Scripture: Galatians 4:12-20
Sermon Series: Galatians – Set Free, Live Free – Sermon 11

When you hear about modern dating, do you feel a bit like those first lines from Star Wars: A long time ago, in a galaxy far away… On July 2^nd Jane and I will celebrate 42 years of marriage. Back then, when you’d asked someone for a date, it was face to face or you’d phone them. Now it’s dating apps, and you better know the lingo.

Recently, I learned about catfishing. That’s someone who creates a fake online persona, using fake photos and details on their dating profile. Breadcrumbing is giving someone just enough attention to keep them interested. Cobwebbing is purging mementos from a previous relationship like emails, texts or photos. (We used to just rip them up and throw them away). Hinge-worthy is someone seen as a quality prospect based on their profile.

Jane and I had an LDR (Long-Distance Relationship.) You live far apart geographically, unable to see each other. Jane was teaching in Schaumburg, Illinois while I was working in Detroit. Lots of letters went back and forth.

In Galatians 4, Paul is wondering if the Galatians are Cookie-Jarring him. That’s when someone treats a romantic interest as a backup, while prioritizing other relationships. So, Paul asks for a DTR – “define the relationship.” It’s a conversation couples have to establish the nature of their relationship. He wants a DTR because he says, I am perplexed about you (Galatians 4:20).

Today we’re working our way through Galatians 4:12-20 (p. 915). Please turn there. “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 testify 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.”

Have you ever had a relational breakdown with someone, and wonder, “What happened?” That’s Paul. At one time he had a healthy relationship with the Galatians, but they’ve been confused by false teachers, who taught grace wasn’t enough. Paul is confused about their relationship and seeks to clarify what’s going on.   

Remember Paul wrote this letter because he’d heard the Galatians were starting to believe false teaching. Paul planted a number of churches in Galatia. People were marvelously converted and believed the gospel of God’s grace. Sometime after Paul left the region false teachers arrived and began teaching that Paul only got the gospel half right. Paul had taught that for a person to be saved he simply needed to believe the gospel. These false teachers said that in order for a person to be saved he needed to believe the gospel plus do good works, specifically you had to obey the Old Testament Law.

For the first three chapters of Galatians Paul has been pointing out the difference between God’s truth and that of false teachers. He’s come on strong. The gospel, their souls are at stake. In Galatians 4:12, his approach changes. He appeals to them with passionate tenderness. His words in Galatians 4:12-20 are the strongest words of love and tenderness that he uses in any letter.

John Stott writes, “In Galatians 1-3 we have been listening to Paul the apostle, Paul the theological, Paul the defender of the faith; but now we are hearing Paul the man, Paul the pastor, Paul the passionate lover of souls.”

Maybe you’re here today and you’re confused about where you’re at with Jesus, what your relationship is. You need a DTR to define the relationship between you and Jesus. What exactly is your commitment level?

This may make you uncomfortable because you like the current arrangement you have with Him. He seems like a good guy and you like having something to do on weekends. What it comes down to is that you want to have a relationship with Jesus with all the benefits but not the commitment. You want a No Strings Attached arrangement. You connect with Him from time to time, but it doesn’t really change your life. But Jesus never gives us that option. It’s all or nothing. It was the case with the Galatians and it’s the case with us.

1. When we help hurting people, it’s like helping Jesus, vss. 12-14. 

Paul looks back to what they had. He begins with A Plea for Imitation. He urges the Galatians to become like him, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are (Galatians 4:12). What’s he mean by that? Paul continually urges Christ-followers to imitate his life as he imitated Christ.

The word in the original gives us our word mimic. Jesus continually urged His disciples to mimic His life. To imitate Christ, we must get to know Him intimately. We do this through a consistent study of His Word, His life and words. That’s what Paul was doing.

Paul focuses on one specific area where he longs for the Galatians to imitate him. He wants them to be free from depending on works for salvation because only trusting Christ’s cross and His payment for our sin can give salvation.

