Well, thank you very much, Alice, for reading that for us.
And I just want to add my welcome to all the other welcomes that have been offered already this morning.
It's really good to have you all with us today.
As Alice said, my name is Craig, and I'm a pastor in training here at Brunsfield.
And it is a real pleasure to take us into the next part of Galatians.
So do keep your Bibles open.
We're going to keep referring to quite a few verses on the way through this passage.
But I wonder, to begin, and I don't apologize for making this link.
This is very prevalent in our minds, especially this week.
I wonder if you can imagine what it's like to be a hostage.
It must be a totally awful existence, taken into captivity violently, suffering terribly,
held against your will, and being separated from your loved ones.
Now, keep imagining with me, you are a hostage this morning,
but one day you get the news that you're going to be released.
You're going to be returned home.
And you're going to taste that sweet freedom once again.
How thrilling to get that news.
But soon after, once you've returned home,
once life is getting back to normal again,
you decide you want to return back to captivity and become a hostage again.
Returning to that same darkness, starvation, slavery, and ill treatment that you suffered before.
It would be utter madness to choose to go back into captivity, don't you think?
To throw away your freedom and to return to slavery.
Well, this is the very thing that the Galatian Christians are at risk of doing.
In this passage, Paul says,
Paul warns them that by beginning to observe the Jewish law,
adding Jewish rules and traditions to their existing Christian faith,
faith, it's as some people are encouraging them to do.
It's like choosing to become a slave once again,
returning to the hostage cell,
returning to the very things that Jesus had already rescued them from.
But it would also be like us returning to the sins that we were once enslaved to,
the things that Jesus had freed us from.
In fact, if we turn to any of the things that pull us like magnets away from Jesus,
if we give into their magnetic pull and forsake Jesus and his love for us that we've just been singing about,
it would be like us returning to our hostage cell.
So Paul is baffled that the Galatians are already starting to do this.
They're already starting to turn to a different gospel.
A false gospel where believing in Jesus is not enough to be saved.
But in our passage,
after reminding us of the tremendous privileges that we have as a Christian,
we thought about that last week.
Paul warns us that we are fools if we ever even consider throwing it all away.
Now,
I wonder if you notice the really strong language in this passage.
Paul is not holding back.
He says some things like this.
I fear I've wasted my efforts with you.
I plead with you,
brothers and sisters.
Have I now become your enemy by telling you the truth?
I am in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.
How I wish I could be with you and change my tone because I'm perplexed by you.
Paul is really distressed.
But what is Paul seeking to communicate to readers of this letter?
And that includes us today.
It's this.
Departing from the gospel and forsaking our relationship with God will only lead us back into captivity.
Instead,
what does Paul want for his readers?
What transformation does he seek in their lives?
That we might remember what we've been saved from,
what we've been saved to,
and zealously pursue above all things the likeness of Jesus forming in us.
This is what Paul longs to take place in the lives of Galatians.
And until that happens,
until Christ is formed in them,
until Jesus,
they look more and more like Jesus.
Until that happens,
Paul waits in anguish,
like a mother giving birth to a child.
So we're going to look at how Paul seeks to persuade the Galatians
to stick with Jesus
and not return to captivity.
And we're going to do this in two parts this morning.
So we're going to look at verses 8 to 11,
first of all,
remembering our past,
and verses 12 to 20,
remembering our commitment.
So remembering our past,
first of all,
verses 8 to 11.
So Paul wants to remind the Galatians of their past,
what they have been saved from,
and what they've been saved to.
In verse 8,
Paul reminds them that formerly,
you had no knowledge of God.
Now,
it's possible to know things about God,
but to not know him personally.
That's an important distinction to be aware of.
It's possible to know things about God,
but to not know him personally.
Before they heard the good news about Jesus,
these Galatians had neither knowledge of the Christian God,
nor a personal relationship with him.
They had neither.
They had no knowledge of God.
