Let us go before the Lord in prayer. Heavenly Father, Lord, we bless your name again this evening. We honor you for your goodness and mercy. We thank you for your gospel. We thank you for your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, for his salvation, his faithfulness, his accomplished redemption. We thank you again for your Holy Spirit whom you have sent. to give us this testimony and to teach us and to lead us into all truth. Lord, now we seek your understanding again. We seek your leading and show us the things that are true and faithful. We seek, Lord, that you may cause us to learn and to unlearn all that which is not true and to learn that which is true. Lord, may you help me. May you help your people. May you grant them ears to hear for the sake of Christ, for the sake of your gospel. And we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. We're back in the Book of Galatians after a break that spanned maybe a month or more. Just been busy with some other things and once you stop it gets very hard to come back and get moving again. I desire to get through chapter 4 of Galatians hopefully by next week and then we can pick up chapter 5 and 6 and get them done hopefully before the end of the year, the Lord willing. But we are in Galatians chapter 4, I think that's where we left off. Galatians chapter 4 and we are going to be working our gospel understanding from verses 12 all the way to verse 20. Galatians 4 verses 12-20 Apostle Paul writes and says, I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong, but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time, and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition, you did not despise or love, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself. Where then is that sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. So if I become your enemy by telling you the truth, they eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them. But it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, And not only when I am present with you, my children, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you, but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you. And that is the word of the Lord. For a sermon title, we have two titles here, but the one that I like better is the first title that says, they eagerly seek you. They eagerly seek you. And the second one, which is equally good, is become as I am. Become as I am. And those are wonderful gospel statements. We have to continue pounding away at the gospel because the natural tendency for us as sinners is not to gravitate towards the truth but to always move away from the truth to lies. We love lies because lies make sense to our nature. The problem with the professing church is not that they have too much truth. The problem is not that there's too much gospel. No, it is actually the opposite. There's very little truth about Christ and the gospel being taught in the churches. My friends, we are like a ship that slowly drifts away from the shore if it is not properly anchored. That's the picture. That's the spiritual picture of who we are by nature. we drift and the drifting is slow but sooner than later the ship will disappear out of sight and such is how people drift away from the truth of the gospel it seems to be a slow drift it seems to be a compromise of this doctrine And this little doctrine, and before you know it, you are lost from all the true doctrines. You have compromised every truth. Why? Because the doctrines are interconnected. They are so interconnected that if you destroy one aspect of the foundation of the gospel, you are destroying it all. Why? Because every doctrine of Christ comes from Christ and it is connected to Him. So if you destroy one leg of the gospel, you are destroying the whole foundation of the gospel. So like Apostle Paul said, a little leaven leavens the whole lamp. That's what the Bible says, a little leaven, not a whole lot. And those of you who know something about baking, you know that you don't need that much of the leaven, you don't need much of the baking powder. You only need a little bit of influence to start veering away, to have that kind of influence that affects the whole dough. And so we come back again to the teaching of Apostle Paul in this blessed book of Galatians, A book written to Galatian Gentile Christians and of course it was also written to the church as a whole. The Galatian Gentile believers were of course the immediate audience of this writing. But the Holy Spirit always kills a thousand birds with one stone. This epistle, this writing was also written for our exaltation. teaching in the truth of salvation and Christ Jesus so the Galatians were drifting away from the truth of the gospel into lies and the lies seemed to be innocuous they seemed to be safe because they like many people were still using Jesus and grace in the same sentence And many people think, well, our pastor still uses Jesus and he still uses grace when he preaches. And people think, oh, that is preaching the gospel. No, that's not preaching the gospel. Just using Jesus and grace in a sentence is not preaching the gospel. To preach the gospel means to preach Christ. who He is and what He accomplished and what that means in terms of salvation. And so the Galatians' judgment had been clouded and so they were caught up in some legalism and veering away from the gospel. And you see, what happens with legalism is that legalism does not deny who Christ is. It does not deny