I think y'all would all agree David's got the best taste in shirts around. It's been a couple of weeks since we have recited our summary of the gospel, so say it with me. This morning, God himself has come to rescue and renew all creation through the work of Jesus. That's why we're here this morning. And as a believer, you're here to worship our savior because God has, through his son Jesus, rescued us and continues to renew us. He is the author and finisher of our faith. He's gonna complete the work that he has started. So if you're a believer, this is your testimony here. The definition of the gospel is very simple. This is an accurate summary of something we recite week after week, and it's a good reminder because what we don't want to happen is this. We don't want to forget the very basic reason that we're here. Jesus saved us, and we're to rejoice in his salvation of us, so we gather together to worship him this morning, and our salvation is completely found in him. It's not in our abilities. It's not in how good we think we are. It's not even in our own desire to be saved. because that's not a work that we did. It's all found in Jesus. So we're here this morning, coming under the hearing of the word, as we take communion, as we fellowship and sing, let's not forget that Jesus is still working in us. He's still doing a work. He rescued us. That's our salvation. And he still continues to renew us. That's our sanctification. The spirit of God is at work in us. And so I hope you believe all these truths this morning, because it changes your life forever. just to think that the God of this universe sent his only son to rescue and renew Boyd Ellinger is very humbling. It not only humbles you, it shows how generous God is, that he would pursue me. And that, in turn, gives me great joy. I'm so thankful God didn't say, well, I'm gonna wait for Boyd Ellinger to get his act together. Then I'll rescue him. He came for me when I was his enemy, and that's the testimony of every single believer, that God came after you when you were his enemy. So how can we not this morning be filled with great hope and with great joy, because God himself has come to rescue and renew me through the work of Jesus. He's so good. We're in Galatians 4 this morning as we continue our study, so as always, just follow along in your Bible or on your phone, and the verses will always be up behind me as well, It's been a few weeks since we've been in Galatians 4, so I want to give a little reminder of where we are in our study of this letter that Paul wrote, and Paul has expressed some real concern for the believers there in Galatia. He reminded them earlier in chapter 4 that they went from being slaves to being sons, from being under the law to being in Christ. And then after Paul reiterated these truths about their position in Christ, he has this great concern now because of what he has heard regarding these believers. He's worried that they are starting to turn away from the truth and turn away from the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. They're starting to go back to how they lived before salvation, which was under the law. And Paul is seeing a works-based approach to Christianity, and he reminds them, that's not Christianity. In fact, in verse 9 of chapter 4, he tells them, but now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you go back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more. You observe days and months and seasons and years. I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain." So rightfully so, Paul's greatly concerned here, to the point that he expresses that all the things that he has invested in the Galatians here may have just been a waste in time, considering that they're starting to go back to things that they were doing before they were saved. They're starting to subject themselves to legalism and enslave themselves to certain laws. They weren't walking in the freedom that God had given them in Christ Jesus. Instead, they were more concerned about contributing to their works of their salvation as if they could do that. Which is impossible because Jesus has already done all that needs to be done to be saved. And this leads us to our verse today in verse 12, and we're going to go through 12, 13, and 14 today, and I'll tell you this. When I prepare for a message, as I read the chapter, I sort of get an understanding of I'll cover probably these verses in one sermon, and then these verses in another sermon, and I kinda just, this is probably how it's gonna flow, and I ask the Lord to just show me how far to go, what do we need to cover, and I'll be honest, sometimes you get to some passages, and I'm just like, wow, I can't wait to preach this. But that wasn't with these verses. This was one of those things I was like, wow, This is going to feel more informational than inspirational. I just felt that way as I was reading through this. And I was praying that it wouldn't. Because these aren't verses that are going to be your life verses here. These aren't verses you're going to walk in somebody's home and go, oh wow, Galatians 4, 12 through 14. You're not going to find that. It's just not one of those passages. But there is great truth here. And as I work through this, I became greatly encouraged at what the Lord taught me through his word here. And in all intention, in fact, it's still saved this way in my computer. I had all intentions of going from verse 12 to verse 20, but we're only getting through verse 14 today. And so I'm excited about what I have learned. I pray that you learn it as well as we go verses 12 through 14. 