Galatians chapter number one, and when you find your place, let's stand together in honor and reverence, please, of the word of God. Excited for our first night in our series on Galatians and Paul's letter to the Galatian people. We're gonna read only two verses here, and I believe it'll be a blessing to us tonight. Galatians chapter one, verse number one, it says, Paul, an apostle, not of men, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. and all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of Galatia." I'd point out three things in these two verses. We see Paul, we see he's an apostle, and then we see unto the churches, that's plural, that's important, the churches of Galatia. Let's pray tonight. Lord, thank you for the Bible. Thank you for the Word of God and the great encouragement, the great challenge it is to us. Father, we love our Bible. It's been through us in dark times and light times, through rain and storms and traveling. Our Bible's always been there, Lord. You've always been there through your Word. And Father, we thank you for the opportunity tonight to preach your Word, to walk in your Word, and to know your Word, Lord. We're thankful. for the book of Galatians and the great help and challenge it is to us. Father, please help us as we study tonight. In Christ's name, amen. You can be seated. Thank you for standing. I wanted to preach really, I'm going to title this first section, A Heart for Galatia. I would say that when it comes to Galatians, Paul had a great heart for the community, the region of Galatia. Now we see here in verse number two, that this is unto the churches. Galatia. It's not to one specific church as you would find in Ephesians or Colossians or even Philippians. This is to a region, the region of Galatia, and we're going to talk about that here in a moment. Now, in Galatians we deal with one strategic, one theme throughout the whole book really. It all sums up together. It's talking about Christian liberty or, in other words, Christian freedom. When Christ saved you, He saved you to live free. He saved you to live in freedom. And thank God, we live in a great nation, a great country that offers unto us freedom. Now, God does not want us to live in bondage anymore. Do you remember when the Israelites were brought out of Egypt? They went out with a high hand. They left Egypt and they went on unto the promised land and God brought them forth out of bondage. That's the exact same way it is with law and grace. He brought us forth out of the law, just like he did with the Jews, and he brought us forth unto grace. when we were saved. And thank God, when Christ came, he completed the law, he confirmed the law, and it was finished after that. Now, Galatia refers to a region in north central Turkey. The capital, now in this place called Ankara, the capital of modern Turkey, was once a major Galatian city. The name of Galatia is derived from the 20,000 Galus, I'm probably not saying that right, the Gauls, who settled in the region in 278 BC. More than two centuries later, in 25 BC, the area became a Roman province and was extended to the south. In Paul's day, the new province included the regions of Pisidia, Ferga, and Lycosia. You find those all in the book of Acts. So anytime those places are mentioned, Paul is in Galatia. Scholars often refer to these new southern regions as South Galatia, and to geographic Galatia as North Galatia. Now, I wanna give you a story, or give background to this entire, what we wanna talk about in this entire book of Galatians. Some of you may remember, but I didn't know this until I studied a bit. The longest hostage siege of the 20th century concluded on January 20th, 1981, with the release by Iran of 52 Americans who were flown to freedom after 444 days of captivity. Anyone remember that? The Freedom Fly in 1981? They were put aboard an Algerian airline, Boeing 727 aircraft, and lifted off from Tehran's Murabad Airport, excuse me, their initial destination was believed to be Algiers, Algeria. Thus ended a nightmare that had preoccupied the international community and had threatened world peace since November 1979, when an armed mob seized the American embassy in Tehran with the complicity of the Iranian government. If you lived during that, you most likely remember that more vividly than I tell the story. Now, the timing of the events in the hostage siege and saga, it was poetic. They also called it, this is from a news story back then, I looked it up from 1981. They said, the timing of today's events in the hostage saga was poetic, almost melodramatic. The hostages came out with only hours remaining in Jimmy Carter's term as president. It says Ronald Reagan replaced him at noon that day. It says, a group of people sitting on the runway in Iran, most have been hostages for over a year. Some wondered if they would ever enjoy the freedom of America ever again. All of a sudden, while Ronald Reagan was giving his inaugural address, the hostages entered into airspace called freedom. The hostages entered into the airspace called freedom. All, I believe it was 52 of them. They have since claimed that freedom. every day. And you know, thinking of that story made me think of the great hymn that goes, Our Father God to thee, author of liberty, to thee I sing. My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, for all