nor was it designed to save anybody. Rather, the righteousness that we need comes through faith in Jesus Christ. And so he's encouraging them to become as he is, freed in Christ, free to live under Christ. And so notice, though, the end of chapter or verse 12, he says, you did me no wrong. Now, I think it would be better if that verse or that sentence rather would be attached to verse 13, because Paul's his entreatment, his character of his reproof, his heart here, is being expressed. And then he's going to go into now what I've titled the change in the Galatians attitude. So in other words, Paul, he's pleading with them, right? He's begging of them to hear him out and to become liberated in the grace of Christ. And then he says, but I want you to remember something. The way that you're treating me right now isn't the way that you always treated me, right? He says you did me no wrong. In other words, I really mean, I believe that Paul means by that he's not taken this personal. Do you realize that there are times when you have to tell somebody the truth, right? And it becomes personal as though it was against you personally, right? And so Paul is, Relieving them maybe or just identifying it in general that that he he says you you did me no wrong, right? Well when you when you leave grace and reverse back to law Who do you actually do wrong? You don't do the messenger wrong. You do Christ wrong. Right? So Paul says, you didn't, you're, you didn't mean no wrong. You're not, you're not affecting me or, or rather I'm not offended by what you're doing, but, but rather it's, it's offensive to God. It's offensive to the gospel itself. Notice what he says there in verse 13, you know, it was because of a body bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first. And though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus." He even says there in verse number 15 that he says, even if possible, they would have gouged out their eyes and given them to Paul. the change in their attitude was it went from kind, compassionate, caring, loving towards the Apostle Paul, right? He shows up there, likely following what happens in Acts 14 at Lystra, where the Apostle Paul is nearly stoned to death. So if that is the timeline, that Paul was just stoned at Lystra, and now he's with these believers, this church in Galatia, right? He was likely so torn up physically that maybe even infections had set into his body, right? I mean, I've never been stoned nearly to death, but I can only imagine how a person would look like that, right? And so Paul was identifying that he was coming to them not in health and not in strength, but rather in personal affliction, bodily ailment, and it says that the Galatians received him as though he was an angel. right as though he was a divine messenger of God an angel from God is the way that they received the Apostle Paul that they they probably welcomed him they probably fed him they probably uh ministered to his body all these things and then he goes a step further not just like an angel he didn't just receive me like an angel he says you actually received me as though i was the savior himself that as Jesus Christ would the way that you would care for Christ that's the way that you cared for me, right? And so, again, even giving to the point that he says they would have given their eyes for Paul. But what changed? What's their attitude like now? Their kind and compassionate hearts had now become cold, hostile, indifferent towards the Apostle Paul. And the only thing that has changed is what they're believing. But notice what they're believing and how they're behaving go hand in hand. Their legalism, their going into this Judaism and falling under circumcision and obedience to the Mosaic law has caused them to now treat the apostle Paul, we can only deduce, he says, when he says, you did not scorn or despise me, that now they're likely scorning and despising the Apostle Paul, right? The one whom they once welcomed, the one whom they once loved and cared for, now they have put off, now they have shunned, now they have even stopped speaking in a blessed or joyful way. Notice what he says there. He says, what then has become of your blessedness? I like the way the King James translates this verse. It says, where is then the blessedness ye spake of? In other words, Paul says, when you received me, when I came to you and preached the gospel to you in the first place, you could not get the blessings and the joy of the Lord off of your heart. It was always in what you were saying. You were, you were always telling me how blessed you were, right? By what had changed in your life, by hearing the gospel of grace, you were blessing and notice, notice what legalism does takes all the joy out of being a Christian. Where's the blessedness you once spake of? Where is the joy that you once had now that you're going into the bondage of the law once again? It's gone. You've been robbed of it. And as a matter of fact, you've not only been robbed of that, but now you don't even like me. Now you won't even receive me because why? Notice where he goes with this. He says, have I then become your enemy? because I've told you the truth? Wow. So your praising voice has become puckered lips, right? Your open hands have