We don’t just need the gospel for salvation. We need the gospel every day, every moment. We’re always struggling with temptation. Yes, we’re forgiven. We’re headed to heaven, but the battle isn’t over.

Paul said, for I also have become as you are. His becoming like the Gentiles was a sensitive issue, especially to other Jews. There’s a very important cultural subtlety underlying Paul’s becoming like the Gentile Galatians. Superiority is suggested when we insist others conform to our culture. Paul did what Jesus did. Jesus became one of us. Paul became one with the Gentiles.

What does it take to set aside your culture? Humility. The reason Christ-followers often have little influence on the lost is that they smell our arrogance. We think we’re better than them because we’re Christ-followers.

That wasn’t Jesus. Our Lord made others feel comfortable. Do the lost feel loved and accepted by you? Are you like Jesus, getting in their world, instead of expecting them to climb up into yours? This is a terrified world. Do you work to make others feel safe?

If an American who speaks French fluently converses in English while in France, he’ll offend the French by subtly suggesting his language is superior.

Paul reminds the Galatians he’d become one of them. Christian friend, ask yourself: Do lost people feel comfortable around me? Paul became part of the culture to reach it. He was culturally flexible.

If we’re going to impact our neighborhood, workplaces, and community with the gospel, we must be incarnational. If we want people to become like us, we must first become like them. We first must get into their world and know who they are. It means opening up our lives. We must get to know them, love them, care for them, and experience deep connections with them.   

Praise for their loving reception. Have you ever noticed when a disabled person is out in public, people will stare? They may dodge them.

Have you seen Michael J. Fox and his struggle with Parkinson’s? Imagine how people would treat him if he wasn’t a celebrity? It’s what Paul was talking about. His appearance was repugnant, yet the Galatians had accepted and welcomed him.

We’re not sure of the precise nature of Paul’s illness. Evidently it was so serious he spent time in Galatia recovering. It may have been malaria, or a disease of the eyes called ophthalmia. Both were prevalent in that region and could have produced the symptoms he described.

Paul must have been a mess to look at. The disease weakened him and disfigured him. Despise means to treat with utter disregard. Scorn literally means to “spit out.” They could have spit him out. Instead, they took him in.

What a lesson for us. Often the best ministry happens in our weakness. When we’re at our lowest, God may use us to touch people with His truth. 

Joni Eareckson Tada is a quadriplegic from a diving accident when she was a teen. She described one of her first dates with Ken Tada, the man who is now her husband. Joni was concerned that Ken wouldn’t be able to lift her out of her wheelchair, so she lost weight to make it easier for him. On the other hand, Ken lifted weights in preparation for their date, getting himself ready for her special needs. That’s the kind of care the Galatians gave Paul. They didn’t reject him. Instead, they opened their hearts to him. They listened attentively to his message. They accepted him just as he was, even though his disease made him repulsive.

To be around somebody who had a detestable sickness in those times—in most of their religious beliefs and Judaism particularly, they thought the disease was because of sin in that person’s life. They dodged them. “Don’t get near that guy. There’s obviously sin in his life. Look how sick he is.” Remember the question in John 9, “who sinned,” when the blind man came around? His mother? His father? Jews thought it was because of personal sin.

To the Galatians, Paul was an angel of God. It’s a wonderful thing when people accept God’s servants not because of their outward appearance but because they represent the Lord. The reason for the Galatians warm welcome was not so much that they loved Paul, they loved God’s Word. So, do we love God’s Word? If we do, we’ll love God’s servants.  

As we show compassion to the hurting, care for the disenfranchised, we’re showing love to Jesus. We must accept people where they’re at, love them unconditionally, even if humanly we’re repulsed.

