Galatians 4:8-30

Alright, so Galatians chapter four, let's get back in it, starting in verse eight, going all the way to 30.

We're going to be looking as we continue on in the book of Galatians, uh, at, at what Paul has to say it, you'll notice some redundancies from some of the things that we've talked about we were talking about is in our Bible study this morning, how there are redundancies in this continuation of this idea of, of being subject to the law versus just faith and how to operate in that paradigm.

And Paul is going to continue to emphasize the issues and concerns on this.

And so part of me was like, man, come on.

I feel like I'm preaching the same thing over again.

Uh, I think it was Charles spurgeon said he preaches one sermon, just different texts each week.

Uh, and so then I thought about this.

I thought, what if we took out all the redundancies and scripture?

What if we only had a bible that just told us each thing one time?

It would be a very thin Bible right there, there is because, because here's the reality.

Have you ever in your life only truly, honestly needed to hear something once right?

We've got, we've got a middle school principal was today to middle schoolers.

Need to hear things just once.

Did middle school teachers need to hear things just once right now.

See we're no different.

All of us need to hear things over and over, so we're going to continue this idea, but a Paul's even to change the way that he approaches the subject a little bit today.

I was thinking about.

I was listening to a podcast the other day that I listened to periodical called debriefing with Al Mohler and he just kind of goes through a modern events through a Christian worldview and it's like a little bit of news and I was listening to it and and he referenced this article in The New York Times called the high school we can't log off from and he talks about these psychological studies that have pointed out this idea in middle school and high school.

We, we have in our minds in adolescents really probably even in college.

We have in our minds what psychologists call it, an invisible audience.

Here's what I mean by that is we become, we start to become in middle school and then it really escalates in highschool, uh, like really self conscious.

We were really concerned about how people see us, what people think about us.

Um, and so it's almost almost like we feel like we're on the stage in a production and we're the star of the play.

Whether we want to be or not.

Right?

Is that anybody that's been through high school and middle school resonate with that?

You can nod your head.

I know, I know you're not super verbal, but you can nod your head and say, I can resonate.

I remember like feeling like our eyes were always on me.

This idea of an invisible audience.

And in this article talks about how through social media it for a lot of people, it's become this thing that we can't grow out of normally in adolescents.

We deal with that and then as we move on, we kind of grow out of that idea that there's always eyes on us and we always have to perform.

But through twitter and facebook and instagram, they're almost like it.

It can perpetuate this idea that I've got to perform.

I've always got to measure up.

I've always got to kind of look this certain way, like I can't post it like that.

I got to put some filters on it and if I put this filter on it, maybe I'll look better.

Remember my teeth look whiter, I'll look more tan and my face looks skinnier in and we start to add all these different things.

Matter of fact, Alamo, we're in the same podcast, referenced a group of people who are now going to plastic surgeons with their posts from instagram filtered and saying, please make me look like this.

I want to look like my post.

So the in real life, I look like what I look like on social media and it's this idea of this invisible audience.

So here's, here's, here's what I'm trying to get to.

Within all of us as being human beings, there is this intrinsic, inherent desire to be known, fully accepted, fully by the same, at the same time.

Does that make sense?

Like we want to be known, we want people to know us and we want them to accept us now.

At the same time, we're usually really scared of actually being known.

Truly so wow.

We have this like almost this conflicting passions and desires in our hearts, all of us, this idea of I want to be known.

I want to be known and I don't want to be loved and I want to be accepted, but we're also scared of really truly being known.

A lot of us feel like if you really knew me, you wouldn't accept me.

Have you really knew me?

If you, if you knew the things I think in my head, if you knew the things I struggle with, if you knew the sins, I've had a few knew my past.

If you knew my insecurities, if you really knew me, you probably wouldn't want anything to do with me and I want to show you in the text today something pretty incredible about us being known.

If you would stand with me, let's read God's word.

Galatians chapter four, starting in verse eight, going all the way to 30, formerly when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods, but now that you have come to know God or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world whose slaves you want to be?

Once more?

You observe days and months and seasons and years.

I I'm afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

Brothers, I entreat you because become as I am, for I also have become as you you did me no wrong.

You, you know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the Gospel to you.

At first, and though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God as Christ Jesus.

