Galatians 4:8-20

Well I have a thesis for you. I want you to see if you agree with my thesis. It's a bold statement so see if you agree.

! My thesis is this. Every one of us in our hearts loves rules. We all love rules. Let me give you some evidence to try and back it down.

When we first had a child seven and a half years ago, we suddenly discovered that everyone around us had different baby books.

These are books that tell you what routine to follow, how often to feed them, when to put them down for a nap, what to do, what not to do, how dark in the room must be, etc.

And everybody craved these books with their newborn children because they all followed them religiously like a manual of instructions

because the baby, unlike the new TV, doesn't come with a manual.

And so people love these rules so they have some idea what to do.

And we get very... they make these rules and make them feel secure.

Let me give you another example.

Exercise books and magazines that tell you how to get fit.

Or what goes with them, the Fitbits and apps on your smartphone that measure how far you've run, how many calories you've burned off,

how high your heart rate has been.

Why do people spend a huge amount of money on these things?

Because they like the rules, they like the targets.

We want to know how we've done.

See, it's not that actually we like rules in themselves.

Probably most of us have some rules we don't like.

The stink limits or rules that come from the government somewhere.

But actually in our hearts, we all want the security of rules, of black and white,

of being able to measure ourselves like these apps on our smartphones and Fitbits and things like that do.

To tell us how we're doing.

To make us feel like we're making progress.

We all love rules.

Isn't that right?

And not only do we love rules, we love the praise of other people.

We love other people telling us we're doing a great job or we're good folks.

Now that's understandable because we're human beings,

we've been made for relationships, made to live in community.

So it's understandable we should want the praise of others.

In fact, Jesus in some of his parables

uses the thought of getting praise from him on the last day

as an incentive for obedience now.

So there's nothing wrong with wanting to be praised by others.

There isn't necessarily wrong with some rules in themselves.

But the danger with rules, with loving rules and loving the praise of others,

is we can become slaves to them.

If we find our security in keeping certain rules

or in being affirmed by other people,

then we'll end up being slaves to those rules

or slaves to those other people.

And that is what was happening to these young Christians

in Galatia, what is now modern Turkey,

2,000 years ago.

And there's a danger for every one of us today

who professes to be a follower of Jesus Christ.

There's very much a danger for those who do not yet know Jesus Christ.

So what's going on here?

Well, Paul has been writing to these Galatians

to not be slaves but to retain the freedom they have in Jesus Christ.

But these false teachers have come in

who are very sincere, very plausible, very polite.

And they said, no, you need to follow these rules.

If you want to be truly secure as part of God's people,

you need to follow these Old Testament rules over here,

like we do.

Then you'll know you're really part of God's people.

So Paul is warning them against that slavery.

He starts to go before and after contrast to remind them.

Look at verse 8.

Formally, he said, when you did not know God,

you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods.

In those days, these people would have followed

the gods of the Roman world or the Greek world

or the local cults in Asia Minor.

But all those religions were basically the same

as every religion is across the world.

All based on the basic principle,

the elementary principle, as Paul puts it in verse 10.

If you do enough good stuff, God will accept you.

That's what drives, in a sense, the new mother

looking at those baby manuals.

If I do this, it will all be alright.

What drives the devout Muslim

keeping the fast of Ramadan

in the hope that if he keeps these rules,

Allah will be merciful to him on Judgment Day.

See, those things are essentially fear-driven.

Keeping the rules to hope you'll be alright.

And that means they're always self-centered, actually.

So we're always consumed with our own performance.

Have I done enough?

And when we're consumed with rules

or wanting to please others,

it either goes one of two ways, doesn't it?

Our self-centeredness, it either leads to pride,

we look down on other people

who don't do it as well as we do,

or despair,

if you're another type of person,

where you think, I have never matched up.

And so instead of freedom and joy,

we end up with slavery, self-centeredness,

pride and despair.

Paul's saying that formally.

You follow those rules,

but you shouldn't anymore.

Look at verse 15.

Remember what happened after

you first believed the Gospel.

What then has become of your blessedness,

your happiness, we could say?

For I testify to you

that if possible,

you would have gouged out your eyes

and given them to me.

See, Paul had only ended up in Galatia

preaching the Gospel

because of some illness.

It seems probably connected with his eyes.

He said, you are so happy,

the joy you experienced

in knowing the living God

through faith in Jesus Christ.

Made you generous.

You are saved from despair

and pride and slavery.

To be generous,

has God been generous to you?

Now how would that happen?