the person of Christ. It does not deny grace. This is what it does. It just adds to grace. It adds to Christ. It adds some other external requirement, some moral requirement, some performance, some ritual. It adds something for the sinner to perform for them to be served, for them to be accepted. Legalism will come this way. It comes in different ways but it may come this way and say all those super Christians are they who have the stamp of salvation on them. The stamp of God's approval on them. And one can veer away from the gospel not because they are going to the strip joint. and singing in the choir, but by becoming a very serious Christian who adds conditions to salvation that are not the blood of Christ and Christ alone, that are not grace alone. So many people say, oh, someone is veering away from the gospel because of their behavior. No, that's not how you judge veering from the gospel. A veering from the gospel is based on what someone says about justification. How does a sinner actually have a standing before God? If we introduce any performance whether religious, moral, or whatever thing, as a requirement for salvation, then Jesus becomes only an enabler of salvation, not the cause of salvation, and not salvation itself. And these differences seem to be minor but they are huge and they are significant. Jesus is not an enabler of salvation. Jesus does not help a sinner with their salvation. Jesus does not help them to make salvation happen for them. Jesus himself is salvation. Jesus himself is our righteousness. And it sounds sincere and righteous to do that, to speak some Christian ease, to speak the language of Jesus, to speak the language of grace, but with some additions. It sounds sincere. It sounds righteous. But this is how many are left hoarding the empty shell of an empty gospel, a gospel that saves no one. A gospel that saves no one. My friends, we have to understand the issue of the gospel. We can't just get sugar when we go to church. We can't just go to be entertained and to get high. You are going to get high and find yourself in hell because of foolishness. We have to learn, we have to understand the issue of the gospel and we have to believe the gospel the way that God would have us to believe the gospel. And for us to understand the issue of salvation, we have to know who God is and what He demands and why He purposed for there to be salvation in Christ and Christ alone. And we have to know God's testimony about who man is as far as God is concerned. And of course we can never answer all these questions in one message. But it is important for us to know that our opinion about anything does not matter. Whether our opinion is high or low, it does not matter. We are not saved because of our opinion. It is what God says that wins the day, especially with respect to eternal and salvation matters. And so we need to know that God is holy and righteous and that He is also in the glory business. We have to know that because that testimony has been lost in the majority of the understanding of the gospel. If you were to interview God and ask Him and say, Lord, what business are you in? He would gladly say to you, I am in the glory business. And that's right. God is in the glory business and he will never divest his interest, he will never divest his shares in this business. God is not the majority shareholder in this business. He is the only shareholder in the glory business. The shares of God's glory do not trade on Wall Street. They are not up for selling and buying. Do we understand that? God is not selling His shares of His glory. And many people will come and say, yes, we agree with that. We agree that He is in the glory business. But we will turn around and want to share that glory with Him in their own salvation. by saying they help in their own salvation in some way. But we have to understand this. We have to understand how the holiness and righteousness of God factors into or flows into the gospel question and equation. We have to understand how the glory of God is important and central to his purpose in Christ Jesus. We have to ask the question. We have to know the question of the gospel. The gospel question. What is the gospel question? The gospel question is justification. And justification asks and answers For the sinner, the question of how shall a sinner, as you and I are, be made right? How shall we be made right? before God. How shall we be accepted before a holy and righteous God? That's the issue my friends. How shall we be met right? How shall a sinner like you and I be met right before a holy and righteous God? Before a thrice holy and righteous God? And the Jews thought they had it down. They studied the scriptures diligently, the Lord said, and with zeal. And they thought in them, in the scriptures, they thought in their own obedience to the scriptures, they had eternal life. But the Lord Jesus Christ came and said, No, it is they, the Scriptures, that testify of me. The Scriptures testified of him. But the Judaizers were unrelenting. They had invested much in their law keeping. They had much shares in Moses. And so they wanted to press Gentile believers back to Moses. by demanding their circumcision and adherence to the law of Moses. to say, well, if you're going to receive the final vindication of righteousness, then you have to add Moses. You have to be circumcised if you have to be a child of Abraham. But the Holy Spirit came and said, no, your error is not as innocuous as you think. It's not as innocent