If you look with me in Galatians chapter 4 tonight, we begin in verse number 12 and we're working our way through the book of Galatians. Paul is greatly burdened by the trouble in the Galatian church. He's burdened because the church of Galatia is being led astray by a group of prominent Jewish leaders and they are attempting to add back the works of the law to the churches that are in Galatia. The churches at Galatia, these folks are saved by grace through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. They're free from the burden of the law. But there's a group of people who want to enslave them to certain rites and rituals of the Old Testament law, such as the act of circumcision, which is often referred to in the book of Galatians. And the message of the book of Galatians to us is that we need to be cautious that we don't get caught up in the acts of religion and to the neglect of the wonderful, glorious doctrine of Our salvation and our freedom and our liberty in the Lord Jesus Christ. And in this text tonight, Paul is going to make a personal appeal to the Galatians. He's made sound biblical arguments. He's used sound logic to describe and remind us that we're saved by grace through faith. And tonight, in verses 12 through 20, he's going to take a personal appeal. He's going to speak from his heart to the Galatians, and he has a burden for them. He wants to be a blessing to them. Look with me in Galatians 4, beginning in verse 12. The Bible says this, Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am, for I am as ye are. Ye have not injured me at all. You know how through infirmity of the flesh I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And my temptation, which was in my flesh, ye despised not, nor rejected, but received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. Where is then the blessedness ye spake of? For I bear you record that if it had been possible, ye would have plucked your own eyes out, and have given them to me. Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? They zealously affect you, but not well. Yea, they would exclude you that you might affect them, but it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing, and not only when I am present with you. My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you, I desire to be present with you now and to change my voice, for I stand in doubt of you. Now we come here and we read verse 20, and we understand that Paul reemphasizes the burden that he has for the churches of Galatia. The reason I say church of Galatia, the church of Galatia, the Galatia was a region, and he's writing to a grouping of churches in Galatia. And he says to the churches in Galatia, he says, here's my burden. I desire to be present with you now. He says, I want to come and see you. and to change my voice. He says, I want to change the tone of my voice. I want to change the way I'm talking and writing to you because I want you to prove to me that you're following Christ and the true gospel and not being caught up with legalism and Phariseeism. He says, I stand in doubt of you. That's pretty strong, isn't it? He says, I stand in doubt of you, but I want you to see something. The Apostle Paul is going to personally, with his heart, a heart full of love, he's going to correct and speak to the churches of Galatia. He's going to help them. I'm reminded of a statement that you sometimes hear, but it's so true. People do not care how much you know until they know how much you care. Isn't it true? And the Apostle Paul in this text, he's going to turn the tone of his message and his writing, the people of Galatia, to one of personal care, concern, and love. and a burden for the Galatians. Let's look together at this passage of scripture. Tonight's message is titled this, Paul's personal appeal to the Galatians. I want to share with you what he wants. Number one, Paul says, I want you to have what I have. I want you to have what I have. We'll begin here in verse number 12. He says, Brethren, I beseech you, be as I am, for I am as ye are. you have not injured me at all." The first thing that he reminds us of is that he considers the people he's talking to as brethren. He's looking to the fact that these folks in the churches of Galatia had put their faith and trust in Jesus. They had been saved, born again. They were new creatures. They were Christians. And he says, brethren, I beseech you, I beg you. I love the word and phrase beseech. And when Paul says beseech, you can almost hear in his voice this urgency. He says, brethren, I beseech you, I beg you. I beseech you, be as I am. For I am as ye are." I'm going to tell you something, that phrase will make your eyes go cross ways. The first thing that is not so difficult, he says, be as I am. Now, I want you to know, there's critics of the scripture and of the apostle Paul who want to say, now, what kind of guy is it that wants to encourage somebody to be like him? Now, I want you to know, we're going to see the whole story as we look at these few verses. And Paul's burden and ultimate goal was to see Christ formed in the hearts and lives of the people of the church at Galatia. But