Next,
Paul reminds the Galatians that they were slaves
to those who by nature are not gods.
He describes these things elsewhere as weak and miserable forces.
That's in verse 9.
Those who by nature are not gods,
those weak and miserable forces.
Now,
some commentators translate these spiritual forces
as demonic forces,
which I think is plausible.
Before the Galatians came to know the resurrected Jesus personally,
while they were still serving their pagan gods,
maybe the sun or the moon or the things in nature
or any other idol,
Paul explains that they were in fact serving.
Demons.
Now,
this stacks up with Paul's teaching in other places in the New Testament,
like in 1 Corinthians chapter 10.
You might want to check these places out later.
In 1 Corinthians 10,
Paul describes that offering,
pagan sacrifices are offerings to demons
and not to God.
And in Ephesians chapter 2,
he also talks about
that before we were Christians,
we were dead.
And whether knowingly or unknowingly,
we were followers of Satan.
The Galatian Christians have been saved,
not just from an ignorance of God,
but they'd also been freed from slavery to Satan.
But what have they been saved to?
Well,
Paul says in verse 9,
now that you know God,
you know him as Lord,
as your saviour,
as your father,
as your friend,
and your helper,
you're not ignorant of him anymore.
But even greater than that,
we are known by God,
he says.
We are known by God.
We've been saved into an intimate,
loving relationship with God himself,
a close spiritual union with him,
where we get to share in all the blessings of Jesus
and share in his spirit.
Now,
last week in verses 1 to 7,
Ian took us there,
and he reminded us that Christians,
on believing in Jesus,
have become God's very own children.
They've been adopted into his family.
They have received his Holy Spirit.
And this same Holy Spirit enables Christians
to call out to God as our Abba or our Daddy.
It's really affectionate language.
And because we have been made sons,
so legal heirs,
this means that we have become heirs
of a great inheritance,
which is waiting for us.
So these are all the amazing benefits
and blessings that we have been saved to.
So yes,
what we've been saved from?
Slavery to sin,
slavery to the enemy,
Satan himself,
slave to an amazing,
intimate connection with God himself,
a loving relationship with him,
where we know him,
and he knows us.
Now,
Paul asks,
why on earth would you throw all of this away
and walk back into slavery?
In fact,
in verse 10,
Paul criticizes them
for observing special days
and months
and seasons
and years.
And he doesn't shed any further light
on what these things might be,
what they might be referring to,
but they might be rules about the Sabbath
or about certain festival days
or months.
And there might be rules
about certain things you can
and you cannot do on those days
or certain things you can
or can't eat or drink or dress.
Whatever these things might be referring to,
I think it is shorthand
for following the Jewish religion to a T.
So following all the rules
and the traditions
and customs
of Judaism.
But what is really shocking
about what Paul is saying here
is that he is,
he says that adding Judaism
onto Christianity
is like going back
to pagan idolatry
and demon worship.
He makes that connection.
And Paul is so strong on this
because he realizes
that adding more stipulations
to our faith
implies that your faith
in Jesus' saving work
on the cross
is not enough.
It's not enough
to save us from our faith.
If we think that we need more
than what the gospel tells us,
it means that we think
that what the gospel tells us
about what Jesus did
on the cross,
we believe that it's not enough.
By following these Jewish laws,
the Galatian Christians
might as well have walked back
into their hostage cell.
Now, the message
of the letter of Galatians
is this,
and we've been thinking about this
all the way through our series so far.
What is the main message
of the letter of Galatians?
It's that justification
is by faith alone,
through grace alone,
and in Christ alone.
And in other words,
what that means
is that God declares us
to be righteous or holy
when we believe
in the saving work
of Jesus on the cross
and this is a free gift
of grace
that he offers to us.
There are no other means
by which we'll be declared right
in God's eyes.
No other means.
So, remember your past.
Secondly, remember your commitment,
your former commitment.
And we're looking at
verses 12 to 29.