What then has become of the blessing you felt for I testify to you that if possible you would've gouged out your eyes and given them to me.

Have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth.

They make much of you, but for no good purpose.

They want to shut you out that you may, that you may make much of them.

It is always good to be made much of for a good purpose and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again, in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.

I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone.

For I am perplexed about you.

Tell me you who desire to be under the law, do you not listen to the law for it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave woman and one by a free woman, but the son of the slave was born according to the flesh.

While the son of the free woman was born according to the promise.

Now this may be interpreted allegorically.

These women are two covenants.

One is from Mount Sinai, bearing children for slavery.

She is Hagar.

Now, Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia.

She corresponds to the present Jerusalem for she is end slavery with her children, but the Jerusalem above is free and she is our mother, for it is written, rejoice o barren, one who does not bear break forth and cry aloud you who are not in labor, for the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband.

Now you brothers like Isaac are children of promise, but just as that time, he just as at that time he was born according to the flesh, persecuted him who was born according to the spirit.

So also is it now, but what does the spirit say?

Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit the son of the free with the incentive, the free woman.

So brothers, we're not children this slave, but other free woman.

All right, you may be seated.

Let's pray.

God, as we dive into your word this morning, I prayed it.

There not be any victory by the enemy in our hearts today.

We not be distracted by technological problems, but more so even than that, what I'm certain that many have come in with their own distractions and discouragement and doubts that I pray that your word, not mine, but your word which speak powerfully into all of our hearts this morning and we would see that we are free as your children.

In Jesus' name I pray.

Amen.

Alright, I'm going to roll up my sleeves.

We got a lot of work to do.

It's getting hot up here.

So last week we talked about the fact that we are adopted sons.

Here's what I need you to get about that.

If you, if you weren't here last week, catch the podcast and listen to that.

It's a key fact to the whole book of Galatians.

Really it's a key fact to salvation, understanding our adoption and all the implications of what that means.

So, but what you need to get is that as a transaction, that adoption is not a transaction.

It's a transformation.

It's not transactional between us and God and the sense of like I say this prayer, I'll walk this aisle, I do this thing.

I get baptized, a transaction happens between me and God, now I'm declared righteous and I'll get to go to heaven forever and I got my ticket right.

That's sometimes how we view Christianity is this transactional moment between us and the master creator of the universe.

It's not.

It's not transactional, it's transformational.

It's you go from being a hostile enemy, child of wrath, son of disobedience to now being children of promise, loved and adopted by the God of the universe, and you get to call the one who made the mountain shake in his presence.

Father, that's a big deal.

This is a really big deal and you got to get this, this transformation.

This is not transaction, and so as we look at the thing today and we talked about how much we desire to be known, I love the way Paul wrote this in these first few verses of our text today.

Look at eight through 11, formerly when you did not know God, right?

We were talking.

We're talking here mostly to pagans.

People who were pagans.

They were gentile pagans.

You did pagan worship and they worshiped false gods.

You were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods, right, so before you didn't even know God, but you are slave to things that aren't even God's, even if they claim to be verse nine, but now, now that you have come to know God and I love it, he goes, nope.

Or rather, this is beautiful.

Don't miss this, or rather to be known by God, to be known by God.

How can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world whose slaves you want to be?

Once more, you observe days and months and seasons and years.

I'm afraid I may have labored over you in vain.

Now, listen, this past weekend, a friend, um, this past week, a friend texts me early in the week and said, Hey, I've got two extra tickets to the opening preseason game of the Jacks.

I was with Wesley.

We were talking about something real serious like we were having this like real serious conversation about a friend of ours is going through something really bad.

We were having this like deep, real emotional conversation and I just smiled huge.

And he goes, what?

I said, I just got free tickets to the game and he's like, it's just a preseason game.

It's like, no, no, no.

Here's what you don't understand.

I'm from New Orleans.

Right?

And when I lived in New Orleans, I went to St Games all the time.

I've lived here four and a half years and I've not yet been to an NFL game much less.

The saints were playing Thursday night.

I got to go to watch the saints play great seats.

And so I'm so excited because now I get to go watch my jacks.

I do love the jags anytime they're not playing the saints.

I love the jags.

And so we go and I'm wearing my saints hat and I'm wearing my stuff and we get there, me and my wife around on this date.

