FROM ANGEL TO ENEMY

Galatians 4:12-20

I. PAUL’S ATTITUDE TOWARD THE GALATIANS HAD NOT CHANGED (Galatians 4:12)

A. In verses 12-20 Paul is contrasting the way the Galatians first received him and their attitude toward him after the Judaizers came.

B. Although Paul was perplexed; his love and concern for the eternal welfare of the Galatians had not changed.

1. “I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain” (v.11).

2. “I beg of you brethren…You have done me no wrong” (v.12).

3. “My children with whom I am again in labor until Christ is formed in you” (v.19).

4. “I wish I could be present with you now and to change my tone, for I am perplexed about you” (v.20).

C. The churches were going back to the Law. The irony is that it was Paul who was keeping the law by remaining steadfast in his love and genuine concern for the Galatians, “For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself’” (Galatians 5:14).

D. Just as a loving mother goes through labor for the birth of her child, Paul was willing to labor twice (v.19).

E. When you are wronged, it is the demand of Christ’s law that you continue to love (Matthew 5:44-46; John 13:34; John 15:12, 17; Galatians 5:14; 1 John 2:7f; 3:11, 23; 2 John 5).

II. NOT ONLY HAD THE GALATIANS’ ATTITUDE TOWARD PAUL CHANGED, BUT THEIR ATTITUDE TOWARD THE GOSPEL HAD CHANGED (Galatians 4:16)

A. Telling another person the truth in love can be one of the hardest things we do because we risk the other person seeing us as an enemy and not as a concerned friend (Galatians 4:16; cf. Proverbs 9:8; 19:25; 25:12; 27:5-6; Eccl.7:5; Gal.6:1).

1. There is always a temptation not to address issues and tell the truth to others.

a. We would rather pretend everything is all right.

b. We would rather believe the lie that everything is all right when in truth it is not.

2. Jesus told the truth and it led to His crucifixion. John the Baptist told the truth and he was beheaded.

a. false prophet tells other people what they want to hear.

b. Our pride hates to be corrected but loves to be flattered.

B. Paul had some very hard things to say to the Galatians:

1. “I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him…” (Gal.1:6)

2. “he is to be accursed” (Gal.1:8)

3. “he is to be accursed” (Gal.1:9)

4. “I opposed him (Peter) to his face, because he stood condemned” (Gal.2:11,14)

5. “You foolish Galatians…” (Gal.3:11)

6. “I fear for you, that perhaps I have labored over you in vain” (Gal.4:11)

7. “You have been severed from Christ…” (Gal.5:4)

8. “I wish that those who are troubling you would even mutilate themselves” (Gal.5:12)

III. PAUL REMINDS THE GALATIANS THAT THEY COMMENDABLY RECEIVED HIM THE FIRST TIME HE PREACHED THE GOSPEL TO THEM (Galatians 4:13-15)

A. Paul doesn’t dwell on the personal sacrifices he made for the Galatians. Rather, he does just the opposite by reminding them of the trial and temptation his bodily illness posed (vv.13-15).

1. Paul initially began church planting with some kind of deformity (Gal.4:13; cf. 1 Cor 2:3; 2 Cor 10:1,10; 1 Thess.1:5; 2:1f.).

2. The Galatians loved Paul so greatly that they would have plucked out their eyes and given them to Paul (v.15).

3. Don’t judge the message of the Gospel by either the slick outward appearance OR the disability of the messenger (1 Samuel 16:7; Isaiah 53:2-3).

a. Biblically speaking, the most important of our five senses is hearing (Deuteronomy 4:12; 6:4-5).

b. Biblically speaking, the religion of the eye is the religion of idols (cf. Genesis 3:6).

i. Sin is irrational and often impulsive.

ii. Outward appearances are best for making impulsive judgments.

B. When Paul first went to Galatia the people were overjoyed and congratulated themselves, “Where then is that sense of blessing you had?” (v.15)

1. The word “Gospel” means good news.

2. In Paul’s day the Greek word for Gospel (euaggelion) was used of a divine ruler’s birth, enthronement, speeches and decrees. All these were glad tiding and brought hope and joy.

3. There is no happier news in the world than Jesus keeping the law for our righteousness and dying for our unrighteousness.

C. It’s not only the Christians at Galatia who can lose the sense of blessing at the Good News of the death and resurrection of Jesus. There are many things which will rob you of the joy of the Christian life, and it all boils down to not giving the preeminence to Jesus Christ.

1. Sense of blessing can be lost from not being deeply rooted and when persecution arises.

2 .Sense of blessing can be lost by worldliness (2 Tim.4:10).

3. Sense of blessing can be lost when try serving two masters (Matthew 6:24; 1 Tim.6:17-18).

“It is a day [birth of Augustus Caesar] which we may justly count as equivalent to the beginning of everything - inasmuch as it has restored the shape of everything that was failing and turning into misfortune, and has given a new look to the Universe at a time when it would gladly have welcomed destruction if Caesar had not been born to be the common blessing of all men…Whereas the Providence (pronoia) which has ordered the whole of our life, showing concern and zeal, has ordained the most perfect consummation for human life by giving to it Augustus, by filling him with virtue for doing the work of a benefactor among men, and by sending in him, as it were, a saviour for us and those who come after us, to make war to cease, to create order everywhere…and whereas the birthday of the God [Augustus] was the beginning for the world of the glad tidings [in the Greek the ‘Evangel’/Gospel] that have come through him…Paulus Fabius Maximus, the proconsul of the province…has devised a way of honouring Augustus hitherto unknown to the Greeks, which is, that the reckoning of time for the course of human life should begin with his birth” (decree/Gospel of the Greeks in the province of Asia c. 9 B.C. celebrating the birth of Augustus Caesar; quoted in NIDNTT II:108).

4. Sense of blessing was lost for the Galatians as they were beginning to embrace a false Gospel.

QUESTIONS FOR SABBATH DISCUSSION & MEDITATION

Take what you have learned this morning and turn it into a prayer. Pray that God would strengthen you to grow in your enjoyment of Him and your joy in the Gospel.

In what ways had the Galatians’ attitude toward Paul changed? In what ways did Paul’s attitude toward the Galatians not change?

How does Paul describe his love for the Galatians in the passage we looked at?

When others wrong us do we have a right to stop loving them? Explain.

Why is it difficult to confront people we love with the truth?

Why is it difficult for us to be confronted by the truth?

How did Paul’s bodily condition pose a trial/temptation for the Galatians when Paul first preached the Gospel?

How is Christianity a religion of the ear?

How can outward appearances be deceiving?

In what ways can Christians lose their sense of blessing in Christ, “Where then is that sense of blessing you had?” (Galatians 4:15)