as you think. If you attach one provision of the law as a condition of salvation, you become liable to do the whole thing. But even more, the law had its particular function in salvation history to testify of Christ. But not only that, the law had an expiration date. The law was to expire with the introduction of the new covenant of grace, the covenant that was in the blood of Christ. Why? Why did the law have to expire? Because Christ fulfilled it. Why again? Because Christ was not the mediator or testator of the covenant of the law, but of the new. Moses was the mediator. He was the testator of the old covenant, the covenant of the law. We have to understand that and we have to make that distinction. Jesus was not the high priest of the law. The Levitical priesthood are they who mediated the law and his priesthood. Aaron and his descendants were the priesthood of the law. And so we still have a problem in the professing church, the problem of not wanting to let go of the ministry of the law, the ministry of death and condemnation. The professing church would not let Moses to enjoy his retirement. They want him back to work. And so many, especially in the reformed camp, invent theories just to find a way to sneak Moses back in through the back door that he may continue with Christ. Saying what? Saying the law, the moral law is eternal. They eternalize the moral law. And when they say, eternalize the law, they think they have closed out and settled all arguments against that. So they eternalize the law and not the gospel. And they may eternalize both the law and the gospel. But this is what they're doing. They're eternalizing both Moses and Christ. And that is their folly. And it sounds religious. It sounds very sincere. Because it sounds like these guys really love the law of God and they actually honor it. But the truth of the matter is that it is a denial of the gospel of grace and the sufficiency of Christ. And also to be honest, they have no scriptures that say the law is eternal. And most of the scriptures that they go and run to like Psalm 119 is talking about Christ. Christ is he who delighted in the law of God. It is Christ, not them. There's no sinner. Let's tell the truth. There's no sinner who delights in the law of God. But this is what we have in the scriptures. We have the scriptures that tell us that God's purpose was always in Christ. God's eternal purpose was always in Christ. The mystery of the gospel was always in Christ from eternity. The new covenant, not Moses, not the covenant of the law, is eternal. The new covenant is what is eternal. Why? Because the mediator of the new covenant is Christ Jesus who is eternal. Moses was a servant of Christ. And so Moses could never be eternal. So the covenant of the law could not be eternal. Christ is the son and it is he who abides forever in God's house. The covenant of grace is the eternal covenant. Hear the testimony of the writer of Hebrews in Hebrews 13 20. He says, Now the God of peace, who brought up from the dead the great shepherd of the sheep through the blood of the eternal covenant. Even Jesus our Lord. Hear that. Through the blood of the eternal covenant. There's only one eternal covenant. It is the covenant of grace. It is the covenant in the blood of Christ. Through the blood of the eternal covenant. That's what is eternal. Moses is not eternal. The covenant of the law is not eternal. Hear this again from the writer of Hebrews, Hebrews chapter 3. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession. He was faithful to him who appointed him, as Moses also was in all his house. See the comparison that is being made between Jesus and Moses. Both were faithful and both were appointed. Appointed by God. But hear the contrast now. Verse 3 For he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses. Do you hear the contrast? who has been counted as worthy of more glory than Moses. Is it not Christ? So if Christ has more glory than Moses, why do you still want Moses? Hear this, for he has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. The one who has more honor, if you see a mansion, it's not the mansion that is more honor, it is the builder of that mansion. And Christ has more honor than the house. Christ is more honored than Moses. Why? Because he is the builder of all things. Christ is God. Hear me, my friends, verse 5. Now Moses was faithful. all his house Moses was faithful in all his house at his level as a servant see that distinction as a servant for a testament of those things which were to be spoken later Moses was there as a testimony to bear testimony of those things about Christ which were to be spoken later. Moses was a servant to bring testimony of those things that were to be spoken later about Christ. But here, about Christ, but Christ, but Christ, that's a contrast, but Christ was faithful, not as a servant, but as a son over God's house, but as a son over his house. whose house we are if we hold fast our confidence and the bust of our hope firm until the end. So it is the son that abides in the house of his father. It is the son who has the inheritance. So whatever the son has, whatever the son brings is what is eternal. Moses was only but a servant. So whatever Moses represented was temporary. He was only there to lay a foundation for the Son. Do we understand that? We have to understand what the Holy Spirit is teaching. So we have to understand that. Otherwise we'll continue to stumble at the gospel. And the Judaizers did not understand