And then I've got a friend here who works on the sidelines, member of the church, Brad Williams.

And he texted him and I said, hey, you don't happen to be working today, do you?

And he said, yeah.

I said, can I come down and help you?

And he said, I actually have an extra field pass.

I said, and then I remembered I'm on a date.

He only said he had one field pass.

I can't just leave my wife, but I can ask.

I saw show her the text messages and she is a loving, gracious, wonderful wife.

She said, you go ahead and go see him for a minute.

And and so I said, okay.

And so, so I make my way all the way down.

He lets me on and look at you.

I listened.

I'm standing.

This is a big deal.

I'm standing 10 feet from drew brees as he spits gum into a trash can.

And I'm excited because listen, I know a lot about drew brees.

I know a lot of facts about Andrew.

I would all.

I look at drew brees walk in this room right now.

I would recognize him immediately.

He would not be difficult for me to know.

That's drew brees.

Drew brees could run for mayor in New Orleans and get it.

Even if the election wasn't happening, we would impeach whoever's in there and put them in place if he wanted it.

New Orleans loves drew brees.

I have a friend who planted a church in New Orleans and he was drew brees, his pastor, and he got to be the chaplain of the New Orleans saints.

Listen to the difference here.

I know drew brees was 10 foot from drew brees.

My friend is known by drew brees.

You catch the difference in the relationship dynamics there.

I know drew brees.

I know a lot about him.

I can tell you I'm a huge fan.

I love.

I wouldn't say I love drew brees.

I love him on the field and off the field.

Strong Christian man.

Great football player does a lot for the community, so I have.

I have a lot of love, affection, appreciation for him, but when he spit that gum out and looked at me, he didn't go.

Jimbo, what's up?

He didn't know who I am, but if my friend would have been there, if my friend that I know who brees knows, I guarantee you he would have stepped off that player section.

He has stepped out.

He had come and hugged him.

I guarantee you he would have.

Why?

Because he was known by drew brees.

See, I love the way Paul writes this because in us it has been given to us by God in our design to desire to be known to re.

I mean when I say it'd be known, I mean like to really be known.

This is beautiful.

The way this is written, the truth of this.

It's one thing to know God.

It's one thing to know is Bible know the rules, follow the rules.

Come to church, do all these things, but when you are a child of God, you are known by God.

He knows everything about you.

Listen, all those weird deep, dark thoughts, temptations, insecurity, struggles that your.

You'd be scared to death if somebody else knew and what they think of you.

He knows him.

He knows him well.

He knows him better than you do and he loves you.

He loves you anyway.

If you're his child, and I want you to see that, that it's so significant to be known by God and it's really not.

Christianity is really not about our our regard, our affection, our knowledge towards God, but rather his regard, his affection, his knowledge of us.

That's when it changes.

It changes not when we know him or know things about him, but when he knows us, so in light of that Paul wants to know were adopted, were known or loved or accepted.

How?

Then he says, how then can you go back to these same slavery patterns that you were in?

He's talking to people who used to be pagan so they had these pagan holidays and Pagan ways of worshiping and he's going, how can you go from that to treating this God the same way?

Here's what he means in pagan practice.

If you wanted to get pregnant, you worship the fertility God.

If you wanted rain for your fields, you worshiped another God.

If you wanted to safety as you traveled on the ocean, you worshiped another God and you did this for the sole purpose of if I send affection vertically towards this God, then he will in response, bless me and show affection towards me, and so it was out of this transactional.

You can see the difference between transaction and transformation is when they want you to.

The difference between that's a transaction, right?

For me to go, I'm going to worship you.

I'm going to offer the sacrifice so that you will bless this aspect of my life as a transaction to go from hostile enemy, child of wrath, son of disobedience to adopted love and known child of promise.

That's transformation.

That's not a transaction and the difference is crucial in understanding how we respond to the law was what Paul wants you to get and he goes, why?

Why do you go back to this transactional relationship with God where you just narrowed it down to one God rather than having your list, but you still.

You go to this festival and you do this ritual and you do this thing because you want God to love you and accept you.

He already knows you.

He already loves you.

He already accepts you.

As a matter of fact, he has no interest in a transactional relationship.

It's a matter of fact.

It's offensive to him.

When we approached him that way, as if he's the boss, the master, where the slave he wants, he wants you to realize he's the father and you're the sun.