Now,
so Paul wants the Galatians
to remember their former commitment
in these verses,
but their commitment to what?
What commitment?
To Paul's gospel message,
the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Now, Paul shares a story
in verses 12 to 16.
You can scan your eyes back
over those verses again.
And in this story,
in these verses,
he's criticizing the Galatians
for doing a complete U-turn
on him
and his gospel.
In verse 13,
we see that they had
originally become acquainted
with Paul
when he came
to their area
and he first preached
the gospel to them.
This was when he first,
they first met each other.
And he says that this was a period
of unspecified
physical suffering for him.
He was suffering
from some sort of ailment.
We don't know what exactly.
But what we do know,
what he says here,
is that it also proved
to be a trial
for the Galatians as well.
Whatever he was suffering from,
it was a real burden on them.
But instead of despising him
or telling him to leave
or, you know,
you're just burdening us
too much here, Paul,
they held him
in such high regard.
They welcomed him
as if he was an angel.
They welcomed him
as if he was Jesus Christ himself
rocking up in their town.
They held him
in such high regard.
They loved Paul
even when he was sick
and he had loved them back.
Such was their commitment
to Paul
that they were willing
to give Paul
their very eyes.
It's quite a strange image,
but I think it simply conveys
how committed to Paul they were.
They were like sports players
who put their bodies
on the line.
They give everything
for their managers
and their fans.
They were willing
to give Paul
their very eyes
for him.
Now though,
in verse 15,
Paul questions,
where has your love
and your commitment
and your blessing for me,
where has it gone?
It has completely evaporated.
They've done a U-turn on him.
I wonder if you've ever
experienced
knowing somebody,
spending time with them,
loving them,
just someone that you got
on really well with,
but they suddenly
drew back from you.
They suddenly gave you
the cold shoulder.
It's a hurtful thing
to experience,
but it also leaves us
asking ourselves,
why have they done that?
Why have they suddenly
drawn back from me?
Have I done anything?
Have I done anything wrong
to offend them?
After loving Paul so much,
the Galatians have drawn
back from him.
We've seen an example
of this behavior already
in Galatians.
I wonder if it's ringing
any bells.
In chapter 2,
we saw the story
of Peter suddenly drawing back
from spending time with
and eating with
the Gentile Christians.
And this was to save face
in front of those
false Jesus plus teachers.
But why have the Galatians
done a U-turn
on Paul and his
gospel message of Jesus?
Well, I think there's
a couple of clues.
We see the first
in verse 16,
he asks the question,
have I now become
your enemy
by telling you the truth?
Concerningly,
the Galatians
no longer seem
to be able
to stomach
Paul's teaching
of the truth,
the hard,
corrective truths
of the Bible.
They don't seem
to be able
to handle it.
Now,
when we become
Christians,
we are not just
recipients of all
the wonderful benefits
of Christ
when we're united
to him,
but we are also
conformed
into the likeness
of Jesus
so that we more
and more
live like him
and behave like him
and are true
representatives
of him
on earth.
This is an external
process.
God conforms us
into the image
of his son.
It can be,
but when this happens,
when we are conformed
into his image,
it can be painful.
It can be hard
to stomach.
We don't like it.
It exposes us
when God shows us
our sin,
when he shows us
the things that we,
he wants us
to turn from.
There's a pressure
within us
to disobey,
to protect ourselves
from the exposing
truth of the gospel.
It can be a temptation
to treat our pastors
or our teachers
as enemies,
as thrills,
thrill seekers,
not thrill seekers,
the opposite of that,
wishing to spoil our fun.
We can have contempt
for those people
that show us
what God wants
to expose
in our lives.
It can be tempting
within
to push it away,
but Paul says,
remember,
your former commitment
to me and my gospel message,
you held closely to it,
you believed in it,
you were on side with me.
Now,
let us not
cast aside
or withdraw from
those who call
on us
to obey the gospel
and walk
more closely
with Christ.