eternity, let freedom ring, let freedom ring, my country tis, my country tis. When Christ saved us and made us complete in Him, He saved us to live in freedom. When those Americans were flown across the ocean to Algeria, they were flown to Algeria, they were entered into freedom. When we were saved, we entered into freedom. The problem in Galatians is this. Jews came into the churches of Galatia and told them, you must live under the law and serve Christ. They had to do both. Another group of teachers also taught that you can live any kind of way that you want. So in one we have legalism and the other we have liberalism. Legalism is the idea that you must do blank, blank, blank to be saved. The Bible teaches that faith in Christ is your salvation 100%. It is of no work that you commit of yourself. Legalism says you must do blank, blank, blank to be saved. Liberalism says you can be saved, but you can live any kind of way you want. You can live free, enjoy, you can jump around, do whatever you want, except pleasing the Lord. Now, both ends of that spectrum are wrong. Legalism is not right because we believe there is salvation only in Christ. Let me give you a good course. Let me give you a good proof text here or a good understanding of what you can do with legalism. When it comes to your Bible, we add nothing unto it, right? We add nothing to it. but we also take nothing away from it. The legalist adds unto scripture and gives more rules, more regulations, more bindings. In liberalism, they take from scripture and say, you don't need this, you don't need that, and you can live any kind of way you want. We would consider ourselves right down the middle. We believe there are things that Christ wants us to do, and we do not believe you can live any kind of way you want. We would consider ourselves not on either end of the spectrum, and we believe that's where Bible Christians ought to rest. right in the middle of the two there. Now, It is ridiculous to think, now when we go back to our story, let me tell you this. An article following that time, on January 24th, just a little bit after all the Freedom Riders, the Freedom Flyers, got home to America, an article came out, where a budget officer at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran, he was finally relieved and brought back after that long captivity. You know, he was asked by a reporter, they asked, would you ever want to go back to Iran? He replied, only in a B-52, which is a bomber. It is ridiculous. Let me, I want to say this very intentionally, please. It is ridiculous to think of someone who was once in bondage would want to go back in that bondage. Again, it is ridiculous for those set free from bondage to want to go back willingly. Isn't that what we do with our sin? That Christ sets us free and you know what happens after that because the unsaved, they are slaves to sin. They are servants of sin. They really have no choice to their sin. Once you are a Christian and saved and love the Lord, the Holy Spirit indwells you, we are not forced to sin. We are not required to sin. We are not forcibly held down to sin. Christ saved us and set us free, so why would we go back willingly unto the bondage of sin that it has for us? The book of Proverbs talks about sin will encircle us like a rope and end up tying us down. We will be held down by our sin, and it holds us, doesn't it? Sin binds, and it constricts, and it holds you. You people think, oh, I have control over my sin. I can stop at any time. I can end it at any moment. I am free to live in my sin. That's true freedom. Friends, freedom is always found in boundaries. You only remove boundaries for bondage. You only have one of the two. People who think they have control over their sin, they're wrong. Every alcoholic I've ever met was once a moderate drinker. Every drug addict I used to know only did it a little bit. And sin quickly takes hold of our lives. controls us. Many people are dying over drugs. Many people are bound in their sin. Many people are out of church due to the sin that they have in their lives, and they're willingly walking back into the bondage that they were set free. Do you not remember what it was like before you were saved? Do you not remember what it was like before you walked with God? Do you not remember what it has been like when you lived in sin? Do you not remember that? Because I remember for me it was very dark times, very not so good times in other words. Times where I was at my lowest and at my worst and at my weakest was in times of that. Do we not remember that? Let me ask you a question just like Paul we're gonna learn about in Galatians. Do you really want to go back? Do you really want to go back to what you used to be and who you used to be in the life you really lived? I think many of us would say the answer would be no. We don't want to go back. Now the letter to Galatians is saying that freedom is worth preserving. It is a very strong affirmation of liberty in Christ. Not liberty to do what we wish. Now, freedom doesn't give us liberty to do whatever we want. It gives us freedom to serve the Lord Jesus. It gives us freedom to serve God the right way. Now, this book of Galatians is a bold attack on legalism based on works. We do not believe in works-based salvation. If you work to get saved, you must work to stay saved. And we believe