THE BOOK OF GALATIANS – CHAPTER 4:12-20 - MESSAGE 15 – PAUL’S HEART WAS OUTPOURED FOR THE GALATIANS
PART [A] - HUMBLED TO BECOME AS THE GALATIANS WERE
{{Galatians 4:12 “I beg of you, brethren, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You have done me no wrong”}}
Paul tells them this is not personal – they have not injured him. It is not loyalty to Paul which was in question, but loyalty to the Lord! They had disappointed Paul, hurt him, but they had spurned the sacrifice of the Lord. They had wronged the Lord.
Paul appeals to these Christian friends in terms that are endearing, appealing to them from his own position. “Become as I am” means Paul became as the Galatians when among them, not as any great trained Pharisee (which he was) or some great teacher (which he was) but lived with them on the same level. He became as a Gentile and as such, the entrapments of Judaism were not to be considered. In humility he became as one of them. It reminds us of what Paul wrote elsewhere – {{1Corinthians 9:19-23 “Though I am free from all men, I HAVE MADE MYSELF A SLAVE TO ALL, that I might win the more. To the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews. To those who are under the Law, as under the Law, though not being myself under the Law, that I might win those who are under the Law. To those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God but under the law of Christ, that I might win those who are without law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men that I may by all means save some. I do all things for the sake of the gospel that I may become a fellow partaker of it.”}}
“Become as I am” means the Galatians should be as Paul, not governed by Jewish traditions and Sabbath days and rituals that Paul had moved away from, and all the rest these false teachers were trying to force onto the Galatian Christians.
[[ “Follow my example in laying aside your opinion of the necessity of the law, for I am - Or rather, I was; as ye are - That is, I was once as zealous of the law as you are, but by the grace of God I am now of another mind: be you so too. {{Philippians 3:7-8 but whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish in order that I may gain Christ,}}. Or, as some understand the verse, I beseech you to maintain the same affectionate regard for me as I bear toward you, and candidly to receive those sentiments which I, to whose authority in the church ye can be no strangers, have been inculcating upon you.” ]] (Benson)
PART [B] – RETURNING TO THE FIRST CONTACT
{{Galatians 4:13 but you know that it was because of a bodily illness that I preached the gospel to you the first time,
Galatians 4:14 and that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.
Galatians 4:15 Where then is that sense of blessing you had for I bear you witness, that if possible, you would have plucked (dug) out your eyes and given them to me?”}}
VERSE 13
Paul had some illness that caused him to stay in Galatia and therefore preach to the people. The Galatians were converted and gave Paul the warmest of welcomes and they accepted him as an angel, even Christ. Their love and devotion was overwhelming. Paul’s illness most probably was related to his eyes and these Galatians would gladly have dug out their eyes to give them to Paul. This was in spite of the fact that it was a trial for the Galatians to look at Paul. It may have been his thorn in the flesh.
“Because of a bodily illness” - it is clear, that on Paul’s first journey through Galatia he was compelled by reason of bodily weakness to stay there in that region. It did not form a part of his plan, but because of his love for the unsaved, during this sojourn that was forced on him by necessity, he preached the gospel to the Galatians. Let us not blame the illness. It was all in God’s plan. Though it meant discomfort to Paul, it meant salvation to the Galatians. We complain when things don’t go according to our plans but God always has a much higher purpose in mind we may not even recognise, even at the time.
Paul’s time with the Galatians is recorded only very briefly – {{Acts 16:6 “And they went through THE REGION OF PHRYGIA AND GALATIA, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.”}}
VERSE 14
Who can overlook defects? Our churches are full of judgemental people who discriminate on appearance, standard of living, wealth, and ethnicity. In my understanding this is particularly bad in the USA where status and income and position mean far more than they ought to in a materialistic society. It was not that much different in the situation James writes about - {{James 2:1-4 My brethren, do not hold your faith in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ with an attitude of personal favoritism. If a man comes into your assembly with a gold ring and dressed in fine clothes, and there also comes in a poor man in dirty clothes, and you pay special attention to the one who is wearing the fine clothes and say, “You sit here in a good place,” and you say to the poor man, “You STAND OVER THERE, or SIT DOWN BY MY FOOTSTOOL,” have you not made distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives?”}}
How many of us make other believers stand, or cause them to sit at our footstools? That is very bad, my friends. The gracious believer will promote those poor and downtrodden by the world and afford to them dignity and even preference. In as much as you do it to one of the least of My brethren you do it unto Me. May we have nothing to do with preferential treatment of those with a name, or those who in turn, might do us a favour. None of that is of Christ.