this. They did not understand this about the law. They did not understand about the reality and truth that the law had been retired. And so they came. They claimed to be believers of the gospel. They knew the teaching of Apostle Paul. And so they came to this Gentiles. The Judaizers were Jewish Christians, professing Jewish Christians. And so they came and they did not deny the deity of Christ. They did not deny his death and resurrection. They did not deny grace or faith. They affirmed all that. And that is how they found entry. They came affirming all these things. But they came with some other fine print. They came with some other fine print. They came with some other things that they wanted to add to grace. To make grace, to make faith, to make Christ sufficient for the sinner. And so this is what the Judaizers were doing to the Gentile believers in Galatia. And this was more than just legalism. As some people say, this was more than legalism. This was an attack on justification itself and the sufficiency of Christ. The whole book of Galatians is defending the sufficiency of Christ in salvation. That's what it's defending. So the legalist, the Judaizer, comes and says, whether knowingly or unknowingly, that Christ is not sufficient for your final vindication in salvation unless you take or you attach some elements of Moses to grace. But in saying that, they were saying Christ is insufficient. in himself and by himself to be the righteousness, to be the holiness of his people. They were saying the Holy Spirit was not able to accomplish in his people what the law could not do for them. People want to mix law and gospel. Why? Because the gospel does not give them things to do for their acceptance. The law allows, on the other hand, opportunity for them to build confidence in what they're doing. And so they come and say, see, but I did this and this and this and that. And so they begin to count their own accomplishments. And God punished, if you still remember, God punished King David for doing a census and counting his army. to gauge his own strength, to gauge his own salvation. And he still despises, God still despises that thinking that we have any strength in ourselves to do or to help our own salvation. This is very popular in the church. And so when you do that, your faith and hope is not entirely on grace alone, but grace plus whatever else you're kicking in. And when we miss the distinctions, we quickly fall into the Galatians heresy. It was a heresy and it is still alive in our day. So the issue with adding Moses to grace is fundamentally saying, Christ alone is not sufficient for salvation. If you are adding anything to Christ, no matter how sincere, no matter how religious, no matter how moral, this is what you are saying. I have to help you with understanding of the implications of what you are saying. You are saying Christ alone is insufficient for salvation. And many who claim to do the law would never want to say that, not publicly, not on record. But that is what their theological position is saying. That is what their theological position is affirming. They'll say, but we do not say that. We do not say the law is for justification. We are justified by grace alone through Christ alone. And if they would stop there, For a minute they sound like orthodox gospel believers, but let them, give them the microphone and let them keep talking. And then you hear them say, but we go back to Moses. We go back to the law for sanctification. And this way they create a loophole to sneak back Moses. who is supposed to be retired and collecting unemployment benefits. And my friends, that is false. It is false. You don't go back to Moses for sanctification. The gospel is sufficient all by itself. The nails, card hands and feet of Jesus sufficient all by themselves. for your justification and sanctification. The blood of Christ, sufficient all by itself. The death of Christ, all sufficient for your justification and sanctification. The Holy Spirit is He who does the work of sanctification. And Christ Jesus is both our righteousness and holiness. He is our sanctification. And if the law was for sanctification, if the law was for sanctification of the believer, as we hear and has been written by many men, we would not have the book of Galatians. We would not have the book of Romans. We would not have the book of Hebrews. Paul would have easily just said, of course, it makes sense. The cross for justification. and Mount Sinai the law for your holiness. It makes sense. But he doesn't do that. Rather he says, for through the law I died to the law. Through the law I died to the law so that I might live to God. you have to die to the law to live to God my friends I do not nullify the grace of God for if righteousness comes through the law then Christ died needlessly and we would come and say I do not nullify the grace of God for if holiness comes through the law then Christ died needlessly but the church does not want to die to the law They want to continue to be alive to that which kills, to that which condemns. And the stubbornness is amazing to me. This is amazing. But Apostle Paul has argued and skinned the gospel understanding from different angles and said, you guys have a problem of understanding of what the law says. are ignorant of what the law says you are ignorant of the requirement of the law and so he has said this in Galatians 3 10 to 12 for as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse. Paul did not say, for as many as are of the