No Going Back

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.

1 Corinthians 10 · chapter mention

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,

Ephesians 2 · chapter mention

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.

Amen.

Amen.