We're not to run like the prodigal son back and say, please just make me a servant, but were to go into the father's house and that story, prodigal son, both sons really just wanted the things that the father owned but not the father himself.

Transactional, not transformational.

What God has for us is transformation.

So what is the difference between Pagan Holidays and Christian holidays?

If your motive is merely transactional, wait, let me read it to you like this.

Here's what he's saying.

What is the difference?

And you come in and sitting in the Pew Right now, today and you go into worshiping a false god.

If your desire is merely transactional, I'll do this for you.

You do this for me,

okay?

You might.

You might as well go.

You might as well go to a coke.

You might as well go somewhere where they don't preach the truth.

You might as well go somewhere where they don't open the Bible because there's no difference.

If that's the way we approach God and we have to understand that there's a freedom in Christ and we're no longer subject to the law.

Colossians 2:16 and 17 says this, therefore let no one pass judgment on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a sabbath.

Colossians 2:16

These are a shadow of the things to come, but the substance belongs to Christ.

The whole thing is about being transformed in Christ.

God's pleasure in you is not based on your behavior.

God's pleasure

in you is based on his work in you through Jesus Christ.

That's where you get acceptance.

That's where you get love from.

God is through transformation that only Christ can bring.

There is a sense here of idolatry.

We make idolatry out of processes.

We make idolatry out of things.

We make idolatry out of cultural preferences and the way that things go in, in, in the way that we think they ought to go.

Why do we make idols out of all of these things?

I think it's in our insecurity, in our adoption.

I think it's when we fail to truly understand what it means to be adopted by God, what it truly means to have God as father, we, we, we always feel like I got to measure up.

I got, I got to be good enough, and we talked last week about how many of you that was your relationship with your earthly father.

I got to measure up.

I got to be good enough.

I got to get his approval and you're always working to get that approval and I told you if that, if that's what happened to you on earth, if that's been your story here, don't project that on God the father.

So God the father adopts you as a child, not because of how good you are, because of how good he is.

The Gospel tells us that we do not need to make ourselves more level to God.

We have this danger of an idolatry of religion and it's dangerous for all of us.

Tim Keller says, in anything, the idolatry and slavery of religion is more dangerous than the idolatry and slavery of irreligion because it is less obvious catch that the irreligious person knows he is far away from God, but the religious person does not said, this is what's so dangerous about.

As a matter of fact, I think about it like this.

What if.

What if the devil's plan was not to get you to leave here and break all 10 commandments this week?

What did that wasn't his plan?

What does it matter of fact?

One?

What are the devil's plan was to have you sit right where you sit right now?

Listen, Amen.

Nod your head, take some good notes.

Make a post about it later where Christian tee shirt and avoid bad habits.

What if that was his plan?

Because because it would have nest, decides you to the fact that you need God, it would.

It would.

It would numb you to the fact that you are in need of a savior.

I have.

I have many times in my life shared the gospel with people that have grown up in the Bible belt and said to me, I don't really know that I even need saving.

I never really even done anything that bad.

I've always been a pretty good person.

We can.

We can numb ourselves to reality.

I've heard it said that cultural Christianity, hope you understand what I mean when I say

cultural Christian.

I mean just the culture of it.

Just being a good Christian person, going to church, all those things, not necessarily a relationship with that transactional relationship with Christ.

Cultural Christianity is like.

It's like a knock culation like, uh, when, when you get a flu shot, what are they doing?

What are they actually putting in you?

The actual flu virus, when you get a flu shot, they put just enough of the flu virus in your body for your immune system to recognize what it is so that it can fight against it, right?

It's called an inoculation.

Cultural Christianity easily becomes an inoculation to the truth of the Gospel.

We get just enough.

I get just enough of what it means to be a Christian.

Go to church, say the right things.

Don't say the bad things.

Do these things.

We get just enough of it that we become numb to the reality of a transformative, transformational adoptive relationship that redeems us into children of promise,

so don't miss it.

There's a real danger here.

Let me.

Let me ask you another question about this passage here.

Why would Paul say, this is a harsh verse here in verse 11?

I am afraid.

I may have labored over you in vain.

What if I.

What if I came and said that one day in here, what?

What?

Have what?