something I think is wonderful is Paul wants the church and the people of the church at Galatia to have what he has, a personal relationship with Jesus, freedom and liberty, to live in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, peace in his heart, knowing that it's not the deeds of his flesh or the keeping of the law that gives him standing with God. It's the fact that he's been washed in the blood of the Lamb. He's considered righteous before God through Christ. And Paul says, I want you to have what I have. I'm saved. I want you to have what I have. I must confess there's been seasons in my Christian life where The nearness of Christ in my life and the peace that God has given me is something that I would yearn in my heart for other people to have. There's also been times where I've let distractions and the flesh stand between me and the Lord. And the relationship that I have with Christ is not something to be envied or patterned after. And when I read this and Paul says, I want you to be as me, I don't look at Paul and say, well, what kind of arrogant fool is he? I look at Paul and I say, oh, I know of moments and times where my faith was strong and God was real. And I want for the people that I love to have that kind of relationship with Jesus. He says, I want you to have what I have. I want you to have peace with God. I want you to have liberty. I want you to have grace. I want you to have the strength and courage that comes from a personal relationship with Jesus. He says, brethren, I beseech you, be as I am. The Bible says next, as ye are." I'm going to tell you, I've read this phrase and scratched my head and read this phrase and scratched my head and I've read commentators and I've read this commentators and scratched my head. He says, be as I am, for I am as ye are. Some folks want to change the translation a little bit and Try to make it make sense in another context and whatever. I really think that it says it just right. You know what he says? Be as I am. You know what Paul is saying? Paul is saying that I'm saved by grace through faith. And because I'm saved, trusting in Christ, I have liberty, I have peace, and I'm free from the bondage of the law. And he says to the church, he says, I am as ye are. He says, you may be trying to put on circumcision, and you may be trying to put on the works of the law, and you may be trying to add to your faith in Christ some extra-biblical legal practice, but I want you to know something. I want you to be as I am. I'm saved and free, and you are as I am. You're saved and free whether you practice it or not. Hey, aren't you glad that you and I are saved and free from the curse of the law? Hey, look, I'm just going to tell you, I know That it's not in me to do good enough to satisfy the righteous demands of God. I know that. I know that. In my flesh, I disappoint my Savior. I disappoint my Creator. I know that. You know what I have to anchor my soul in? The same thing the Apostle Paul had to anchor his soul in. He said, the things I want to do, I don't. The things I don't want to do, I do. My flesh is weak. My spirit is willing. My flesh is weak. But you know what Paul said and teaches us? That's okay. Because Christ's sacrifice is perfect. And Jesus' forgiveness is perfect. And Jesus has covered me in his blood. And I'm righteous and made righteous not because I'm being so good and obeying all the law. I'm righteous in the eyes of God because I've been washing the blood of the land. I'm the child of God. Hallelujah. It doesn't depend on what I do or what I did. It depends all on what he's already done. And Paul says, look, church, you can get bogged down and you can come under the pressure and bondage of trying to meet some religious ritual or religious system and satisfy the demands that the world and the flesh, and I say the devil puts on you. Or you can just rest in the peace of God that passes understanding. And you can trust in Christ and Christ alone for your soul's salvation. Paul says, I want you to have what I have. Verse 12, brethren, I beseech you, be as I am, for I am as ye are. Look what he says in the conclusion of verse number 12. Ye have not injured me at all. You know, I think the Son is sweet. I see and hear in this phrase the heart of the Apostle Paul. Look, the Apostle Paul said some pretty strong things. As a matter of fact, here in a moment he's going to say something like, I stand in doubt of you. And you know what the Apostle Paul wants the churches of Galatia to know? He says, I'm not upset with you. You've not injured me. I'm not writing because I'm mad at you. I'm not writing this letter to let you know that I'm severing ties and I'm done with you. Brethren, you're saved. Live that way. Brethren, you're saved. And you've made some mistakes, but you've not injured me. I'm here for you. I love you. Paul's personal appeal to the Galatians, number one is this, I want you to have what I have. Number two, Paul says this, I want you to have what we had. The next part of this passage of scripture, Paul begins to look back at his early days and his early beginnings, his beginning in relationship with the churches of Galatia. And