It's because in the good news

of Jesus Christ,

this Gospel that Paul preached,

people could discover

they could be accepted by God,

not because of what they had done,

but because of what Jesus has done.

When they had this blessedness,

as Paul puts it in verse 15,

it's because they could say

what Paul said back in chapter 2,

verse 20.

The life I now live in the flesh,

I live by faith in the Son of God

who loved me and gave himself for me.

They knew they'd be loved by the living God,

loved by the Son of God

who had given himself for them.

So they were set free

from the religious rules,

set free from pride and despair,

set free from the self-centeredness

of performance.

To be generous,

to be joyful,

to be blessed.

A joy-driven, self-giving life.

Paul says that's what you experience.

So why,

why are you heading back to the slavery?

Well of course the reason

they're heading back to slavery,

the same reason you and I

will head back to the slavery of rules,

is we like rules

because we feel we're achieving,

we feel we're secure.

We like the praise of other people

because it is tangible,

it is there for us.

We're just like them, aren't we?

So what does Paul do

to win these people back?

How can we be kept

living by faith

in the Son of God

who loved us

and gave himself for us?

Well as we look through these verses

we'll see Paul

is reminding them

of the joy and delight

they had by faith in Christ.

He's reminding them

two things of that.

First of all,

he's calling them to enjoy

the security they had

with God

by faith in Christ.

Enjoy the security

of your relationship

with God,

he says.

Now you see they weren't

enjoying that security

if you look at verse 10.

What were they doing

in their slavery?

You observed days

and months

and seasons

and years.

These were all

Jewish practices,

mainly from the Old Testament

but then embellished

by Jewish tradition.

Because the false teachers

were telling them

if you kept these rules

you'll really be part

of God's people.

You'll really know

you're secure and loved.

But actually those rules

were no longer relevant.

Those things all pointed forward

to the coming of Jesus Christ

the true rescuer.

They were the school teachers

Paul put it

in the last chapter

of the Guardian

who was to point them

to Christ.

They were now redundant.

They served their purposes.

They served their purposes.

So they were not rules

to keep anymore.

because they served

their purpose.

Yet you see the temptation?

They felt if they were

doing something.

They felt if they could

measure their performance

against a rule

then actually that would

mean they're okay.

Now I don't imagine

you or I

are very tempted

to observe

Jewish customs

of months and seasons

and years.

But I bet there are rules

we all like to follow.

And I know that

from my own experience.

I mentioned earlier

my daughter being born

seven and a half years ago.

When she was about

three months old

when she'd wake up

in the morning

I'd go and take her

out for a little walk

around where we lived

so my wife could have

a little bit of extra sleep

having been up in the middle

of the night feeding her.

Now my practice

has always been

for years and years

and years

first thing in the morning

to have that as my

time of reading the Bible

and praying.

That was my time

for God

as far as I was concerned.

And so I used to get

really frustrated

on those days

where I'd sit down

and I'd finally

get a Bible open

and then Zoe

would start crying.

And I'd get really angry

with my three year old daughter.

Why?

Because I felt

she was interfering

with the thing

that maintained

my relationship

with God.

So in my mind

it was like a rule

I had to follow.

I had to have that time

of the morning

of reading and praying

otherwise I wasn't

a good Christian.

What was I doing?

I was doing exactly

the same as these Galatians.

And I was thinking

that somehow

my relationship

with God

depended

on what I was doing

not on what Christ

had done.

And so that's why

I was angry.

That's why I was angry.

Now what's the cure

for thinking

we can get right

with God

by rules

or by our own

performance?

Well let me tell you

what the cure is.

The cure is not

don't make rules

because that's just

another rule isn't it?

That doesn't help.

The cure is to enjoy

the security we have

with our Father

in Heaven.

That's what Paul

reminds me of

in verse 9 here

of chapter 4.

Now you've come

to know God

or rather be known

by God.

Do you know

how he puts it

both ways?

I think he puts it

both ways

for this reason.

Often our feelings

tell us

that we don't

really know God

or God doesn't

really know me.

That's how feelings

go up and down

don't they?

I feel terrible

unless I've had

some food.

Some of you

are probably

feeling quite sleepy

and need to have

some more coffee.

Our feelings change

with what we've eaten

with the time of day

with the weather.

Guess from America

British weather

really affects us.

You've seen the rain clouds

the last few days

you'll know why.

Our feelings

go up and down.

What does not change

is God's truth.

That's why Paul says

you've come to be

known by God.

And that word

known in the Bible

is a very personal word.