that Christ holds us eternally secure. We are eternally saved by Christ forever. The false teaching brought to the Galatian churches by the Judaizers has been extremely difficult to root out, even today. We must walk a fine line. On one hand, we do not want to fall into legalism, like we said earlier, that the Galatians struggled with. But on the other hand, we cannot live as if everything goes. Again, we learned on Sunday that we will stand before the judgment seat, and we will give account for everything that we've done. Let me ask you, and we all know each other just about in here, do you want your life to make a difference? Many people would say yes, but we're not living a life like that, are we now? And life is just going on, one heartbeat, and nothing is changing. One of my favorite quotes that I love to quote all the time, if you want things to change, you have to change some things. We always want things to change, but we're not willing to change what we're already doing. A great definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and over, and expecting different results. It's not gonna work, friends. That doesn't work at our jobs, in our spiritual life, at church, nothing. If we want things to change, which all of us do, we have to change some things. Now let's talk about, I wanna preach expositorily over the first two verses here, and hopefully the Lord will bring some application. Number one, I want you to see the author of Galatians, the author of Galatians. Number one, you see Paul. Paul, one of the greatest role models you could ever have in your life is the Apostle Paul. Paul was undoubtedly the author of this epistle. That's all common, but I want to tell you about this man. Paul used to be, he was a horrible man. horrible man. It says in Acts chapter 8 verse number 3, as for Saul, he made havoc of the church. I know some people who have done that in the past, made havoc of the church. He entered, but Paul, his name used to be Saul, entered into every house. He was hailing men and women, committing them to prison for being a Christian. He was a totally opposite of what he should have been. You know why Paul persecuted the church? He believed he was serving God the correct way. There are some people who are totally against what the Bible stands for because they believe they're serving God. Paul was a horrible man. I'm thankful Paul is a perfect example. He said this in 1 and 2 Timothy, talking to Timothy, he said, Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners in whom I am chief. That's what Paul said. What a good role model to let us all know that the Lord saves sinners. Paul was a very wicked man. He was consenting. Remember when Stephen died in Acts chapter number 7? Paul was there consenting unto his death. He was okay with it. He was throwing Christians into prison, trying to work for the Lord, and he was a horrible man, a murderous man, a wicked man, was Paul, was, was. Such were some of you, but you are justified, sanctified, and washed." Isn't that what the Bible says? Thank God for what Christ does in our life. Number two, he was also an honorable man in the flesh. Let me tell you this in Philippians chapter three. He said, though I might have also confidence in the flesh, He said, if any other man thinketh that he have whereof he might trust in the flesh, I am more. He said, I can trust my flesh more than anybody. He said, I'm circumcised the eighth day. He's of the stock of Israel. He's of the tribe of Benjamin. He's a Hebrew of the Hebrews, as touching the law of Pharisee. He's a concerning zeal. He persecuted the church. He said, touching the righteousness, which is in the law, blameless. In other words, let me paraphrase. He said he was so full of zeal for God, he persecuted the church. He said he was so righteous in the law, he was blameless. You couldn't put anything on his account against the law. He said he was circumcised the eighth day. He was a prime stock. He was a Benjaminite. He was a Hebrew of the Hebrews. In other words, he was the best fleshly stock that Israel had to offer. He was honorable in the flesh. Let me tell you, friends, that when you are honorable in your flesh and when you think you're all that in a bag of chips, it really equals nothing. For example, I'll say this behind here to a select audience, in high school I was prom king. I was student government president, I was homecoming court, I was basketball varsity captain, and had all those honorable fleshly accolades that people think that you want. And friends, at the end of the day, it equals nothing, it means nothing, and my prom king crown is just sitting in my closet collecting dust, and it's worthless, means nothing. And it equals zero success for the cause of Christ. And Paul here, he's talking about how he used to be in his flesh, how he had everything we thought we could want. That's how a lot of people live, isn't it? They think that they have all this and all that, all my things, all my stuff, all the money that I make is their worth. Friends, your worth is found in Christ. Whether you were rich or poor, you're still priceless to the Lord Jesus. And he desperately loves you. And just because you think you have much to boast about on the outside, and you have all this wonderful things, at the end of the day, at the end of your life, it means nothing. Isn't that