evidently, Paul came to the church at Galatia about the time that he was stoned and left for dead. He comes to the church at Galatia, and we don't know exactly what was happening, but Paul had some type of infirmity as he came to the church at Galatia. And at this time, someone with an infirmity, the people were very superstitious, and they felt like some infirmity would be some sign that God was against you, or some sign that you'd done wrong. The infirmity would be like an outward testimony of something that you had done wrong on the inside. And I want you to know that if you are tempted to have that type of superstition, you're wrong. If you think, you know, if I get out of line a little bit, God's going to give me a black eye. Or if I get out of line a little bit, God's going to give me cancer. Now look, we don't have to live in that type of bondage. I'll just tell you, some of the greatest people I've ever known have ended up with cancer or some type of difficulty or battle. And folks I love, even at this moment, are going through things like that. And it's not God's punishment on you. You can be sure of that. God has a purpose, and I don't always know the whys or hows or what fors. But God has a purpose and you can trust in him. And so Paul, he comes to the church at Galatia in a culture that if you have an infirmity, then you're kind of looked down on and people don't really want to hear what you have to say because God's already seemingly put his thumb on you. Paul makes this point, he says, I want you to have what we had. He looks back at a time when God moved and worked and the churches of Galatia were actually started when people were being saved. The Bible says in verse 13, you know how through infirmity of the flesh. I preached the gospel unto you at the first." He says, I had a great infirmity in my flesh. Now, the great argument and debate between people who've got more time than they've got sense is, what was the infirmity? Let me just tell you something. These fusses and arguments over things that you can't resolve and the speculations that people have in these hyper-intelligent conversations, I hate that. I hate that. Let me just tell you something. I don't know what Paul's infirmity was. There's all kinds of ideas. I don't know. It don't matter. If it really mattered, I'm going to tell you something, God would have told us. Don't spend your time trying to figure out speculative things when there's a whole Bible full of facts that we can anchor our souls in and things we can trust in. Don't fight over the little stuff in pride. I'm going to tell you something. Do you know that it's nothing wrong with accidentally being wrong. That's not a sin. It really isn't. I'm confident. When I get to heaven, the Holy Spirit, that God is gonna show me, hey, look, there were some things you were wrong about. And that's fine. There's nothing wrong or sinful about being wrong. But there is something sinful about being wrong and having a rotten attitude about being wrong, trying to prove that you're right. And there's even something wrong with being perfectly right and not having a Christ-like spirit in the way that you help people understand the rightness of the Word of God. And the Apostle Paul, he says, you know that through infirmity I preached the gospel unto you at the first. And who knows what the infirmity was? I don't. And we're not gonna fight over it. We're gonna have the right spirit. We're gonna be willing to say, I don't know, I'll find out in heaven. And we're gonna keep moving. He had an infirmity. He preached the gospel to them at the first, verse 14. He says, in my temptation, which was in my flesh, ye despised not. Now that temptation, the word temptation has a reference to his infirmity, his trouble. He says, my temptation, my trouble that was in my flesh, ye despised not. He says, do you remember how it was when we first met? I came and preached the gospel, and I didn't look right, and I didn't act exactly right. I was having trouble, but you took me in. You despised it not. You didn't reject me because of the outward appearance. You didn't reject me because of the trouble that I was having. But you received me as an angel of God. He said, you esteem me to such a high place as your preacher. You esteem me as an angel of God. He says, even as Christ Jesus. He said, you treated me so well that you treated me like you would have treated the Lord. He's not appealing to the fact that he's on an equal plane with the Lord because that's not even close to true. But he says, look, you guys treated me so well and God blessed. He says in verse 15, where is then the blessedness she spake of? Do you remember those sweet days? Do you remember when the Lord changed your life? Do you remember when we were praying for your grandmother and she got saved? Do you remember when we were praying for your son and he turned his heart over to Jesus and God changed his life? Do you remember when we prayed that we could start that church in the next community over in northern Galatia? And we obeyed the Lord and we followed Him and God did a great work. Do you remember the blessedness that you spake of? For I bear you