So that's the
internal pressure.
There's an internal pressure
to not withstand
the truth
of the Bible,
but in the Galatians case,
there was also
an external pressure
from the so-called
agitators,
these are the ones
who've come
into the Galatian churches
and they've been
meddling with the gospel
ever since
Paul first visited them
and brought them
the good news
about Jesus.
And these agitators
have been throwing
the Galatians
into confusion.
They're the ones
that have been telling
the Galatians
that their faith in Jesus
is not enough
to save them.
They need to add on
these other things,
these Jewish traditions
and rules.
Now,
when I was thinking
about these agitators,
it was reminding me
of how I loved,
as a kid,
we had a wee dog
and he was fine
to be off the lead
and he would just
potter around
and do his own thing.
But meanwhile,
as I was out with the dog
as a wee boy,
I would go to the puddles
and I'd take a stick
and I'd love to stir up
all the mud
in the bottom
of the puddles
and cause the puddle
to be all cloudy.
And I think this is exactly
what these agitators do.
They come in,
they stir up
all the good
gospel foundations
that have been settled,
they've been established
in the gospel churches
and they're throwing
these Galatian Christians
into confusion.
But Paul says a little more
about what these people
are doing.
He says in verse 17
that they are zealous
to win over the Galatians
to their cause,
but for no good intention.
The ESV translation says,
they make much of you.
It seems these agitators
might have been flattering
the Galatians.
They've been working hard,
they've been working zealously
to win them over
to their rival cause.
Think of the politicians
on the campaign trail
in a time of election,
they're going around
knocking on every door
in the neighbourhood
and they're trying
to persuade people
to switch allegiance
from that rival party
to their party.
Paul says the goal
of these agitators
is to alienate
the Galatian Christians
from Paul,
to break them away
from Paul,
to turn them away
from the gospel message
that he brought to them.
And we've seen
that their tactic is working.
It is already working,
they're already starting
to turn away.
And this is why Paul
is so worried about them.
This is why he's using
such strong language.
They've begun to turn away
from the true gospel message
of Jesus.
Now, it probably wouldn't be true
to say that we have
this same sort of obvious
infiltration issue
affecting our message
at the moment
in Brunsfield
and we thank the Lord
for that and we praise God.
But I'd say that cautiously
because no Christian church
is immune to infiltration
and agitation.
So we must be on our guard
against anybody
or anything
that wishes to drag us
away from Jesus.
For the Galatians,
it should have been obvious
that these agitators
were not true messengers
from God.
How can we tell?
How can we tell
if they were true messengers
or not?
I think it's by looking
at whose kingdom
they were seeking to build.
Was their goal
to build Jesus' kingdom
amongst the Galatians
or was it to build
their own kingdom?
Just like the Pharisees
in Jesus' day
who were jealous
of Jesus' influence
and his following
that he had,
these men wished
to become big
first century influencers
like Paul
and to build up
their own
big following.
They do not have
true intentions.
They're not seeking
to build
Jesus' kingdom.
So,
we've identified
the Galatians problem.
We've seen that
they're so quickly
turning away
from the gospel message.
They've been
turned by internal
and external
forces
and they're picking up
additional laws
and rules
that they think
are going to truly
save them.
And Paul has said
that this is like
going back to
pagan idolatry
and demon worship.
But what is
Paul's remedy?
What is his remedy
for these Galatians
that are starting
to turn away?
Well,
it's to remember
their past,
what they've been
saved from.
It's to remember
what they've been
saved to,
to remember
their former
commitment
to this gospel
message.
But more than
that,
I think there's
one more thing.
And this,
up to this point
in this letter,
there haven't been
too many direct
instructions,
imperatives
for the Galatians.
But we see
a call to action
in verse 12.
Paul says,
I plead with you,
brothers and sisters,
become like me,
for I became like you.
What does Paul mean?
Become like me.
What does he mean by that?