interesting to think about? Didn't Christ say to set your affections on things above, not things underneath? And everything that we do, physically, in our flesh, that we think satisfies us and brings gratification to our lives and stuff like that, doesn't that equal nothing at the end of the day? That is such a profound thought to think about. So Paul was a horrible man, he was an honorable man, but he was also a helped man. He said, again, in 1 Timothy 1.15, this is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. What I also want to get across to you, which Christians do this all the time, is all the time you're asked maybe to give a testimony behind a pulpit in a church or even out in public, And a lot of people talk about all the good they've done. Well, I'm this and I'm that now, and I'm this and I'm that now. I'm not what I used to be. Friends, Christ is supposed to be your testimony. When you stand up, it's supposed to be what He did for you, not what you think you're doing for Him, like you're doing Him a favor. You stand up and testify, the Lord Jesus is so good. He made me what I am today. Thank God He changed me. Remember this rule, great rule. If there's anything bad about me, blame me. If there's anything good about me, blame God. That's a great way to say humble. Anything bad about me, blame me. Anything good about me, blame God. Didn't Paul say, in my flesh dwells no good thing? So everything else good must come from the Lord Jesus. And thank God for all he's done in our lives. Do you not remember, are you ungrateful for what he's done in your life? Are we ungrateful for what's been done in our lives? Paul was also a heroic man. He is what we could call a hero. Paul was a hero. And you know what? We have a lot of kids who have a lot of role models of athletes and superstars and celebrities, but a hero needs to probably be a man from the Bible. If it's not the Lord Jesus, pick another good man. And Paul was a heroic man. In other words, in 2 Timothy 4, he said, I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. He said, I fought a good fight, I finished my course, I kept the faith. He was a heroic man. He finished his course well. Friends, we have a lot of individuals who will not finish their course well. They will not end well. And their lives will mean nothing. I really want to strive on that, because that is such a conviction for me. We live, all of us have a life, and we do not end well. Paul was a heroic man. He was a great role model and one of the best Christians we know about in the Bible. And we are thankful for the author of Galatians, Paul. Now, Paul was a man who had a heart. And we're going to talk a little bit about this. We talked about the opposite of love is not hate. The opposite of love is selfishness. Selfishness. And Paul was willing to give himself. Paul also said this, he said, I make myself all things to all men that I might win some. He gave himself to win. You know what he also said? Paul said this, he was willing to make himself accursed from Christ that his people may be led to the Lord. In other words, he was willing to go to hell if it meant that people would get saved. And he was willing to lay down his life for his brethren. Now, number two, I want you to see the apostle to the Gentiles. Now, we saw the author of Galatians. Now, I want you to see the apostle to the Gentiles. Now, see, it says, Paul, an apostle, not of man, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. Paul had visited the Galatians twice before this letter was written. Acts 16 was his first journey to Galatia and that region. Acts 18 shows his second journey three years later to these people. Paul, in his first journey, had seen love, warmth, and responsiveness from the Galatian churches. But, during his second visit, there was a lot far less to be reassured about with the people. Paul had sensed a change in atmosphere. Have you ever been to a church where you felt a change in spiritual atmosphere? It happens all the time. A different temperature is in that church and it's much colder. Paul had detected and denounced wrong doctrine. Now, I want to talk about this and I want to say it very clear behind here. There are no apostles today. I want to say that. There are zero apostles today. So any man or woman claiming to be an apostle is not one, by definition in the Bible. Many people claim to be an apostle. I'm an apostle this or an apostle that. There are no apostles today. Here are some requirements for an apostle and how I can prove to you that there are none today. An apostle had to be an eyewitness of the Lord Jesus, alive, resurrected, whether before his death or after his death, because Paul was also an apostle, but he saw him after he was risen from the dead. So an apostle had to see the Lord Jesus Christ. And guess what? How many people on earth have done that? Zero. None. Nada. So immediately on the first qualification that's a zero. So the Apostles all were eyewitnesses of the Lord Jesus. Eyewitnesses of the Lord Jesus. But then an Apostle had to be selected by Christ himself. All the Apostles in the New Testament were selected specifically by Christ. Even after Judas died and they had to fill his Apostle spot. He was also selected then. And then Paul, remember on the road to Damascus, was selected by the Lord Jesus Christ there. Didn't he