Have been the pole, but I just said, I'm afraid I've wasted my time here with you.

I'll just drop the mic and walked out.

That'd be messed up.

It's a good thing.

It doesn't drop the MIC and walk out.

He keeps talking as key.

He keeps talking.

Here's what.

Here's.

Here's what I'm studying.

Is this really hit me hard what he's saying?

Because all right, so is he saying that they're not believers?

He's not saying that

you.

You look out throughout the rest of the context of the scripture.

I say context, always, always, always, always, always, always understand context, right?

Always gotta.

Look at the context.

We look at the context.

He obviously believes that these people are followers of Jesus, as their children have promised.

They're children of God.

They've been adopted.

There's so many other passage in the texts that indicates so he's not saying, I labored over you in vain because you aren't truly children.

Here's what he's saying.

I feel like I've labored over you in vain because you've gotten so in the weeds on this legalism that the gospel is not going to continue forward with you.

Your, your transformation is not going to continue forward and you're not going to be about making him known to others.

Catch this.

What are you saying is like Intrinsic in the Gospel is movement to two places, that there's movement in your life.

Intrinsic one is in your own transformation, that when we become a child of God, we're not instantly perfect.

We're not instantly just great, great followers of Christ, right?

There's a process, we call it progressive sanctification and rice, a progressive.

Everybody say sanctification.

That means we are getting set apart, made more and more like Christ in a process.

It happens in a pro.

It doesn't all happen at once, right?

But when we get so in the weeds on legalism, it stops that process and here's, here's what it also stops.

It stops you from advancing the gospel.

When you're stuck in legalism, you will not advance the Gospel, and so Paul is going, how about wasted my time with you?

If it's just going to stop with you and if it's just going to stop right here, if this is as far as you're going to grow in Christ, I feel like I'm still.

I feel like I'm still in childbirth.

Pains for you.

I don't feel like you're even fully born yet, but he doesn't stop there.

He keeps going and it's phenomenal to be known by God, but why are we known by God?

Because he wants you to make him known.

He wants you to make him known to others.

Let's keep going.

Verse 12, his tone changes a lot here.

The route Galatians, he's been harsh man.

He's called them be witched.

He's called them a foolish or stupid.

Uh, I mean he's, he's hammered him and he's really kind of gone on arguments as like a lawyer or professor, real kind of academic logical arguments here.

Uh, but uh, but his tone changes here in this part.

Brothers or your translation may even say, my dear brothers, I entreat you become as I am for I also have become as you are.

Yeah.

This part really should be in verse 13.

You did me no wrong.

You, you, you know, it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the Gospel to you at first.

And though my condition was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me, but received me as an angel of God is Christ Jesus.

What?

What then has become of your blessedness, for I testify to you that if possible you would've gouged.

You're our eyes out and given them to me, have I then become the enemy by telling you the truth.

They make much of you, but for no good purpose.

They want to shut you out that you may make much of them.

It is always good to make much of bv be made much of for good purpose and not only when I am present with you, my little children, for whom I am again, in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you.

I, I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone for I am perplexed about you.

He changes his tone here and here's some things I want to just kind of section by section, walked to this text as fast as I can.

I'm to switch the order of what he says because just to explain something he says, uh, become as I am for book, for I become as you are.

I'm going to switch that.

I just want to talk about first I become as you are, he says, I have become as you are, the grammar here indicates he's talking about kind of cultural ideas.

Like when he says later in, in Corinthians, I become all things to all people so that I may reach song, right?

He says to those who are under the law become like those who are under the law to those who are not.

I become like those who are not like, and he goes through all this thing is this cultural, cultural kind of change that he takes with people and and I think one understanding this is Gospel Ministry, True Gospel Ministry, and here's what.

Here's when I say that.

Sometimes we make the error of saying, well, Gospel Ministries your job, pastor, that's what you do.

It's not what we find in the Bible.

It's a matter of fact.

What we find in the Bible, my main job description and Ephesians chapter four, is to equip you for the work of ministry.

That's my job.

My job is to equip you for the work of ministry.

So when I talk about Gospel Ministry, I'm talking about your job and and not at redemption church.

Your job in the church, right?

This is your job in the church.

So Gospel Ministry transcends cultural distinctives and preferences.

Gospel Ministry is culturally flexible and adaptable with everything except the gospel.