{{“And that which was a trial to you in my bodily condition you did not despise or loathe, but you received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus Himself.”}} Whatever Paul’s condition, be it some chromic Ophthalmology problem or something more loathsome, how was he received by the Galatians? As an angel, and even as Jesus Christ Himself! Godliness rises above appearance and discrimination. It did with the Galatians. Why does it make little headway with us? I might add that for many, especially those in high positions in denominations, the denomination is more important than “other Christians” and that is disgraceful. However in Paul’s case here what he says was history. The next verse changes all that.
VERSE 15
Where are those days long gone? Take account keep short tabs.
What Paul now directs their minds to is, “Where is the blessing they had when he was there?” What had happened to them to change their minds? Are they going to reject Paul and his letter? Just before his martyrdom Paul wrote to Timothy to say that all in Asia had turned away from him. Why are Christians so fickle and unstable? Why are they not strong in the Lord? This was a great sadness to Paul in his latter years.
What sort of people are Christians who walk as if not Christians? Do they not understand the depth of Christ’s sacrifice for them? It is nothing but selfishness. It is a disgrace. There are two words that would characterise the righteous life all through the bible. One is commitment and the other is faithfulness. We are at the end of the Church age when everything is declining rapidly and the coming of the Lord is close, but most don’t seem to care. It is very sad. We need strong Christians in the Lord’s service and all we see is an increase in wimps. The sad thing is that these wimps are also flounders because they are found in the shallows of Christianity, untrained and untaught.
It is the fault of the churches. Ministers do not expound the scriptures expositionally; many resort to story telling and entertainment while the depth of the great doctrines and Christian development go untouched. Some small homily or a 20 minute message on “feel-good” subjects is what passes for what used to be the great biblical teaching of the past. Look at the sermons of Spurgeon and the men earlier than him such as Jonathon Edwards and they would speak for an hour or more but these men spoke the depth of God because they lived the depth of God.
In Galatians 6:12 Paul directs the churches in Galatia to see what large letters he is using in writing to them. That was because he normally used an amanuensis, one who wrote what Paul dictated, but this letter was so important that, with difficulty, he wrote to them himself and poor sight caused large letters. Such was Paul’s extreme desire and care for these wayward people of Galatia.
There was a time they would gladly have given their own eyes to relieve Paul’s problem, but now they have been so degraded by the Sabbath keeping, circumcision teachers, and rules and regulations that they had lost their sensitivity for Christ.
PART [C] – HOW WILL YOU HANDLE THE TRUTH?
{{Galatians 4:16 “Have I therefore become your enemy by telling you the truth?”}}
Paul’s great concern was that they would turn on him for speaking the truth of God. It was a saying by the Jews in the early days when referring to Paul, “Down with our enemy.” Paul would have known this attitude so he asks the question and also allowing the Galatians to answer for themselves. Paul’s love was such that it would not be betrayed by the Galatian error, and he knew these people, and even though he asked the question of the churches, I feel sure the Christians there would be challenged by God in repentance, and then the rejection of the error.
There never was a second epistle to the Galatians so we do not know what their response was. Again I feel sure the Lord would have “burned” their hearts in shame and enlightenment through this letter that they turned from their serious error.
Bishop Ellicott suggests this – [[ “It would seem that something had happened upon St. Paul’s second visit to Galatia (the visit recorded in Acts 18:23) which had caused a change in their feelings towards him. His plain speaking had given offence.” ]] Again the verse is of the briefest information – {{Acts 18:23 “Having spent some time there, he departed and passed successively through the Galatian region and Phrygia, strengthening all the disciples.”}}
I think all my listeners and readers would have experienced objection to being told the truth. I would almost guarantee all of you/us are guilty. I want to quote Barnes here. I like Barnes because he often is very practical. The parts in upper case are still Barnes but I emphasised them – [[ “Am I therefore become your enemy . . . - Is my telling you the truth in regard to the tendency of the doctrines which you have embraced, and the character of those who have led you astray, and your own error, a proof that I have ceased to be your friend? HOW APT ARE WE TO FEEL THAT THE MAN WHO TELLS US OF OUR FAULTS IS OUR ENEMY! How apt are we to treat him coldly, and to "cut his acquaintance," and to regard him with dislike! THE REASON IS, HE GIVES US PAIN; AND WE CANNOT HAVE PAIN GIVEN TO US, even by the stone against which we stumble, or by any of the brute creation, without momentary indignation, or regarding them for a time as our enemies. Besides, WE DO NOT LIKE TO HAVE ANOTHER PERSON ACQUAINTED WITH OUR FAULTS AND OUR FOLLIES; and we naturally avoid the society of those who are thus acquainted with us. Such is human nature; and it requires no little grace for us to overcome this, and to regard the man who tells us of our faults, or the faults of our families, as our friend.” ]]
PART [D] – THE WICKED AIM OF FALSE TEACHERS
{{Galatians 4:17 “They eagerly seek you, not commendably, but they wish to shut you out, in order that you may seek them,”}}
“Eagerly seek” is a word meaning to boil. The false teachers were boiling in tempers to win over the Galatians but in rage and hatred for Paul. “Not commendably” means in an underhanded way, not above board, to win adherents to their Law and to their own faction, to make the Galatians dependent on these false teachers. The enemies of the cross even today, are boiling with hatred for Christians.