say, Paul, Paul, why persecutest thou me? And Paul basically was like, who is speaking to me? He said, the one whom thou persecutest, Jesus Christ. The Lord selected him for a called, specific purpose. Also, an apostle had to be able to perform miracles. Here's why miracles are not being performed today by physical men. Why don't men go around touching the blind and making them see or healing the lame and making them walk? Why is all of this just a gimmick in other kinds of religions and stuff like that? Because the apostles were given the gift of healing to prove their authenticity. They were given the ability. Christ came to heal, not simply because he was just a nice guy. Christ came to heal to prove who he was. His miracles proved his authenticity. If I rolled up in here to church one night, and I started healing everyone with some ache and body ailment, you'd probably believe anything I tell you. I'm this or that. If everyone was just magically healed, well, in the New Testament, Christ would heal to prove who he was. That's the same way the apostles healed. God gave them the ability to heal. to prove their message was true and to prove who they were, the authenticity of the messenger. So those three things had to happen if a man was gonna be an apostle. So the apostle Paul was, in all honesty, an apostle. He says here, not of man, neither by man. He wasn't given this title by a man. He wasn't put on by a man. It came from God the Father and Christ. That's what it says, Paul an apostle, not of man, neither by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead. Now Paul was sent to reach Gentiles. Guess what? Every person, if you're not pure-blood Jew, you are a Gentile. And that's who Paul was sent to reach. The heathen who did not know God, the heathen who did not serve God, and who reached the other lost communities was Paul. Now let me get this. We can be thankful to the Apostle Paul. You know why? Because if it wasn't for him reaching Europe, the Christians in Europe never reaching America, and the Christianity we have here today would not exist, because it spread across. Because this was all in Israelite territory, in this area, in the Middle East. It spread to Europe, and then eventually, 1,000 years later, 1,500 years later, it came to our coasts. And so we can thank God. I'm thankful Christianity spreads, because if it wasn't for someone hundreds and hundreds of years ago who told someone else about the Lord Jesus, we most likely wouldn't have heard about him here today. We have someone else we can thank God for, for telling us about the Lord Jesus. Now, are we going to be so selfish and not tell anyone else? Are we going to hinder the flame and the fire and spreading with us? Don't we tend to do that oftentimes? How many people have we told about the Lord Jesus this week? He was an apostle to the Gentiles. How are you doing in your evangelism? Doesn't that kind of convict us a little bit on how guilty we are for not reaching those around us? Paul was specific in reaching the heathen and non-Jewish people groups. He was given a specific task and a specific mission. He was the apostle to the Gentiles, and that's what God wants us to do, is be a missionary. You ever heard that song, Lord prepare me to be a sanctuary? You ever heard that? I used to change the words. Lord prepare me to be a missionary and to reach the world. It only takes one person to lead one person to the Lord. It spreads like wildfire. That's what revival needs. You want to see a revival in this place? You want to see a revival in this church? It's going to start with God's people finally becoming soul winners like we're commanded so strongly to do. So number one, you saw, and this is just really background stuff, the author of Galatians, you saw the apostles to the Gentiles. Now you see the affection to God's people. This is why I say a heart for Galatia. You see the affection to God's people. It says, Paul, an apostle, and all the brethren which are with me unto the churches of Galatia. Now I wanna tell you three things about the love here. that Paul had. Paul had a real love for the Galatians, a real love. You know what we have a lot of today? It's fake. Imitation love is what we have today. It says in Galatians 4.13, Paul said this, Paul had a lot of physical ailments. Many people believe he battled with eyesight. He couldn't see very well and he had a real love. Do you know what it's like to be in pain and physical torment day in and day out and still give yourself to other people? Do you know what it's like to have weakness and to give yourself even, see people call out of work all the time because they have a little bit of headache or have a little bit of toothache and they call out and leave all that stuff. But imagine still being faithful, still working your heart out, still doing all that you can, still in pain. Now that's real love. Because real love does not jump at the first excuse to get out. If it did, your marriage would have ended a long time ago, wouldn't it? Real love does not jump at the first sign of escape. It stays and works, even through the bad and the thick and the thin. He had a real love. Friends, if you want this church to become one, that's what Paul talks about. God wants this church to become one. If you want it to become one, there's gonna have to be a spirit of real love in this