It's not like saying

I know Canberra

is the capital

of Australia.

That's just

intellectual knowledge.

Know here

is a personal word.

It's like me saying

I know my wife.

So Paul is reminding them

of this security

they have in Christ.

By faith in Christ

they are known

by God.

They're included

in the Lord Jesus.

Included

in God's family.

In the verses

before he's told them

how God has given

them his spirit.

So by the spirit

they can cry out

Abba, Father.

They are children

of the living God

simply by trusting

in Jesus Christ.

Not by what they do.

So when we're tempted

to think

we need to follow rules

to be accepted

by God

or when we're tempted

in society

to think that

our worth

our identity

is found in what we do

what we've achieved.

We need to come back

and remember

and enjoy

the security

we can only have

through faith

in Jesus Christ.

The security

of being known

and loved

by our Father

in Heaven.

That does not come

by going to Mass

every week.

It does not come

by heading to church

every so often.

It does not come

through being

a nice person.

It comes only

through faith

in Christ.

Here's the first point

Paul is making.

Enjoy the security

of God's relationship

with you.

Flee the slavery.

Flee thinking

you need to have

that 20 minutes

in the morning.

But your relationship

with God

depends on that.

It does not.

It depends

on Christ

who died for you.

There's another reason

that Galatians

have been tempted

to turn back

to slavery.

Not just the attraction

of rules

so they can feel

they can measure

their progress

but also the attraction

of praise

from others.

Look down to verse 17

for a moment.

Paul talks about

these false teachers.

He says,

they make much of you.

Now we all like

being made much of,

don't we?

We all have people

packing us in the back

saying,

you're great,

well done.

Notice what Paul

does here

to woo these

young Christians

back to the truth

of Jesus Christ.

He doesn't give them,

he doesn't flatter them.

Rather,

he compares

his ministry

and the ministry

of these false teachers.

He compares

his motives,

his methods,

his goals

and his results

and their methods.

Motives,

methods,

goals and results.

So let's quickly

look at that contrast.

First of all,

what is Paul's motive?

What is Paul's motive

in sharing the good news

of Jesus Christ with them?

Well back in chapter 1

verse 10

he said,

I'm not out to please people.

If I was,

I wouldn't be preaching

the gospel message.

But those verses

I quoted earlier

from chapter 2

verse 20,

turn back over the page

if you like.

He tells us

his motivation

for everything.

Chapter 2

verse 20

The end of the verse,

the life I now live

in the flesh,

I live by faith

in the Son of God

who loved me

and gave himself

for me.

See,

Paul's motivation

is love for Christ,

love because Christ

has loved him.

So that's his motivation.

Love for Christ.

What's his method?

We'll turn back to chapter 4

and look at verse 12.

Brothers,

I entreat you,

become as I am

for I also

became

as you are.

What was his method

in sharing this good news

with other people?

It wasn't to stand

in the street corner

shouting at them.

It wasn't even just

to give them a little look.

It was to identify

with them,

to live with them

in their community,

to live their way

of life with them.

He tells us elsewhere

in 1 Corinthians

1 Corinthians 9:20

chapter 9

verses 20 and 22

that this was his method.

He would identify

with people

in order to get away

all the barriers

that could prevent them

hearing the good news

of Jesus.

And the reason

he puts it like this here

is he wants the Galatians

to stop identifying

with those false teachers

saying you need

to do these rules

but instead

to identify

with him

and being motivated

to live their life

by love

for the saviour

who first loved them.

Well that's Paul's

motive and method.

What's the false teacher's

method?

Oh he spells it out

in verse 17.

They make much of you.

They were flattering

with Galatians.

They say you guys

are really special

and you can be

even more special

if you're doing this

or you're following

our rules.

That's just like

the TV evangelists

we see today

who will tell you

you will be blessed

if you donate money

and give you

some credit card

details now.

Or like the false teachers

who will tell you

God has a perfect plan

for your life.

God has your best life now.

If only you'll put your

if only you'll come

and read my book

follow my way.

Or like the others

who say

if you really want

your prayers heard

and you're good enough

to come on my special

retreat over here

learn this meditative

technique

then

then

you'll really

get free to God.

These teachers

were making much of them

they were flattering them.

And what's their motive

for doing it?

Now look at the rest

of verse 17.

They make much of you

but for no good purpose

they want to shut you out.

In other words

these teachers

could see

the Galatians

going off

following the true gospel

and they didn't want that

because they wanted

to crowd for themselves

they said come over here

wonderful

special blessed people

God has a perfect plan

for you.