become clenched fists. Sacrificial giving was replaced by hatred and hostility and enmity because the Galatians were so inoculated with the false teaching Judaizers that they became aggressively against Paul. And Paul rhetorically asked them this, am I your enemy now? Because I have told you the truth. That's a hard pill to swallow, is it not? Did you ever have to tell somebody the truth and they didn't like what you said? Didn't receive it well, right? But you know, this is one of those things in life that you're going to experience if you're going to be faithful to scripture. It's that simple. Being faithful to Scripture, and especially to the clarity of the Gospel, you better be prepared to experience what I would say is hot tongues and cold shoulders. Paul says, have I become your enemy? Are you mad at me because I told you the truth? That's the question he poses to them. But as we apply that to ourselves, right, we sometimes think that, well, we should be exempt from that. You know, the supreme example we have of somebody who told the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, and being ill-treated, was the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ Himself. Amen? Can we think of a greater example of somebody who came proclaiming truth and was despised and rejected? John 1 says, he came unto his own and his own received Him not, right? And so this is the pattern that Christ endured. Those who once feasted, let's think about this. Those who once feasted on the bread and the fish, right, as Jesus created food and fed them till their bellies were full, many of those same people would be shaking their fists and shouting profanities and crying out for His crucifixion because they would not associate themselves with His body, and His blood. It was not because He withheld anything good from them, but rather because He would not withhold the truth from them. And we too can expect to lose popularity with man for the holding fast to the Word of God. And the question is simply this, have we become someone's enemy because we tell them the truth? Listen, there's a lot of us. There's a lot of us. that have family contexts, where you're speaking the truth to them, causes hostility, right? If you're going to be faithful, again, to what the Word of God says, and you tell somebody in a manner that is right, right? It's in love, truth and love. Don't expect to always be received. Like you're a messenger from God, an angel of God, or Jesus Christ himself, right? And here's the other thing. You might be received that way one day, and then the next not so much, right? That was Paul's experience. One day they did, and then the next day they didn't. And what had changed? Well, their believing had changed, and their believing was affected in their behavior. So there was a stark contrast. in the way that the Galatians approach the Apostle Paul, but notice what Paul gets at next. the heart or the goal of the teachers themselves. Paul then moves the matter in verses 17 to 20. He moves the matter at hand into the motivations of the heart versus 17 through 20. Paul points out that the false teachers were driven by one thing. All the apostle Paul was driven by a completely other notice what the motivation was for the false teachers. Verse 17, it says, they, and when he says they, he's referring to the Judaizers. They make much of you, but for no good purpose. In other words, again, here I want to go with King James on the translation here, the word make much of, is the word in the Greek, zileo, and it means, the most literal translation would be zealous, right? So if you have a King James, there's a new King James, probably as well, zealous. And it's a good description of that word. Zealous, meaning passionate. You're full of zeal. You're full of fire. This is something that excites you, right? And so he says, they make much of you. In other words, they're zealous about you. They have a passion for you, but for no good purpose. Now, again, Paul says they have an agenda, right? The false teachers have an agenda, and he makes it clear that their agenda is not good, right? Can we all agree on that? They make much of you, but for no good purpose, right? Paul says they're zeal for your lives, is actually not good. In other words, they don't have good motivations. Can I just say this? In the year 2024, this is not how most people talk in the church. This is what we tend to hear. Well, I know what they're saying isn't true, but I think they have good intentions. Man, can I buy an amen today? Do you hear me? This is what people say today. And we see it all the time. We hear it all the time. Well, what they're teaching over there is not right. And it's not right. Not because we say it's wrong, but because scripture says it's wrong. Amen. And people will say things like, I think they have a good heart though. Right? Yeah. You're, you know what I'm talking about? And guess what? Paul didn't say that. Paul says they have a zeal, but as a matter of fact, it's not for good. And he doesn't even believe that they have a good heart in the matter. Right? How do we know that? Verse 17. They want to shut you out, right? that you make much of them. So he identifies what it is actually that's motivating the false teachers, which is not good