place. And we need the right definitions of love. Love and tolerance are not the exact same synonym. They're not synonyms together. Love and acceptance are not synonyms. If I am in the wrong, and you do not tell me about it, and you do not bring it to me, and you do not confront me with it, and you just accept it because it's tolerance and it's acceptance, that is unloving to do. If your child steals from a grocery store, and you allow it, and you don't reprimand them, and you don't discipline them, you call that love? We call that craziness, because that's what a lot of kids are doing nowadays. They're just doing whatever they want, and they're unloved. What I've learned as I'm growing older, there are a lot of parents, a lot of family members don't love their children. Just because you're family doesn't mean you love. It's not automatic. And we, as a church family, need to have love for one another. We have to actually have to care about one another. We actually have to care about our lives. You know, a lot of churches, and we don't want to be like this necessarily, but a lot of churches, they just meet three times a week, they chitter chat, make small talk, and that's it. With the original church in the book of Acts, they met daily, they were a part of each other's lives, and they loved one another. They knew what was going on, they hung out, they had fun together. You know the best friends I have in my life are church people. They ought to be for you too. God's people are the best people to hang out with, to spend time with, and I love God's people. He had a real love, and if you ever want your Christian life to grow more, you ever want your Christian life to be more, you're going to have to stop just caring about yourself. Because remember, the opposite of love is selfishness. Thank God that He gave His only begotten Son, He gave Love gives. What are you willing to give to your brothers and sisters in Christ? What are you willing to give to the Lord to show Him your love towards Him? Again, love is not an action. Love is an action, not a feeling. Love is an action. It's a verb. And we want to commit loving acts and do loving things towards the Lord Jesus and towards one another. to serve him right, he had a real love. We don't want imitation, we don't want fake, we want real love to the Lord Jesus, and we want real love to one another. Isn't that what we should have? Isn't that what a church should have, is real love towards one another? He also had a rebuking love. It says in Galatians 3.1, he says this to the Galatian church, he says, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you that ye should not obey the truth? How would you like it if one of your church members said, you fool? What are you doing, you fool? You're foolish. That'd be a little harsh, wouldn't it? A little sting to you? Well, Paul did. He said, Oh foolish Galatians who had bewitched you. Paul, we're going to talk about this. We're going to talk all about the whole book Galatians. We're just giving you a little bit here. He was confronting them with them leaving and departing the truth and leaving and departing Christ. That's so many people are doing today as well. He said, Oh foolish Galatians. He rebuked them. True love is willing to have the hard conversations. True love is willing to have the right conversations. True love is willing to do what other people aren't. You wanna talk about apathy? You wanna talk about being apathetic and not caring? Apathy comes from those who won't say anything and won't do anything. Tell me you love your fellow church member and you watch him fall, watch him falter, and watch him leave the church. Tell me and I'll say a word. Oh, but I don't wanna judge him. I don't wanna be mean to him. I don't wanna bring it up. If you don't bring it up, who will? No one. No one. And they're just gonna go. No one's gonna care. No one's gonna say a word. And they're just gonna be gone one day. And we never said a word to try to pull them out of the life that they were in. Real love, let me tell you a little bit about real love that Paul had. Real love doesn't allow sin. Real love and sin don't go together. Love and sin do not intermingle. They are opposites to the one and the other. We know that God is love. They are one and the same, so love and sin do not intermingle. They are not together. They are not together, and they are opposites. Real love and sin don't mix. You cannot have love and evil at the same time. We saw that Paul had a real love. He had a rebuking love, but he also had a relational love. I'll explain. Relational love means strong ways of bonding with each other that provides a source of mutual support, enjoyment, and potential growth for each other. Doesn't that sound like a definition of a church? Mutual support, enjoyment, and growth for each other. He had a relational love. He said in Galatians 4, 19 and 20, my little children, he called them his little children, whom I travail in birth again until Christ be formed in you. I desire to be present with you and to change my voice for I stand in doubt of you." He had relational love. He was, here's what, you want to know what love is like? Love means you care about the development of the other person. You care about their growth. What kind of pastor would I be to you if I was not interested in your growth? what's best for