works of the law are under a blessing. No, no, no. He said, they are under a curse. Why, Paul? For it is written. It is written, so it's not my opinion. It's not Paul's opinion. It is written. Cursed is everyone who does not abide. Everyone. Everyone. And remember, Paul is talking to the church. For some reason, I don't know what people are thinking. They think Paul is talking to the Muslims. No, Paul is writing to the church, my friends. And he is saying chastise everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them. Now, that no one is justified by the law before God is evident. How, Paul? The righteous man shall live by faith. the righteous man shall live by faith. However, the law is not of faith. On the contrary, he who practices them shall live by them. He who practices the things of the law shall live by them, shall find, shall seek their justification, shall seek their standing, their justification, their propitiation from their own law obedience. For as many as are of the works of the law are under a curse." And that is very clear teaching, my friends. That is very clear teaching. You can only deny it because of a foolishness and stubbornness. And that is saying what? It is saying anyone who is claiming to do the law, for whatever reason, is under a curse. Why Paul? Why Paul? Why would you say this? That's not very nice to say. Because cursed or cursed is everyone who does not abide by all things written in the book of the law to perform them, to do them. Everyone is cursed who does not continue, does not abide in all things written in the book of the law to do them. The law demands that you do, that you perform, not to your level of ability, not to your level of sincerity, but to God's standard of perfection and righteousness. Do we get that? Do we understand that? The law demands that you do it and you do everything. Not what you think is convenient, not cherry picking what you agree with. If you do one part of the law, you are liable to continue to do perfectly everything that the law says to be done. If you don't, what does the law say? It says you're cursed. And now you're not going to hear much of that from those who claim to keep the law. They're going to keep inventing theological gymnastics to explain away some very clear teachings. that also has some very clear implications. But unless one is born of God, taught of God, and learned from the Father, they will never receive this testimony as true. They'll keep doing their gymnastics. My friends, if one is born of God, they will have to agree with that testimony that Paul has just shared. My friends, my dear friends, you have to perform what the law says, not just talk about it. You have to perform. And many are busy talking, and they're talking, and they're talking, and they're arguing, but the doing is not there. Just talk. And like they say, talk is cheap. Talk is cheap. The talk of law keeping is cheap. Because there is none who is keeping the law. So what does the gospel say Paul? Now that no one is justified by the law before God is evident. How? For the righteous man shall live by faith. No one is justified by the law. And that also means that no one actually can live by the law. But how shall a man live, Paul? The righteous man shall live by faith. You see the distinction. Paul is making a clear distinction for us. and see immediately that the Holy Spirit says the one who lives by faith alone is righteous. It is they alone who have attained the status of being righteous before God. They are justified before God. The law has no more claims on them because Christ has been cast on their behalf. Christ has been cast for them on their behalf. They are righteous by faith, and they live by faith. And that, my friends, also is very clear teaching. But the law keepers will come and say, no, that is not good enough. Let us unpack some bags and send Moses on the honeymoon together with Christ. Together with Christ and his bride. And it is foolishness. It is arrogance. That is what it is, my friends, and we have no other kind words to describe it. It's foolishness and it's arrogance. John the Baptist, a representative of the law and the prophets, understood this. He did not come and say, oh, let us go with Christ. No, He pointed His disciples, His people to Christ and said, behold, the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. And then he says, I must decrease and he must increase. The law and the prophets have to decrease in the face of Christ. And Paul says, however, the law is not of faith. On the contrary, he who practices them shall live by them. The law is not of faith. And Paul again is making a contrast between the law and the gospel. And let me repeat that again one more time for the second time. The law is not of faith. The law is not of faith. And that means the one who claims to do the law can never please God. God is never pleased by anything that is not of faith. Without faith, the scriptures say it is impossible to please God. And the law is not of faith. But why is the law not of faith? Because Paul says, he who practices them shall live by them. And my friends, I'm asking you, did I lie in my understanding? The law says, the one who practices the law, The one who put themselves to do the law shall live by them and that means by their righteousness that comes from their own law obedience. And that is not saying Jesus plus law. Paul does not give you room to mix Jesus and law. No, he is saying either you stand on Christ and Christ alone or you