for you. It's not for your good. He says, what they wanna do is they wanna puff you up, and then as soon as they get you where they want you, they're actually gonna shut you out, right? And you're just gonna be there for their purpose, right? And you know, when I think about this, To me, it's such an obvious thing that we see today in the celebrity culture of the church, right? And the prosperity teachers and all of these mega churches that have these figureheads that lead their congregations, right? I'm not a betting man, but I would dare say if you were to go to old Smiling Joe Olsteen's church today, you aren't getting anywhere near him. Amen. You're not meeting with the pastor after church. Okay. And guess what? He's going to tell you all kinds of wonderful things about yourself. So you keep coming back. And so you keep putting money in that pot, but it's also, he can buy his private jets and have his, you know, hundreds of million dollar mansions, whatever his interests are not for you. They're not for the people that come to his church. they serve Himself. Well, the Judaizers themselves, they likely weren't getting rich off of what they were teaching, but can I say popularity is also something that people thrive on, right? The more people that we have following us, the stronger we are, right? We have a reputation. And so he says, they're going to make much of you, right? Oh, good job! Yay! You got circumcised! Chop that one up, keep a tally, only to shut you out. Because in their eyes, the Judaizers' eyes, those Galatians were always going to be second-rate Christians. Always. Because they weren't born of Jewish ethnicity. They weren't circumcised on the eighth day. Maybe they got circumcised on the 28th year. So they were always and forever going to be a lesser than. And false teachers, among false teachers, usually there is this spiritual elitism, this us and them mentality, right? In the Apostle Paul, we don't see that in him. What do we see? We see a zeal in the Apostle Paul for conformity to Christ. In other words, Paul's goal for the Galatians was not that they would just simply be a follower of him, but that they would be a follower of Christ and that they would be growing in their Christ-likeness. And this is abundantly clear to us. Notice what he says in verse 18. He says, it's always good to be made much of for a good purpose. In other words, if somebody encourages you, somebody has a passion and a zeal for your life, And it's for the good of your soul and for the glory of God. He says, that's actually a good thing. And as a matter of fact, if you're concerned that maybe Paul is worried that somebody else is going to follow him or somebody else rather than him, he also addresses that. And he says, and not only when I am present with you. In other words, the apostle Paul said, I'm not offended if you're encouraged and made much of by some other preacher, some other teacher, somebody else who's going to pastor and shepherd your heart. I'm not offended by that, nor am I threatened by that. As a matter of fact, that's actually a good thing. It's a good thing. Hey, I'm encouraged when I hear you tell me you listen to a great sermon by another preacher. It doesn't take much to get better than mine. Praise God. But I'm encouraged if it's if it has strengthened you, it encourages me. And so Paul says, I am I'm not against being made much of if it's for your good. And I don't even have to be involved in it. Hey, newsflash. If God takes me home today, somebody else will come here. And you guys. You guys have to you guys have to be careful that you find somebody who loves you and is going to lead you in the truth. So if I die, Nobody else knows who I'm pointing to, but anyway. I don't plan on dying, just for the record. My wife is giving me that furrowed brow right now. So let's go on. Paul's zeal was for the conformity to Christ. He wanted them to grow. in the grace of God. He wanted them to be influenced by sound doctrine, good Bible teaching, right? And he didn't have to be involved in it. Verse 19, he says, my little children, again, hear the pastoral heart of the apostle Paul, my little children for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. The false teachers had a zeal and their zeal ultimately rested in themselves. Paul's zeal, Paul had a zeal, and it was for the glory of God and the glory of Christ, right? And he says here, I'm in anguish of childbirth. Now, I have four children, but I've never given birth to any. But I've watched the pain that it takes to bring a child into the world. So if you're a lady, you might get a little offended by what Paul says here because you think, Paul, you don't know anything about having a baby, right? Well, here's the thing. Even though Paul didn't know the pain of having a baby, there's two things that we can say about this. One, that the Greek word that's translated anguish of childbirth could actually just simply be translated travail or pain, right? It was a painful experience. But it's most commonly in our Bible, it's interpreted in the context of giving birth to a child. So again, I don't know what it feels like to give birth to a child. Many of you ladies do. And we actually read, Brother Jim read this morning in Genesis chapter 3, You know who