Dr. Richard Selzer, in Mortal Lessons, talks about his encounter with this kind of love. He writes: “I stand by the bed where a young woman lies, her face postoperative, her mouth twisted in palsy, clownish. A tiny twig of the facial nerve, the one to the muscles of her mouth, has been severed. The surgeon had followed with religious fervor the curve of her flesh; I promise you that. Nevertheless, to remove the tumor in her cheek, I had cut the little nerve. Her young husband is in the room. He stands on the opposite side of the bed, and together they seem to dwell in the evening lamplight, isolated from me, private. Who are they, I ask myself, he and the wry-mouth I have made, who gaze at and touch each other so generously, greedily?

“The young woman speaks. ‘Will my mouth always be like this?’ she asks.

“‘Yes,’ I say, ‘it will. It is because the nerve was cut.’

“She nods and is silent. But the young man smiles. “‘I like it,’ he says. ‘It’s kind of cute.’ “All at once I know who he is,” Dr. Selzer continues. “I understand, and I lower my gaze. One is not bold in an encounter with a god. Unmindful, he bends to kiss her crooked mouth, and I am so close I can see how he twists his own lips to accommodate to hers, to show her that their kiss still works.”

Do you love people like that? Do they feel accepted and safe? It’s how God loves us, unconditionally. It sets people free. It doesn’t try to control or manipulate to conform to our ideals before we show them love.

2. It’s easy to lose that blessed feeling, vss. 15-16. 

“What then has become of your blessedness? For I testify 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?” (Galatians 4:15-16).

What’s going on? They loved Paul. They cared for him because they were so delighted in their relationship. But that’s all past. It’s like that Righteous Brothers song, “You’ve lost that lovin’ feeling.” What happened to their blessedness? What happened to their joy? Joy in the Christian life is a fragile barometer of spiritual health.

Joy is like the canary in a coal mine of the Christian life. Coal miners used to bring canaries into the tunnels where they were carving out a dangerous existence. One major danger was the invisible fumes of carbon monoxide. If the canaries were chirping, everything was fine. But if the bird was woozy or worse, down on the bottom of the cage, you need to get out of there fast. You’re in trouble. How’s your joy in Christ? Is your life characterized by joy? Let me suggest two joy killers.

Legalism. The focus of Galatians is legalism. You must obey the Law of Moses to be saved. Legalism destroys joy in Christ. Those who think that they must obey all the rules to be accepted by God are miserable and miserable to be around. Legalists don’t feel blessed. They’re not joyful.

None of us can keep all the rules all the time. If your joy is dependent on how many of God’s commands you keep, you’ll be miserable. You’ll be thinking about how you could have and should have done better. The best major league batters get hits in only about three in ten tries. God’s law demands you bat 1,000. It only leads to frustration and misery. A joyless religion is like going to a nice restaurant and eating the paper menu instead of enjoying the food.

Sin. Sin always steals your joy. It’s one of the sneakiest joy thieves. It may seem fun at first but always ends badly. Sin has a destructive ripple effect in your life. It destroys your ability to experience the joy God wants to give you.

Please understand joy isn’t giddiness. It’s a calm assurance that whatever happens God will carry us through and work it out for our good and His glory.  

Happiness depends on what happens. Joy is dependent on Jesus who is the same yesterday, today, and forever! Have you lost the joy of your salvation?

William Barclay writes, “The Christian is a person of joy…A gloomy Christian is a contradiction of terms, and nothing in history has done Christianity more harm than its connection with black clothes and long faces.”

There had been a serious rift in this once-close friendship. What had been warm became cool and downright chilly. They changed because Paul’s strong rebuke had hurt their feelings. How do you speak truth into that sort of situation without making things worse? Earlier Paul called them foolish (Galatians 3:1). J.B. Phillips translates that Dear Idiots!

Here though Paul is very tender and personal. If they thought he didn’t care, his true heart would now be revealed. This is the heart of the passage.