stand on your own law-keeping. And if your law-keeping is not perfect, you are cursed. And that again is very clear teaching. But the Galatians were being seduced to depart from this gospel teaching wanting to add back Moses to Christ and Paul comes and says Galatians 4 verse 12 and that is to say this was all introduction this was all introduction and we are yet to go to our text Galatians 4 verse 12 Paul says I beg of you brethren become as I am for I also have become as you are You've done me no wrong. Paul says, I beg you, my friends, I beg you. And we also beg you, my dear friends, to go back to the gospel of grace alone. And Paul is doing a wonderful play on words here. And it is glorious. He says, brethren, I beg you. I am pleading with you. Become as I am. And what is that Paul? What does it mean to be like you? What does it mean to be like Paul? It means to have died to the law through the death of Christ. It means to not be under the law of Moses as he had been married to Christ. It means to live by faith in Christ Jesus. But Paul says, for I also have become as you are. What, Paul, what are you talking about? What does that mean? Paul is talking to Gentile believers who never were under the law. Gentiles were never under the law of Moses. And he's saying, I became as you were before you had the gospel. You were the lawless ones. That is what Gentile means. You were the lawless ones whilst at that time I was a Jew under the law. But in Christ, my relationship to the law was removed. Now that faith has come, my relationship to the law was removed. I died to it. And in many ways, I have become like a Gentile in that I am not under the law of Moses. And so in this way, I became like you. But you Gentiles are trying to be like Jews. And do not do that. Be as I am now. Be as one who is not under the law as I am. One who died to it as I am. One who lives through Christ as I am. And that is the play of words. And it is brilliant. And Paul is essentially saying, Be as I am. Please don't go back to Moses. Remain in Christ. Verse 18, Colossians 4, But you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time. And Paul says, it was through a bodily illness that he had preached the gospel the first time to them. God had so arranged for Paul that he would preach the gospel with some obvious bodily infirmity, some sickness, a sickness that they could all see, a sickness that was unsightly, it appears to me. It was not something that would have caused them to say, of course, look at him, look at how handsome this guy is. Look how well dressed this guy is. Let us go and attend his gospel conference, his ministry. No, God had brought him under such an infirmity so that God alone would be seen to be working and to be the cause of their coming to Christ. God was producing a weakness in Paul that the glory would go to Christ and Christ alone. And it seems from what Paul is saying that Paul was not even intending to go this far with his gospel. And especially in this condition. But God used this thorn in the flesh and dragged Paul to go where he did not intend to go. And that my friend is saying God is sovereign over his gospel. It is He who directs where our messages go and who hears them, and how many they get to hear. It is all in His hands. And if we are a gospel-driven church, then we have to be ready to be inconvenienced to go anywhere, as the Lord directs. because I'm telling you the truth God will find a way to take you to places that you never thought you wanted to go or to places with people that you despise yeah when the Lord orders And if the Lord orders it, you go there even running. And I'm not lying. I'm telling you the truth. Don't swear about what you can't and can do as if you run the show. You don't run anything. You can't even tie your own shoes. If the Lord does not command it, you won't blink your eyes. If the Lord does not command it, you don't run anything. And so Paul found himself in places that he never designed to be and in a very bad state. But it was God inconveniencing him for Christ's sake that the power would come from the gospel and not from Paul. But hear this if you think my understanding is not correct. Verse 14 of Galatians 4 And that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition, you did not despise or love, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself. Paul's bodily illness was such that it had become a challenge, a trial not only for Paul, but for them also. A sickness that made him unsightly, as I said, or even caused him to stink in some particular way is my speculation. But we know, whatever it is, it did not make Paul appealing. It did not make Paul attractive. It made him repulsive in the way that he looked. And yet, they did not despise him. They did not love him. They received him. They embraced him. But not as a regular person, but as an angel of God. Look how Paul speaks of how well they had received him. as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus himself. Why? Why had they received him this way? Because they were receiving the truth of the gospel. They had embraced the truth of the gospel. They had embraced the gospel of Paul as they would have received Christ himself because truthfully to receive the gospel and even they who proclaim it is to receive Christ Jesus. Because the gospel if it comes and it's true and it's faithful it comes only by Christ. We are only but vessels. I am only but a vessel in the hands of the gospel that is Christ Jesus. And this, my friends, is