to thank for that, right? It was Eve's fault The reason that it's so painful to have a baby is because of what Eve did in the garden. That's clear, right? But Paul didn't have to have a baby nor did I to understand that it it hurts because even though I didn't give birth I was standing right there four times and she was not okay But but notice how Paul is the metaphor he's using Paul the man is hurting for the sake of the Galatians. He is literally as a spiritual father to them. He is so concerned and attached to their well-being that he is literally in pain. over their condition. And notice what he ends with. I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone for I am perplexed about you. These things are so confusing to me. How can you go from grace back to law? And he's in pain over it. Why? Because his desire is his desire is that he would see Christ formed in them, in you. He wanted to see them grow in grace. And listen, what they were doing was not growing, they were going backwards. That was Paul's heart always, and I think we see it really clearly in Colossians. If you want to turn to Colossians 1.24-29, This is Paul's ministry to the church in general. In his letter to the church in Colossae, he says, Now I rejoice in my sufferings for your sake. Pause. Paul rejoiced that he was suffering for the sake of the church. And in my flesh I am filling up what is lacking in Christ's afflictions for the sake of His body, that is, the church. Paul's number one priority was for the good of the people of God. Everything he said, everything he did was for the sake of Christ's body. He says, verse 25, of which I became a minister according to the stewardship from God that was given to me for you to make the word of God fully known. So Paul had a full counsel of the Word of God ministry, and it was given to him by God Himself. Verse 26, the mystery hidden for ages and generations, but now revealed to His saints. To them, to the saints, to the church, to them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery. Which is, here's the mystery, Christ in you, the hope of glory. Christ being formed in you, right, is what He is expressing to the people of Galatia. It's the same idea. Verse 28, Him, Christ, we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, To what end? That we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me. A faithful minister of the gospel has one goal for the church. And that is that we would grow in our Christ-likeness. That everything that we do, everything that we say, everything that we confess, everything that we pray, everything that we learn would be growing us in Christ-likeness. Paul is talking here about sanctification. Listen, we have spent an awful lot of time preaching on the doctrine of justification by faith. And I hope, I hope when we finish the book of Galatians, you'll never think about it the same ever again. You'll always think I'm saved by grace through faith, not of works, right? That's the point to drive home. But listen, that's not where we stop. Now we grow in our Christ likeness. That's what Paul's desire was. Not that they just understand that they were saved by grace, but that they would understand that those whom God had foreknew, He predestined to be conformed into the image of Christ. And so everything that Paul does is for the sake and the good, the glory of God, but ultimately that is seen in the edification of the church. Why do we take 45 minutes to preach through a small text of Scripture? so that you can grow, so that you can learn, so that you can be more and more like Jesus Christ. That's the goal of the apostle and praise God. I hope and pray that that's always the goal of us. And if it ever stops to be in my goal, I need to sit down and shut up. Amen. Amen. May God grant it. God grant it. We don't just know these things, but that they would serve to grow us in our conformity to Christ. Let's pray. Father, thank you once again for your word. Lord, what an amazing, amazing thing this is that we see the heart of the apostle Paul. We see, Lord, that he is very zealous and passionate for truth and doctrine, and we must be. But he also had a heart for the people. God, we pray that you would help us to be courageous and bold in truth, but I pray also, Lord, that you would help us, help us, Lord, to be sensitive to the wounds that come in the service of the King, that, Lord, there's times when maybe we could even call it we receive friendly fire. Lord, help us, help us always to to give the truth in love, even when we know that the repercussions may not be so loving, or that the repercussions may cause us pain. Paul says he was in anguish. He was in pain for the sake of these Galatian believers. Lord, I pray that we would just have a burden for souls like Paul did. And I pray to your God that you would help us. Help us, Lord, to keep our eyes fixed upon our Savior, and keep our eyes fixed upon the grace that has saved us, and the grace that is now at work in us, transforming us, moment by moment, grace by grace, into the image of your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. And Lord, may that work be perfected in each and every one of our hearts. We love you, we thank you, we praise you, and we pray this in Jesus' name, amen and amen.