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. Now what we have here in our text is one of Paul's most personal writings. You can really hear his heart coming through as you're reading this. He goes from pretty much teaching them in this letter to pleading with them. You can practically hear it in his writing. And what we see here in these verses is Paul's heart is aching for these Galatian believers to live in the freedom that they're missing out on And he's burdened for them. He says, you're starting to turn away to another gospel. There is no other gospel. You cannot add to your salvation. You cannot work for it. Keeping certain laws doesn't make you more loved by Jesus. You just gotta walk in the freedom that we have in Christ Jesus. And he's starting to see them turn away and he's so concerned for them, he goes from teaching to practically pleading with them. Paul has learned that they're starting to go astray. They're unknowingly turning away from the gospel. And it greatly disturbs Paul, not only for their souls, but all the time that he has invested in them. I mean, he's invested physically, spiritually, emotionally, mentally into these believers. And now he hears about them believing that certain laws must be kept in order to be saved. If you're truly saved, you'll be circumcised. You'll only eat these foods. Paul's like, that is not salvation. That is not what this is about. Jesus has done everything. He's finished everything. So what we hear is Paul's pastoral heart coming out in these verses. And in verse 12, we see that Paul pleads for the Galatians to follow Christ like he is following Christ. In verse 12, he says, Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. Now, Paul is not saying, I want you to understand this, because when you read this verse, brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. When you read that part where Paul says, become as I am, Paul's not saying, I just want to make a bunch of little Pauls here at Galatia and run around. That's what I want. I just want to see a bunch of clones. That's not what Paul is saying here. He's saying that he, what he's saying is that he fully trusts in the saving faith of Jesus, and that's what he wants for them. to fully trust in Christ like he has." Trust in Christ like I have trusted in Christ. He's not saying, you know, be like me and like what I like and act like I do. He's not saying that. He's saying, I want you to trust Christ completely like I have trusted Christ completely. Paul left Judaism to follow Jesus. These Gentiles left their paganism and their whatever else they left to follow Christ. But now, some of them are starting to take on some Jewish beliefs that are not consistent with the gospel, because these Judaizers had come in, we remember that from chapter 1, they'd come in and started to say, hey, you need to be circumcised, and there's dietary laws and things, so they started to bring this stuff with them, and Paul's like, no, don't go to that. I left that to follow Jesus, and now you're starting to go to that? And so they were beginning to believe that if they really, really, really were saved, that they would be circumcised. Paul says, I left that belief system, now you leave that belief system and become like me, fully trusting in the finished work of Jesus. Now, in reading this, if you don't understand the context, it may sound like, well, Paul's being a little arrogant to say, hey, I want you to be like me. I want you to be like I am. But arrogance is not what Paul's betraying here. In fact, Paul says, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. So what does Paul mean here when he says that I also have become as you are? What is he saying here? You see, in reaching out to the world, in reaching the lost, every believer's goal in reaching the lost should be for them to come to Jesus. I think you would agree with that. You want your lost family members, you want your lost co-workers, your lost neighbors to become like you, meaning a follower of Jesus. That is what we want. That is the goal here in witnessing, is we want people to become like we are. Not in our personalities and our likes and dislikes, but we want people to become like we are in following Christ. We want people to be followers of Jesus, just like we are followers of Jesus. And that is what Paul is saying here. I want you to rest in the finished work of Christ, like I rest in the finished work of Christ. But to do that, and this is so key to what I want us to learn today, is that, and I gotta explain this, because I don't want you to run crazy with this thought, but Paul's saying is that we become as you are, okay? Paul says, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. What