Paul says, “You would have given me your eyes if you could have. Am I now your enemy because I tell you the truth?” It’s easy to see why they loved him in the beginning. He brought them the gospel, the message of a loving God who loved them. He pointed them to Christ’s cross, God’s way of forgiveness. He led them to Christ and freedom. Through Paul’s preaching, they found freedom from the prison house of paganism. That brings us back to the main point: What happened to their joy? What caused the change?

When they liked his message, they treated Paul like Jesus, but when he said things they didn’t want to hear, they turned on him. When he rebuked them for leaving the gospel, they were angry. Hospitality turned into hostility.

Christians can be fickle.Every pastor and church leader learns this sooner or later. Sheep bite! Howard Hendricks used to say, If you work as a shepherd, you’re going to get sheep dung on your boots.

There are always some who don’t want to hear what the Bible says. They don’t want their lifestyle to be challenged. They want their ears tickled, to feel good or hear about the latest fad. They want health, wealth and prosperity. If you’re going to talk about sin, talk about things like gay marriage, not gossip or griping. A biblical preacher is going to preach things people don’t want to hear. Truth be told he’ll preach about things he doesn’t want to hear either. 

Jesus was the Great Physician. His truth sometimes requires surgery. If you switch churches because your toes get stepped on. Or if you have a conflict and don’t seek to biblically problem solve a fractured relationship, there’s a high probability you’ll repeat it and keep jumping from church to church.

God’s truth either shatters relationships or brings unity and healing. This is so serious Paul Billheimer concluded, “Disunity in the Body of Christ is the scandal of the ages. The greatest sin of the Church is not lying, stealing, drunkenness, adultery—not even murder—but the sin of disunity.”

We had a family some years back who left with things unresolved. Tragically, they’ve been in at least ten churches since then. It’s a pattern you’ll see when folk don’t handle things biblically. Paul is urging the Galatians not to run from God’s truth but to repent and handle things biblically. Paul shares the truth and they’re angry with him. False teachers share lies and they’re happy with them.

3. Wrong way relationships are destructive. vs. 17. 

They make much of you, but for no good purpose. They want to shut you out, that you may make much of them (Galatians 4:17). Paul preached the gospel to the Galatians. They came to Christ and believed the gospel. But as often happens, after Paul left, false teachers arrived. They fussed and fawned over the Galatians. Eventually, they started to drive a wedge between Paul and the Galatians. It’s a popular strategy with false teachers. They isolate their followers and drive a wedge between teachers of the truth and their students. Cults do that. More Scientology has been accused of it. Teachers though of God’s truth don’t manipulate or pressure. They set people free in their relationships without trying to control them.

Chuck Swindoll put it well in his book, “Grace Awakening.” “We tend to clutch, not release…to put people in our frame and not allow them any breathing holes unless and until they accept the shape of our molds. Grace [on the other hand] means we allow others the freedom to choose, regardless. Grace means I will not force or manipulate or judge or attempt to control you, nor should you do those things to me.”

These false teachers had a lot of zeal for their teaching, but it was the wrong kind of zeal. Just because you’re excited about something that doesn’t make it true. Righteousness is not a state of moral perfection you can earn by obeying God. It’s a gift from God and can only be received by faith.

The Galatians were taken in by the flattery of false teachers to win them to a perverted gospel. They weren’t sincere in their devotion to them. They love-bombed them. Love-bombing is showering someone with affection and attention in the early stages of a relationship, only to withdraw it suddenly once you’ve secured their trust. They’re not self-giving but self-serving.

False teachers never give all sides of an issue. They’re narrow and bigoted to their viewpoint. Those who oppose the doctrine of grace seek to isolate people from exposure to God’s truth. The devil himself opposes the teachings of grace with a passion. God’s grace alone can dent, invade and conquer his kingdom. 

These false teachers distracted the Galatians from God’s truth. They got them focusing on the present, the rules and regulations instead of eternity. If we want to be healthy spiritually, we must look at life in light of eternity. When we do, we won’t sweat the small stuff; and we realize all stuff is small stuff compared to eternity.