So flattering them

so they

could gain the following.

They wanted to have

more Facebook friends

they wanted to have

more people

following their tweets

they wanted to have

more hits

on their blog

and on their websites

more donations

in their accounts.

So their goal

was to shut

these young Christians

out of the kingdom

of God.

what was at the bottom

of all that?

It's pride

isn't it?

Pride

it's pride

that makes us

want to follow rules

it's pride

that makes us

want the praise

of other people

it's pride

that made these

false teachers

want to have

their rules

want to have

their following.

In contrast

what's the goal

of Paul's ministry?

He tells us

in verse 18

isn't he?

It is always good

to be made much of

for a good purpose

not only when I am

present with you

in other words

he's saying

I don't mind

other people

encouraging you

and affirming you

if they're doing it

for a good reason

I'm not trying

to control you

I'm not hung up

about the number

of people

following my tweets

I don't care

about that

so I don't mind

if they're encouraging

you for a good purpose

rather than

drag you away

but here's Paul's goal

verse 19

my little children

for you am I

again in the anguish

of childbirth

until Christ

is formed

in you

see what's Paul's goal?

it's not that he'll

have lots of followers

it's not that people

will like him

his goal

is that the lives

of these believers

will be transformed

so that Christ

is formed

in them

that instead of

being insecure

feeling they're

not good enough

they may know

the power

and presence

of the Lord Jesus Christ

instead of fighting

and squabbling

and being proud

they may know

the humility

and wholeness

of Christ

he wants to see

Christ's character

developed in them

you'll see that

more and more

when we get to

chapter 5

and do you know

just how passionate

he feels about this

again he is in anguish

as in the pains

of childbirth

it's the expression

of his heart's desire

for him

not only his heart's desire

but his work for him

in writing this letter

it's a pained letter

it's the expression

of his prayers for him

the anguish

that he has

as he prays for them

day by day

now wouldn't it be

wonderful

if it was our desire

for Christ

to be formed in us

not our desire

to be approved of

by others

or to feel good

about ourselves

from following rules

our desire

to be transformed

to reflect

instead of our

brokenness

and confusedness

and muddledness

the beauty

and wholeness

of the Lord Jesus

you see

that is the gospel

promise

that is what

God is doing

at the end of this

letter Paul will

talk about

the new creation

is all that matters

that is the new creation

God is bringing about

by the work of the

risen Jesus

in the hearts

of all who trust

in him

so you see how

the Galatians

are supposed to

respond to this

contrast

remember your

form of slavery

you fled that

and you had that

blessedness

when you first

trusted in Christ

the blessedness

that comes

because you knew

you were declared

right with God

you knew you received

the Holy Spirit

by faith

by which you call out

Abba

Father

no the fatherhood

of God

you've been included

in God's people

you're heirs of

God's promises

adopted as God's

children

all of that

encompassed by

Christ is being

formed in you

you're being made

into new people

he's wooing them

back isn't he

he wants them to

see the blessedness

the happiness

the goodness

they once had

the happiness

of knowing

they're truly loved

that their failings

and rebellions

would not be held

against them

the happiness

of knowing

they're secure

before the Holy God

and that only comes

by trusting

in Jesus Christ

now what are a couple

of practical consequences

of longing

for that blessedness

what Paul spells out too

briefly tells us

what we should listen for

we should listen

for the truth

don't just listen

to people who

will make much of you

as these false

teachers were doing

if we only listen

to people who

agree with us

and who at the end

of the day

we're actually

submitting to

if we only listen

to things that

make us feel better

then how is Christ

going to be formed

in us

we will not change

we'll just end up

in slavery

we also need to

listen for the

whole truth

we need to listen

to the truth

we need to long

for Christ

to be formed in us

that should be our

aspiration

that should be our

prayer

often our prayers

we long for little

things don't we

for someone to

to feel a bit

better

for someone to

do well in exams

for someone to

have a refreshing

holiday

they're not bad

things to pray

for

but isn't there

something deeper

and better

that Christ

may be formed

in us

because that is

the work God

is doing

he's forming

the character

of his son

in us who

believe

remaking all

our brokenness

remoulding all

our wonkiness

and forming

even in us

the beauty

and fullness

of Jesus

now how's that

going to come

about

not by

following rules

not by longing

for praise

of others

but by trusting

in the Lord

Jesus Christ

the son of God

who loved us

and gave himself

for us

let's enjoy the

security we have

with God

because of him

let's enjoy

the blessing

of God's work

in us

because of Christ

let's pray together

God