does he mean by that? Well, as Christians, we have a great opportunity to have others become like us, which are followers of Jesus. And we can do that by first becoming like them and showing compassion for them. caring for others, putting ourselves in their shoes, so to speak, creates a great opportunity for them to be attracted to the Jesus that they see in us. And Paul's saying that here. I want you to understand. I don't want you to miss this because this is so key, especially in our witness and in our testimony, in ministering to others. You see, our goal in our Christian witness is to point others to Jesus. And we do that best when our lives are lived in such a way that all they see in us is the Jesus that we proclaim, the Jesus that we talk about, the Jesus that we say finished the work and saved us. We should not be satisfied until we see Jesus being lived out in others. Until we see other people following Him. That's the goal. To see others follow Jesus like we're following Jesus. And Paul's saying that here. He said it also earlier in 1 Corinthians. He said it before. This isn't the only time he says it. He says, For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews, I became as a Jew in order to win 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. And then he says, 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, that I might win those outside the law. To the weak, I became weak, that I might win the weak. I had 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 and its blessings." See, what Paul's teaching here in 1 Corinthians and what he's saying to the Galatians in chapter 4, it's so vital to our witness to others. We cannot be arrogant. or unapproachable, or argumentative, and think that we can just win people to Jesus while we're distancing ourselves from them. I want you to understand what I'm saying here, and reading back over my sermon this morning, I was like, I wish I'd have put this part on the PowerPoint. But here's the thing, we can't be unapproachable and argumentative, and we can't be arrogant as we're trying to reach people, and yet we're trying to distance ourselves from them. We can't live that way. Instead, we're to be winsome in our approach. Jesus, the life that we live in Christ should be attractive in the sense that people are like, wow, this is a different way to live here. How many times have we read in Scripture, Paul encounters somebody and goes, you've almost persuaded me. There's something different about the way you live. Paul says that when we win others, when we identify, when we have compassion towards them, when we try to have an understanding of where they are, and you can do that without ever embracing their sin. I want to be clear with that. You can be winsome and identify with people and have compassion towards them and care for them without ever embracing the sin that they are in. Paul said in verse 21, 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, that I might win those outside the law. Paul's saying that it's possible and compassionate to identify with those who are outside the law of God. But he clarifies that I'm not talking about me becoming a moral lawbreaker myself. But you can still identify with people and show compassion and care for them. I mean, for instance, circumcision was a law. It wasn't a moral thing, but Paul says you can have compassion and fellowship with non-circumcised Gentiles and win them to Christ. And Paul's not compromising on sin here and moral laws like, you know, if they lie, then you should lie, or if they commit adultery, you should commit adultery to kind of identify with them. He's not saying to violate God's law. But when it comes to circumcision or even some of the dietary laws that they were debating about, you're not in sin if you do those things. I want you to understand the teaching here. And even within the church, we have to be careful because we can't even as Christians write off other brothers and sisters that don't exactly practice the faith like we practice. Some of the most Jesus-loving people I know practice their faith differently than I do. I'm not talking about embracing sin, and Paul wasn't talking about embracing sin. I'm talking about preferences and personal convictions and other areas that we could debate all day long. But Paul here is speaking about being winsome. And here's what I mean by being winsome. Paul is saying, I want to win more souls for Christ, and if it means me becoming like them, adapting to identify with them better in ways that do not violate God's law, then I can do that. Why? Because I ultimately want them to become like me, a follower of Jesus. Are you understanding what Paul's saying here? I don't want you to think Paul's going soft on sin, he's not doing that. But he's also not letting legalism keep him from being winsome in the gospel. We should desire for other people to come to know Christ as we have come to know Christ. And we can do that without ever compromising the truth or our integrity. But here's the catch. Here's the question we have to ask ourselves. Are we living out a winsome faith? Are we living