record that if it had been possible, ye would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. He says, look, I know that our love for one another and your love for me was so great that if you thought it would help me, you would have given me one of your eyes. Because of this verse, some folks speculate that Paul's problem was he had eye trouble. But I'm not going to speculate. He says there was a moment, there was a time where there was such unity and peace among us. There was such an emphasis on the preaching of the word and the message of the gospel and the person of Jesus Christ. And it was awesome. I think there's a problem when we look back today and we think, boy I wish it could be like it used to be. That can often become, the past can often become a god. But I want you to know something, there's nothing wrong with praying and asking God. to bring revival. There's nothing wrong with praying, asking God to move like he's moved before. There's nothing wrong with looking back and praising God for his faithfulness in the past and anticipating that God can do it again. And there's nothing wrong in our own hearts to look back at times when we were on fire for God and our heart was filled with love and joy and peace and Jesus was number one and sat on the throne of our hearts. There's nothing wrong with looking back and yearning for that in our hearts again. I'll tell you where we have a problem. When we forget what God has done and we become complacent in our carnality, and like the church at Galatia, we replace religious acts and religious duty to a personal relationship with Jesus, that is the thing that sets us free. You know what Paul says? I want to have it the way we had it. He says, I want you to have what I have. I want you to have what we had. Verse number 16. Am I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? He says, I want to have what we had. I'm not your enemy. I'm just speaking the truth in love. I'm not your enemy. I just want you to be reminded of the sweetness there was when our church was more interested in Jesus and the gospel than we were some form of religion. I'm going to tell you, if we let a Jehovah Baptist church religion rule and we put Jesus on the back burner, we'll have a church that has meetings attempts to do a thing or two, but we won't have a church that's setting people free from the bondage of sin. Paul says, I want you to have what we had. Number three, Paul's personal appeal to the Galatians is this, I want you to be free from the enemy. What was he burdened about? He was burdened. He was so burdened because this group of Pharisees, this group of Jewish zealots were trying to impose the law on Christian people. He says this in verse number 17. He says, they zealously affect you. but not well. Yea, they would exclude you that ye might affect them." So here's what the bird, he says, I want you to know, these people who are trying to put the yoke of the law on your necks that are saved by grace, he says, these people zealously affect you, but what they're doing is not good, it's not well. I beg of you. Make God's Word your sole authority for faith and practice. Don't fall prey to the temptation to add extra biblical rules and regulations to your life that wear you down, that rob you of your liberty. May God help us as a church to Be loud about the things that God is loud about in his word and quiet about the things that God is quiet about in his word. And may God help us to be thoroughly biblical and zealous for the truth. but not zealous for man's religion. He says the zeal that these people have, they put on you, they affect you, but they don't affect you well. They affect you in a negative way. He says this, yea, they would exclude you that you might affect them. Their burden was not to build people. Their burden was to build their group. Can I remind you that your allegiance should be first to Jesus and God's Word. and then a connection to this church. Look, it's not our burden to build you into the ultimate Chilhowee Baptist Church supporter. That's not the goal. Our burden is to build you and to encourage you and to give you in your heart a zeal for Jesus Christ who will change your life. And he'll be there for you when we can't. And He'll direct you when we don't know what to do. And He will bless you, and He will encourage you, and He will be your Lord. Look, it's never our burden or goal, nor was it the Apostle Paul's goal to take people and exploit them. But he said, I'm going to tell you something, their zeal is so zealous that they will get you and convert you and then throw you away in order that they can build themselves up. That's the spirit of a call. That's the spirit of religion. But faith in Christ points us to Jesus, to Calvary. He says, I want you to be free from the enemy. The Bible says in verse number 18, He says, don't get me wrong. Be zealous, but don't be zealous over what they're selling you. He says, be zealous, but it is good to be zealously affected always in a good thing. And not only when I'm present with you. He says, I want you to be free from the... I want your zeal to be a zeal to the faithfulness of the Lord Jesus