the attitude of the true gospel believer and the gospel church. It receives those that have infirmities. even spiritual infirmities, as if they were receiving Christ himself. Whether spiritual or physical infirmities, they have to be received in the Church of Christ because this is a picture of the Church. This is not a perfect Church. If we find a perfect church, then we have issues. The true church of Christ has people who have infirmities. And so the true church of Christ does not despise, it does not love those who have spiritual weakness or physical impairments. They do not despise the sinner that may come from the bad part of town. They do not despise the sinner who is not married, the sinner who has been divorced. Some churches feel uncomfortable. if they find a single woman in their midst. Usually it is the women in that church who are married, who have attached salvation and righteousness to their own marriages, who behave this way. They think they have their marriages together because they are super women and super wives. And so they frown at these scumbags, these lowly sisters, these losers, as they would call them. And those that have money frown on the poorer members of their congregation and say privately that they should organize their lives better. And in this, they are denying the testimony of the gospel. They are not receiving them with the testimony of Christ, the testimony of grace. They are attaching conditions on other sinners that Christ did not attach on them for their own salvation. And that is the legalism. And that is the veering away from the gospel. But this attitude that the Galatian believers had exhibited towards Paul did not last long, did it? Verse 15, Where then is the sense of blessing you had? For I bear you witness that if possible, you would have plucked out your eyes and given them to me. Where then is the sense of blessing that you had? What happened to the sense of the gospel of grace that we had? The issue here, my friends, is not Paul's infirmity. No, the issue here is their departure from the truth and what that departure caused in their testimony. And that departure from the truth is now being reflected or is being evidenced by their bad attitude, even to Paul who had taught them the gospel. And Paul is saying, a departure from the gospel brings a crooked testimony of Christ. The sense of blessing is gone. The sense of love is gone. The sense of a welcoming attitude is gone. The sense of wanting to be inconvenienced for Christ's sake is gone. unlike the first time that he came when they were so loving and patient and were hoarding fast to the things that were true and faithful the things that Paul had taught them so much that Paul says for I bear you witness that if possible You would have plugged out your own eyes and given them to me. You had the truth, received it with gladness, with joy, and you were so moved by it that you could have plugged out your own eyes, your own eyes, and given them to me. That's what Paul says. This is the effect that the gospel had on them. And that also gives us some hint of the sickness that Paul might have had. Paul says the gospel that you had initially received caused you to be sacrificial in your attitude. But it's all gone now. Things have changed because you have veered away from the truth, veered away from the true gospel to a false gospel. And when people veer off from the truth, they become argumentative. They become unwelcome. Why? Because the gospel that used to marinate and bridle their foolishness is now gone. hear this from Paul. Verse 16 of Galatians 4, So have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? Suddenly he became an enemy because of telling them the truth. And where heresy has been introduced. Those that speak the truth immediately become enemies. And we become enemies to many when we declare this truth line by line and with understanding to say, stay in the city of refuge. Stay in the Jesus only lane. Stop changing lanes. The avenger of blood is always waiting for you on the outside. Don't get out of the city limits. Hold on to Christ. Hold on to the testimony of grace. But There is motivation that brings forth teaching. It just does not fall from the sky. There is motivation behind it. And the Holy Spirit tells us this in Galatians 4.17, they eagerly seek you, not commendably. but they wish to shut you out so that you will seek them." Now Paul tells us the motivation of those who bring in false teaching. Paul says, they do not just seek you with their false teaching. No, they eagerly, they fervently seek you. They seek you with zeal to make converts of you to their foolishness, to their falsehood. They wish to shut you out from the truth, to prevent you from accessing the truth so that you seek them and depend on them. And so for their technique, for their tactic to work, they have to block you from the truth. They have to isolate you, then draw you to themselves. And this is actually a hunting strategy of hyenas and lions. It is all about isolation from the rest of the head and then they pounce. And so when you are in a heresy situation, don't allow yourself to be isolated. You will be weakened in your resistance because of their touch. Gather yourself around those that are still speaking the truth. Resist the devil and he will flee away from you. But Paul says, verse 18, but it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner. And not only when I am present with you, So there are two ways of being eagerly sought