Well,
I think in the same way
that Paul has cast off
his former identity
in this religion
that he no longer
calls his own.
He's cast off
his Judaism
and become
like a Gentile
among them.
So they too
are to cast off
the Jewish traditions
and the practices
that they have added on,
all these other things
that they've added on,
these things that
cannot save them.
Instead,
just as Paul has done
when he left
Judaism behind,
just as he embraced
Jesus alone
when he became
a Christian,
they are to do
the same.
He says,
Galatians,
match my
wholehearted
pursuit
of Jesus alone.
Embrace his
sometimes painful
conforming work
in your hearts.
Seek the building up
of his kingdom,
nothing else.
Now the graphic
childbirth image
that we see
in verse 19,
it reminds us
of how desperately
Paul wants to see
the Galatians
being formed
into Jesus' likeness
and he will wait
in anguish
until that takes place.
That is what he wants
more than anything else.
Now,
I'm just drawing things
to a finish here,
but as we finish,
I wonder if you've
ever watched
any films
that are set
in space.
I saw Stephen
smiling there.
There are so many
great space films.
I'll name a few.
The Martian,
Interstellar,
2001,
A Space Odyssey,
WALL-E,
and of course
the Star Wars franchise
of which I'm a big fan.
And I don't think
there are any space films,
well there might be
one or two,
but there are no space films
which don't feature
some sort of
gravity calamity.
For example,
our hero's spaceship
passes too close
to a planet
and it gets sucked
into its orbit.
Or our hero's spaceship
passes too close
to a black hole
and begins to get
sucked towards it.
Or our hero's ship
comes within range
of a Star Destroyer
and gets sucked in
by a tractor beam.
More seriously though,
I wonder if there's
anything tugging
on you this morning,
trying to pull you
away from Jesus.
Or maybe somebody
or something
is slowly
but steadily
courting you
away from Jesus.
A real life
or a metaphorical
agitator perhaps,
the pleasures
and the temptations
of the world,
or maybe the worries
of our world,
or old sins
that we're tempted
to go back to.
We all,
whether we're Christians
here or not,
we all feel
the pull
sometimes,
but we must
resist it.
Remember Paul's remedy.
We must heed
his desperate call
to become
like him,
discarding
every rival affection
and prioritizing
Jesus
and being transformed
into his likeness.
does Jesus
have any rivals
in our hearts?
Are you zealously
pursuing him
even when nobody
is looking?
Departing from Jesus
and forsaking
his tremendous
love for us
will only lead us
back to our hostage
cell.
let us
daily
commit ourselves
to him,
asking him
to help us
identify the things
in our hearts
which are
vying
to take his place.
Let's pray.
Our Heavenly Father,
we thank you so much
for the message
of Galatians.
We thank you
that there is no other
way to be saved
than by trusting
in Jesus alone
and his death
on the cross
to pay for our sins.
We thank you
for the amazing
sacrifice that he
has performed
in our behalf
and that by trusting
in him alone,
by believing
in what he has done
for us,
that we can be called
children of God,
adopted into our family,
heirs,
awaiting an inheritance.
We thank you
that you've given us
your Holy Spirit
as well
to enable us
to walk
in your ways.
We thank you
that you
zealously
try to
conform us
into your likeness.
We thank you
that you're actively
doing that
by your Spirit,
making us
into Jesus' likeness.
Would you help us
not to resist that?
But instead,
would you help us
to cling to Jesus,
to keep seeking him
in your word,
to keep praying,
to keep walking
in his ways?
And Lord,
please help us.
Please show us
the things in our lives
that are vying
to take Jesus'
place on the throne
of our hearts.
Show us the things
that are creeping in.
Show us the things
that you want us
to resist
and turn from.
And we thank you
that you've not
left us alone
to fight these things
alone,
but you've given us
your Spirit
to do so.
So please,
give us your strength
this day
and help us
to commit ourselves
to you once again.
In Jesus' name.
Amen.