you. Now, growing pains hurt. You remember those growing up? You'd have those aches in your arms and your legs, and it actually hurt sometimes. Do you remember those times? Well, sometimes growing hurts. You have growing pains. And sometimes, as a good pastor, as a good church member, you got to help your other church members grow. You know what one of me and Miss Allie's biggest problems that we had, we've always had, is the lack of older Christians who've been saved 50, 60, 70 years to take us up or to train us. When I was 19 years old, I was teaching the adult Sunday school class for our church. Not because I knew all that, not because I was super qualified, but because there was no other able-bodied person to do it. And what we need is older-bodied Christians to take up the younger. Listen, it's not my job to just help grow everybody as pastors. It's not my job just to train everybody. We are called, in the book of Titus, the older gentlemen help raise up the younger, and the older women bring up the younger. We need to invest into the next generation. If not, they'll turn into a generation like we have now. Do you know that two-thirds, they estimate, of people my age are lost, just completely gone? People, when they turn 18, are not in churches. The age of churches are slowly, they are, well, I wouldn't even say slowly, they are increasingly growing older. The youth is not coming into our churches, especially my age. 20-year-olds, you hardly find that age group in churches very often. It's because of a generation that was not given real love, rebuking love to show them when they're wrong and how to get fixed, and they weren't shown relational love. And that's what a church desperately needs. We're called to bond with one another. We're called to become friends with one another. Our love doesn't start and stop when we come to service. Did you hear me? Our love does not start and stop when we come to church service. It doesn't start when we enter the building and stop when we leave. It needs to be church is all the time. We are the church. All right. The church is not a building. It is a people and we are the church. and we are called to care and love for one another. Do you know, we've talked about this possibly before, in National Geographic, have you ever seen the videos when a lion or a tiger would go after some kind of deer or an antelope or something? Do you know what they always try to do? They always try to isolate. There's power in numbers. And Satan, we know, is as a roaring lion. And you know what he loves to do to people? He loves to isolate. He loves to get them from church, get them from their family, and get them alone. And they are a perfect target for him. The Bible says in Ephesians that the devil has wiles, the wiles of the devil. You ever seen that word? Do you know what that word means? The word means methods or means. It basically, in other words, Satan has a strategic plan to make all of us fall. He's very smart. He's very knowledgeable and he has a specific detailed game plan against us. The wiles of the devil, the means, the method. He has a means and a method to fight against us. He knows us. He understands where we're weak. He's dealt with humans for thousands of years. You don't think he knows how to make us trip up and fall? You don't think he knows that when we think we're something different? No, he's been dealing with people a long time and knows what the flesh likes. Trust me, because he's full of it. He's all flesh. He knows what the flesh enjoys and knows the bait to put in front of us to lure us to do wrong. We are a church where body believers were called together to provide mutual support. He had a love, a heart for the Galatian church. I want us as a church to have a heart for each other, a heart for us. We're one. We're a people group. We're not individuals. We are one. Our head is Christ, and then we are his body, the body of believers, which is called the church. Now, as we dig in, we're gonna talk about this more Sunday night in the book of Galatians, and we'll get into much more deeper things. I wanna give you a background here. of the heart that Paul had, who he was, how he wrote. And it's very important, you'll find later on in chapter one, he's calling himself an apostle. He says, not of men, it's because later on men were changing things. He said, I didn't get this from God. I mean, I didn't get this from men, excuse me. He said, I got this from God. And he was bringing, he was clear in confusion. He said, everything I'm telling you is from the Lord, and you're following all this false doctrine from someone else. So this week, we wanna have a right love, a true love for other church members, and actually care about one another. Many of us leave through these doors and we don't think about each other, not one single time until Sunday. Pray for me, pray for each other. I'll pray for you. I'll pray for many of you by name this morning. And we need to have a real love for one another and a heart for this place. Paul had a heart for Galatia, we need to have a heart for Fairlawn, a heart for Radford, a heart for Montgomery County and Pulaski County, a heart for these people. Do we even care? And do we want to put in the effort to reach this community? Let's have a heart for our local Galatia, our people. Let's pray tonight. Father, we love you.