after. The other is negative. It is bad by those who want to cause you to veer away from the truth. But then there's the better way, the commendable manner. The commendable manner is the manner of truth, is the way of truth. And that is the manner of the gospel. And that is the manner by which Paul had approached them and brought the gospel to them. And so in correcting them, Apostle Paul says, my little children, my children, verse 19, with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you. But I could wish to be present with you now, and you changed my tone, for I am perplexed about you. Posa is my children. They were his children, not because he has saved them, but because it is he that God had used to bring them to the knowledge of salvation. And so Paul still loved them, but he recognized that they were vulnerable. And so he says, you are my little children. And that is a word of endearment. Paul loved them, but that was part of the problem. You're my little children, therefore you are still immature. And as children, you are easily getting deceived. You are being made to sway to and fro by every wave, every wind of doctrine, and not according to Christ. You are being deluded. You are being deluded by persuasive arguments, by the craftiness of men with their evil scheming, deceitful scheming, and you are vulnerable to it. And I could hear Paul saying to them what he wrote here in Colossians. Colossians 2, verse 6-8 where Paul says, Therefore, as you have received Christ, As you have received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in Him, having been firmly rooted, and now being built up in Him and established in your faith, just as you were instructed and overflowing with gratitude. They had received Christ, but they were not walking in Him. Why? Because they were not firmly rooted in the truth of the gospel. My friends, you need to walk in Him. You need to continue walking in the truth of the gospel of grace. Being firmly rooted and established, plant your feet into the gospel of Christ. And Paul says, verse 8 of Colossians 2, See to it that no one takes you. No one. See to it. It's incumbent upon you. See to it that no one, that no one, no one, not myself, not even myself, takes you captive. through philosophy, an empty deception, according to the tradition of man, according to the elementary principles of the world, rather than according to Christ, rather than according to Christ. Paul was now in labor pains, as a woman, or like a woman giving birth, laboring to teach them and to keep them in the testament of the gospel. My friends, it is a labor of love and teaching to keep people according to the testimony of the gospel. Many people do not realize how easily they are or how susceptible they are to veering away from the truth. They think when we insist on the fundamentals of the gospel, it is just because we just want to fight with other people or we want to exclude others from salvation. There's no one who is going to be excluded from salvation because Christ already knows everyone of His sheep. And He said He's not going to lose any of His sheep. So all His sheep are going to come to Him. We are not excluding anyone. There's no man who can exclude another man from salvation. we make a lot of noise to declare and defend the truth because they are children and are vulnerable to spiritual deception. And so Paul says, my children, I am in labor until Christ is formed in you. I am in labor until you have matured in the faith. And so Christ being formed in them was maturity in the gospel. And so Christ is formed in us by a steady and constant feeding of the truth. And those who have been around church but refuse good teaching continue to be children. They continue to be vulnerable and easy to toss around because they don't have the foundational teaching with them. They don't know the pillars of the gospel. And these become easy targets for the Judaizers who bring their own destructive heresies. And so, with all that understanding, This is what I'm going to tell you. You have to be careful of those that eagerly seek you to convert you to themselves and not to Christ. Hold fast to Christ and His gospel. Learn and know the truth. Learn and know the truth. There are new Judaizers in every generation. You will never run out of Judaizers as long as Christ tells. and they're out there eagerly seeking you to draw you away from the truth of Christ and you have to remain standing in the truth and in the liberty that Christ has set us free and do not be entangled again by the yoke of bondage the yoke of slavery and that is the law the legalism, adding conditions to Christ, to say you have to perform this and that for your standing before God to be established. No, Christ is our righteousness. Christ is our salvation. Christ is our substitute. He is our surety. He is our representative. He is our covenant. He is our everything. He is our all in all. and we are complete in Him. That's the Testament of the Gospel. Praise the Lord. We are done. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, Lord, we come before Your Holy Throne in the name of Your Son Jesus Christ again. Lord, we bless You. Thank You for these wonderful words that You've given us to share and to give us to grow by that we may mature. Lord, we thank You for the clarity and we pray that You bring this same clarity into the hearts and ears of those who shall be listening. God may you bless your people. May you honor yourself in all things. We pray in Jesus name. Amen.