In our nations of the western world, the left is becoming very strong as it moves to world socialism under globalism. It is all in preparation for the one world government that very soon will be headed up by the world ruler/Antichrist after the removal of the Church. I am noticing a boiling hatred coming from these Marxists, especially those of the “GREENS Party”, so called environmentalists, but they are radical communists who hate Christians and the Jews. The homosexual/lesbian Mardi Gras boils with hateful venom against Christians.
However in our passage these Judaisers pursued the Galatians with a boiling zeal seeking to lock them up to their error and exclude all other considerations. They are destroyers and most definitely have Paul in view as a hated enemy. They wanted the Galatians to sever all ties with Paul so they could be enchained to these false teachers. That is the progress of evil which hates the good and is ever out to destroy it. Beware of those who want to place you under the Sabbath and under aspects of the Law (They are not Christian); and to abide by rules and constitutions and memberships (They are legalists).
PART [E] – SOUGHT AFTER IN THE PROPER WAY
{{Galatians 4:18 “but it is good always to be eagerly sought in a commendable manner, and not only when I am present with you.”}}
What would be good was for the Galatian churches to have a godly desire to seek God to know Him more and more and to be guided by His word. Those who seek the good of the Galatians must be doing it in a commendable way, a caring and loving way. Paul is hoping the Galatian desire would be present always. It is easy to be on good behaviour when a person of note might be present, for us to have a show of godliness, but at all other times does it show like that, like the way we might be when wanting to display to an outsider?
What would be very wrong is for these Galatians is to show one face to Paul when present and another when he was absent. Paul hopes the godly attitude would be always with the Galatians and they would also seek him as he always sought their good. One seeks the good when that one is controlled by the bible. Too many churches use the bible superficially and not study God’s word. I have an article called “Artificial People Living Artificial Lives” that examines that attitude.
PART [F] – PAUL IN LABOUR AGAIN
{{Galatians 4:19 “My CHILDREN with whom I am again IN LABOUR until Christ is formed in you –”}}
“Children”. This is a very special word used by the Lord once in John 13:33, by Paul here, and by John 7 times in his first letter. It is such deep tenderness. Paul is stressed over these Galatians, as a woman in labour almost. He is working on their behalf. Each saint in Galatia was like his choice little baby in his arms, so much he loved the churches of Galatia.
He was coming into labour to give birth once again. He labored over the people in the first instance to bring them to Christ, and now he has to be in labour again to bring them back to Christ.
“until Christ is formed in you” [[ “Just as the formless embryo by degrees takes the shape of man, so the unformed Christian by degrees takes the likeness of Christ. As he grows in grace that likeness becomes more and more defined, till at last the Christian reaches the “stature of the fullness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:13). ]] (Ellicott) [[ “Till you be made fully acquainted with, and established in, the belief of every part of his doctrine; and till you be so endowed with the graces of his Spirit, that all the mind is in you that was in him.” ]] (Benson)
PART [G] – PERPLEXED, CONFUSED
{{Galatians 4:20 “but I could wish to be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you.”}}
There are times when we wish that situations did not occur. I hate conflict and try to avoid it. The whole thing can be too stressful. It is much worse when Christians cause the conflict. However it is like being in a canoe heading towards some rapids and you try to make it to the shore but you can’t, but you realise you have to face up to the trouble coming. In trying to address problems in a church, it is like that canoe. You wish you did not have to do it, or that others can deal with the matter. Alas, the responsibility falls on you.
Paul had to deal with this matter, and through this letter, he changed from reprimand to caring love and tenderness to expressing doubt as he does in this verse. He states he is perplexed about them.
Firstly, how could they abandon the truth? Then again how could they place themselves in bondage again? The word “perplexed” means “to have no way out; to be at a loss”. “Perplexed” is used by the NASB, Berean, NIV, ESV and several other translations. I like the way it is put in Holman – “I would like to be with you right now and change my tone of voice, because I don't know what to do about you.”
What Paul wrote to them was necessary, a mixture of disappointment, love, reprimand and yearning. However the Holy Spirit was looking ahead down the centuries even to us for our instruction, a fact Paul was not aware of.
We will end there now and continue later with the next.