in such a way that the Christian life is attractive to others? Do they see Jesus in us? I'm not talking about thinking or trying to show that the Christian life is problem-free or that it's financially prosperous or that everyone's always healthy and everything's going your way kind of thing. I'm not talking about that. But instead, a life that's rooted in joy regardless of the circumstances. One that is reliant on Christ on the good days and the bad days. Is your Christian life winsome? Is it attractive to the lost? Is there victory? Is there joy? Is there compassion? Is there a listening ear that they find with you? Is there a servant's heart? Do they see a peace that passes all understanding? Is there godliness in your life? Are you approachable by sinners? Can they approach you? Or do they feel so rejected by you because you're different than they are? Is there a delightfulness about you? Is there kindness? Is there a genuineness in your life that is winsome? Because one of the greatest turn-offs to Christianity is a cold, sterile, rigid kind of life. A life that is no joy, no fruit, no hope, no passion, no fire, and all rules. The world hates that. Paul hated that. Who wants that? I don't. Instead, our life should be a living, breathing testimony of the goodness of God in our life. with overflowing joy because of Jesus and all that we have in Him. Paul's saying that my goal for others is for them to know Christ like I know Christ. So I'm gonna be all things to all men so that I might win some of these for Jesus. And that should be our desire. But you can only do that if you fully surrender to Jesus. When you take up your cross, you lay down your life and 100% wholeheartedly follow Him. That was Paul's prayer and his plea, and that should be our prayer and our plea. Let's look at the last two verses. 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. Now this is an interesting text here. In Paul's appeal to them and his pleading with them, he's reminding them of how their relationship first started. How Paul even came to know the Galatians. And so he reminds them here in verses 13 and 14, he reminds the Galatians of their previous kindness that they had shown towards him. He gives a little history here. He's backing up saying, hey, let me remind you guys of how our relationship began. He's wanting to refresh their memory of how he ended up knowing them. We don't know a lot of the details, but there's enough here to give us a good picture of what it was like. Paul says in verse 13, you know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first. So it's apparent here that Paul was initially there because he had gotten sick. He needed to stop on his journey, and so he had to rest, not because he wanted to, but because of his condition. Now, from our human perspective, it seems that this stop in Galatia was not intended to happen. But then Paul got sick and had to go somewhere. But we know that this was obviously God's providential plan all along. And Paul's not here trying to discuss God's sovereignty. He's reminding them of how the relationship began and the kindness that this church, these Christians, showed towards Paul, that they demonstrated towards him when he was not doing very well. In fact, he was quite the burden to them. to whatever sickness or ailment that he had. He says that in verse 14, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me. Can you imagine someone dropping in on you and you having to take care of them like crazy because they're so bad off? That's what happened with Paul. And have you ever had a child, or even a parent maybe, who you had to take care of who was sick? There's certainly different levels of care that are required depending on the person and the sickness. Now personally as a parent, a cold or a cough is pretty easy to manage. If you have a child who has a bad cold, you just dump some medicine in them every few hours and let them watch a movie or lay on the couch all day. That's kind of an easy way to manage a sickness, something like a cold, but it doesn't really require a lot of me if one of my kids has a cold. It's manageable. And if my kids are gonna be sick, that's the kind I prefer. Just a little bit of medicine, watch a movie, let's hope tomorrow's better. That's easy on me. I'm thinking we're all like that. If our kids are gonna be sick, we want it to be an easy sickness. No one wants to have a child who the sickness just consumes you as a parent. That's tiring, that's hard. I remember six or seven years ago, we had a stomach bug going around our house, and Maggie was just like five months old, and Jacob was two, and Gracie was five, and all three of those little ones had the stomach bug at the same time. And what we had to do, they were just like puking all the time, and so what we had to do is at night we laid them at the foot of our bed all together and then Lori and I slept with our heads at the foot of the bed so that we would be right there with them. It was just that kind of overwhelming sickness so that we could just be right there near the kids. And what was so weird about this, it was just unbelievable, because every time