Christ. And not a zeal to the acts and the works of the law. You see, that's still God's message today. It's not good enough to come to church Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, Sunday school and tithe. Do you know that? I want to tell you, if you've got this idea that your faith consists of, I've got to be at church at Sunday school, I've got to come to Sunday morning, Sunday night, I've got to come to Wednesday night and I've got to tithe. Now all those things are great and good. But if that's all, that you just do that because you feel like, if somehow I can check those things off of my checklist every week, then I'll please God with my works. That's not what God teaches. The Lord does teach to not forsake the sin of yourselves together. The Lord does teach us that we should tithe and be generous givers. But I want you to know something, that's not the things that make us Christians. Christ makes us Christians. Trusting in Jesus makes us Christians. It's Christ first, and then it's the things that we get the privilege to do as God's children. not do the things that God commands so that then we can have the right to be His children. And Paul says, I want you free from the enemy. My burden is that you don't live in bondage or fear that you might mess up. My burden and Paul's burden was that you'd live with joy in your heart, knowing that Jesus is your Lord and Savior, and He's rich in grace and mercy, and you can trust Him and you get the privilege to serve Him. He says, I want you to be free from the enemy. Finally, number four, Paul's personal appeal to the Galatians. I want Christ formed in you. I want Christ formed in you. The Bible says in verse number 19, My little children, of whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. I desire to present with you now and to change my voice to be present with you now and to change my voice for I stand in doubt of you. He says here in verse 9, my little children. Now Paul is speaking as a father. He is a spiritual father to them and that's good. He doesn't carry the weight of Christ, not even close. But he has a heart for them, and he's burdened for them. He says, my little children, of whom I travail in birth again. He says, this is tough. He says, you're rebelling against the clear gospel that we've established in the churches at Galatia. And the thing that you're doing to me in my heart is like having a child again. How many of you ever had your heart broken because of somebody that turned their back on the Lord? It's a sad thing, isn't it? And Paul says, you're turning your back on the gospel, and he says, and my heart's broken. I'm travailing again. But he says, here's what I want. I want Christ formed in you. My little children, verse 19, of whom I travail in birth again, until Christ be formed in you. He says, what I want is I want Christ to grow up in you. I want Christ to change you from the inside out. I'm praying that Christ will be... I want Christ formed in you. He says, I want you to become like Jesus. What a great prayer. I'm praying, I'm struggling, I'm prevailing until Christ be formed in you. He says, I'm confident of this. The Christ that's in you because you're saved. You're like I am. Saved. He says, I'm confident that the Christ in you is going to come out. And I'm asking the Lord to form himself in your heart. He says, Christ is in you. Verse 20, I desire to be present with you now and to change my voice for I stand in doubt of you. He says, look, I stand in doubt right now, but I want Christ formed in you. He said, I want you to be more and more like Jesus. I want you to be more and more like the gospel message that has been clearly taught and preached. I want you to forsake the works of the flesh and the additions to the scriptures. I want you to be free. I want you to have peace with God. He said, I know I have my doubts right now, but because I love you, I'm praying that Jesus will change your life. We need Jesus to change people's lives. Can I tell you something sweet? He still can. He still does. And may God's heart be our heart. May we learn, pray, and ask God to change people's hearts for His glory. And may we ask God to change our hearts. know that you get called up with just kind of checking off the Christian duties so that you can have a little bit of peace when you sleep at night. Instead of having a vibrant personal relationship with the Jesus who died on the cross for your sins. You know what Paul said? He says, people, it's not a list of rules and regulations that I want you to experience and enjoy. He says, it's me that I want you to enjoy. Jesus says, it's me I want you to enjoy. I'm here for you. I love you. I've saved you. I'll guide you. I'll direct you. I'll grow up in you. I'll be formed in you. Jesus wants you. He wants you to walk with him, to follow him. And you'll find out that that's the sweetest way to live. Paul's personal appeal to the Galatians, he says, I want you to have what I have. I want you to have what we had. I want you to be free from the enemy. And I want Christ formed in you. I'll tell you something, Paul's desires were desires that pleased the Lord. May we learn from them.