So, will your primary passion in life today matter 10,000 years from today? If I asked you, “What is your primary passion?” how would you answer? What is it that makes your heart beat faster, gives you the greatest sense of joy?

You may not be able to answer that question. Let me pose it a different way. What if I went to someone who knows you better than anyone else and asked them to share what your primary passion in life is. What would THEY say? Then ask yourself, “Will that matter 10,000 years from today?”

You weren’t made for just this life. God created you to enjoy eternity with Him. We are slaves to time and space in our lost condition, but God created us for eternity. Ecclesiastes 3:11, God has put eternity in our hearts. God didn’t make you for temporary time; He made you for eternity.

4. Christ’s love for others can be painful, vss. 18-20. 

“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” (Galatians 4:18-20).

Paul uses the image of a woman in labor to explain his love for the Galatians. Formed was used for the development of a baby in the womb.Paul’s concern was to see Christ fully formed in them. It’s why he cared so deeply and spoke so strongly. Paul is a spiritual parent in great pain.

It must be the goal of all ministry that pleases the Lord: To help others become like Christ. Our supreme desire should be for Christ to be formed in us and in those who follow us. Paul was in pain for the Galatians to be more like Jesus. It consumed him.

What consumes you? May we have the heart of a C.T. Studd. He poured out his life for Christ as a missionary in the Congo. He said: Only one life, ’twill soon be past. Only what’s done for Christ will last.

Jesus didn’t die just to take us to heaven. He wants to bring His Kingdom, heaven, into our lives now, in this life. Christ’s goal for us is that we’re transformed into His life, or as Paul put it, Christ is formed in you.

Conclusion

When God’s truth and love combine in us, the result is a powerful transformation for Christ. It’s why Paul wrote as he did. Though he’s strongly rebuked the Galatians, he tenderly embraces them with his words. They may not agree with what he says, but they can never deny his love for them.

As we come to the end of our study, let me challenge each one of us to carefully consider four questions:

1. Have I personally believed the gospel? Have I realized that God is holy and I’m not. Have I confessed I’m a sinner and broken God’s law, and that I can never fix it? Have I acknowledged that God sent Jesus, His Son to earth, that He lived a perfect life. Then Jesus went to the cross and paid the penalty for all my sin. Have I believed all that God has done for me in Christ? Have I committed my life to Christ as my Savior? It’s only as you believe the gospel of grace that you will experience true freedom and great joy.
2. Is there a broken relationship in my life that I need to deal with?All of us have relationships that aren’t right. Most of us have some relationships that are broken. It’s part of life in a fallen world. We can’t fix every relationship or make everything right. Perhaps though the Holy Spirit is tugging on your heart and reminding you about a particular relationship. Is there someone you need to contact? A friend or a loved one you need to reach out to? Will you respond to the call of God’s Spirit and do what you can to make reconciliation?
3. Am I willing to hear the truth even when I don’t like it?Maybe a friend or a parent or your spouse or a co-worker has been trying to talk to you. You’ve tuned them out because you know what they’re going to say. You don’t want to hear it. Will you put down your defenses and let God speak to you through someone who loves you enough to tell you the truth?
4. Do I need to tell the truth to someone who doesn’t want to hear it?Maybe you’re in Paul’s position right now, faced with the task of speaking hard truth to someone who doesn’t want to hear it. It’s easy to give up, get angry, or make excuses. Are you ready to say what needs to be said and say it with as much love as you can possibly muster? Do it. Don’t delay. Speak the truth in love. And let God take care of what happens after that.

As Christ-followers, we need the wisdom of God and the love of Christ in order to help those around us. May our hearts be cleansed from impure motives. May our anger be replaced with genuine compassion for others. And may we become more like Jesus every day.

O Lord, grant that we may be like Jesus so that those who follow us might become like Him. Amen.