this happened, we'd just look at each other. It'd be right in the middle of the night, one or two o'clock in the morning, one of them would sit up and start coughing, and we would put a bowl in front of them, and within seconds, this next one would sit up, start it, put a bowl in front of it, next one. All three of them, within a minute, it was just like a chain reaction of puke. And that went on all night. Puke, clean them up, put it in the laundry, go back to sleep for an hour and a half, and do it all over again. It was one of those times you were just like, why couldn't this have been a cold? Now here's the other side of the story I'll let you in on. When you ask Lori, what are one of the, name the top three times in our marriage that you felt the closest to me, that night is one of them. That's weird. But she said she felt so close to me that night because we were a team. We just had to stay together, rely on each other. And that puking night was a special memory for my wife. And I know what some of you wives are thinking. Boy, you must be a very lousy husband. If your kid's puking all night, it's one of the top three memories with your wife. But that was memorable for Lori. For me, I was more like Apostle Paul. That was more like a trial to me. That was a burden to me. It was work. It was hard. There was very little sleep and a whole lot of laundry. It wasn't something that a little Tylenol and a movie could fix. And here in verses 13 and 14, Paul reminds the Galatians that he realizes that when he was sick and came to them, that he brought difficulty with him. that it was a trial for them to care for him because of his condition. He realizes that him being there was not easy. Even though they were not the sick ones, because of their care for Paul, it became a great burden. He acknowledges that, and he's telling this to remind them, you guys were full of such kindness towards me when I first came and spent time with you, and I know I was a burden because of my condition. In fact, look how gracious they were at loving him. He says, 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. These Galatians, who were now resisting Paul and starting to turn away from the gospel, were at one time extremely generous and gracious towards him. I mean, look how they treated him. They didn't scorn him or despise him, which would be easy to do if someone dropped in and required your constant care and became a burden to you. These Galatians weren't like that. They didn't see it that way. Even as a difficult sickness, whatever it was that Paul had, he reminds them that, you didn't get tired of me. You didn't start to despise me and hate what you were doing. You were there for me in my constant need, even though I know it was a burden, even though I know it was a trial. And for those of you who have had to care for aging parents or sick children, the longer it goes, the harder it gets. And if we're not walking in the spirit, it can be very easy to become scornful or start to despise what you do or despise that person. It can get tiring. I've seen it happen with adult children who start to take care of their parents and after a while, they just start to despise it and they start to hate what they're doing and start to turn on their parents. Paul's like, you weren't like that with me. Even though it was a great burden, even though it was a trial for you, you still had great kindness towards me. He was sick. He needed their care. And they treated him like they would treat Jesus. We don't know how long this went on for, but certainly long enough for Paul to realize, wow, these guys have gone over and beyond. They're very gracious. I've been a burden. But notice what he says about their care. They received me like I was an angel, even as if it were Jesus himself that they were caring for. I want you to think about those words for a minute. What if you were treated and cared for that way? What a great testimony of kindness here. In fact, Matthew 25, the words of Jesus, the king will answer to them, truly I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these, my brothers, you did it to me. The Galatians were treating Paul as if they were treating Jesus, which is what we were supposed to do. Next week, we're gonna see that Paul's asking them what's happened since then, but for today, in our passage so far that we're reading, they were on the right path. They were living out their faith. They were believing the true gospel. They were caring for the saints. They were doing those things that, as believers, we are supposed to do. Now, it starts to turn as they turn away from the gospel. But they started right. They started off with great kindness and love, treating Paul as if he were Jesus and caring for him, even though it was a great burden and struggle and it was hard on them. They were living out their faith. There's four quick applications I want to give you from these three verses for us to remember. First of all, remember to be winsome in your witness and your testimony. Are you living your life in such a way that it is evident that you've been with Jesus? Think about that. Are you living your life in a way that's evident that you have been with Jesus? Is your gospel living attractive and winsome? Secondly, remember that many of our gospel encounters are unplanned, so we must be ready. I mean, Paul, and this is from a human standpoint, but Paul was only in Galatia because he got sick. It looked like an unplanned visit from humanity's side. It was all part of God's plan. But the Galatians didn't get together and say, hey, next week that guy's gonna drop in, he's gonna be sick, we're gonna take care of him, so let's get a plan together. No, it just happened. He showed up, they were sick, he became a burden because of his great sickness. But many times our encounters with the gospel and our opportunities to demonstrate kindness are not in our schedule. They're not planned, they're not in our, we don't see them, they just present themselves to us. So we must be ready. Also remember to care for others if you're caring for Jesus himself, which is what the Galatians were doing. The Bible speaks of entertaining angels unaware. Jesus says, when you care for the least of these, it's like you're doing it to him personally. Think of the least noticeable person that you know, the person who's not on anyone's radar. Whatever good you do to that person, in the name of Jesus, he takes it personally. It's like, you're doing that to me. I know it's a so-and-so, but you're doing that to me. That's how serious this is. That you're doing it as if it was Jesus himself. And then lastly there, remember to not grow weary in your care for others. The Galatians didn't do that. They started well. Paul acknowledges that caring for him was hard. They did it anyway with the right spirit and right love. They treated him as if it was Jesus himself. They didn't get tired of him and turn on him and say, buddy, you just need to hit the road again because you're about to kill us. Their focus was not on themselves. It was on Paul and his care, and that's how it should have been. But so often in the culture that we live in, it's so easy just to want to care for me first. I'm not saying we shouldn't take care of ourselves, we should. But over and over in the scriptures, we see the scripture telling us to put others before yourself, to deny yourself, to be last. And Jesus says, I'll make you first. To humble ourselves. It's not popular today, but it's biblical. And that's what the Galatians were doing with Paul. They weren't thinking of themselves. You know, Paul, this sickness has really ruined my schedule and my plans. They weren't saying that. They didn't despise him. They didn't become scornful with their care of him. And caring for others, whether it's a stomach bug in the middle of the night and everybody's puking in sequence, or whether it's an apostle stopping by who's greatly sick and you're gonna have to take care of him for a while, or it's a parent that you're having to care for who's aging and things aren't getting better, whatever the situation, remember that your kindness is noticed by our Savior and He takes it personally. Whatever the situation, no matter how difficult it may be, don't miss out on the redeeming opportunity that God has given you. and it's probably not going to be planned. Even when no one else notices and no one's there to praise you, God sees your good works and the scripture tells us that he's a rewarder. Let's not grow weary as we live out our faith, and may we be winsome as we live it out. Let's pray together. Father, thank you again for your word. Thank you again for the truth that we read about this morning. I thank you for how the Galatian church started, and their great care for Paul. They didn't grow weary, even though he was a great burden to them. Lord, I pray that that would be how we see things as believers, and that our gospel living would be a testimony, that we would be winsome, Father, that the world would not have anything evil to say of us because of our great love for you, and Lord, how we just live out our life. Lord, I thank you for the testimony of how the Galatia Church started. May we be that way. And may we remember that anything we do, Lord, to others, it's as if we're doing it to you. And that always stay in our minds and hearts to take seriously how we live out our faith. And may we have compassion on those who aren't like us. Lord, we know that we're not to compromise on the truth, but Father, there's so many other ways we can be approachable and have compassion for people, even people who are struggling in their sin. Lord, may we do that. May we be winsome in that way. Not to be unapproachable or arrogant, Lord, but to be someone that people can trust and have kindness from, may we be those kind of people. May we be that kind of church. Father, thank you for your great, great love for us. Father, thank you most of all for Jesus, who pursued us when we were his enemies, who loved us and continues to love us even when we fail, didn't wait for us to get our act together because he knew we couldn't. and yet sacrifices life for us. How much more should we be willing to lay down our life? Father, thank you for your word today. Thank you for your son. In his name I pray, amen.