Does that make sense?

In other words, as we live out our lives, as followers of Jesus Christ, we ought to be culturally flexible on everything in our lives for the sake of the Gospel, except for the Gospel itself.

Whenever flexible on the message ever, never flexible in the message, now we can be flexible on the method and the way that we do things and not only can we be, we should be.

Matter of fact.

Here's what I would tell you when we start to make cultural distinctives connected to living out the gospel, the quote unquote right way, we're walking the same walk as the Judaizers who were trying to tell the Galatians they have to walk their way.

I've told you some of the story about the first church me and my wife served up and it was in a community similar to this one.

We're doing youth ministry and the demographics of our youth ministry quickly became very different.

The demographics of the church and there was lots of tension and and, and push back.

And here's a phrase I heard more than once.

We're okay with black people come into our church so long as they worship like us, so long as they act like us.

Maybe you said that.

Maybe you've even thought that.

Here's what I want you to think about for a second.

That's the same thing as a judy judaizer saying, you can become a Christian.

I'm glad you've put your faith in Christ.

Now you need to do all these things.

Now you've got to look like this.

Now you got to make it play out like this.

Here's what we understand it as I have traveled here.

One, I want you to understand something.

As I've gotten to travel through the world doing missions, I've gotten to see the church has done different.

Everywhere I went to, I went to Russia and it was the coldest dentist thing I've ever experienced my life, and I'm talking about the whole country, not just the church.

I did not feel that God was calling me.

Their food was bad.

People don't talk to you.

I don't know if anyone in Russia is an extrovert.

No one smiles at anyone.

I went to church service.

There was standing room only, I mean there was every pew was filled, there's people standing in the back, but the entire service I felt like I was at a funeral was just dead.

Right, and if you've been around me much, that's not my personality.

I'm a loud expressive person.

Right?

So I felt a little more home.

I went to Africa and I went to Jamaica and there was 12 tambourines on every row.

Every bodies in the band, even if you don't have rhythm, and the church service started an hour and a half after they said it was gonna Start and then it lasted four and a half hours and it was awesome.

It was great.

And then I went to Peru.

I know it was an entirely different experience when I was there, but here's, here's what I want you to see.

None of the changes in the way that they did it culturally ever changed their intimacy with the God their father, and so we can't listen.

We cannot mandate cultural distinctives in living out our Christian life.

We cannot.

We cannot do that.

We have to be culturally flexible.

Now also he says, because I am to live a missional life with people and to make Jesus known through our lives, we must allow ourselves to be known by others.

There is a.

here's what I mean.

There is a communal, messy aspect to living out ministry, right?

Ministry is not just sharing the gospel through the four spiritual laws, the three circles or any other thing method you want to use that's good.

Do that really were ministry starts to really take root in our lives and transform us as we'll see played out more in the book of Galatians.

Chapter six is when we live life with each other and we allow ourselves to be known.

This is so scary to be known by someone else.

That is a follower of Christ.

This, listen, here's what I mean.

If there is a grievous sin in your life, you're keeping hidden.

Is there anyone that has permission to ask you about it?

And when I say permission, I don't mean implicit like, yeah, we're friends.

Like do you have someone that like ask you difficult questions about your life on a regular basis

that you're accountable to,

but you can send to that you walk life with or you argued known by someone?

I think one of the problems in the American church today is most of our relationships in here or superficial.

How's your week been?

Good.

Good.

Really?

Every week I've asked you at 52 weeks in a row you didn't have one bad week.

Well, you know pastor, just walking down the hallway on Sunday morning is not really the right place to have a long conversation.

You know what?

I agree with you, which is why I would tell you what I've been trying to tell you since the day I got here.

This is not the end of church.

When we dismiss you hear at the end, you're not going, well, I'll see you next Sunday if, if you don't see anyone between now and next Sunday and have real relationship with them, you're missing out on what this whole thing's about.

There is a transparency to that.

Paul is saying, become as I am because he lived amongst the Galatians.

He, he was vulnerable with them.

We don't know what diseases.

Look.

We can sit here and argue or what?

What is it that he was sick?

What was his ailment?

We don't know.

Right?

It could have been an.

I think it could have been malaria.

There's all sorts of theories out there and what it is.

The important thing is that the reason Paul was in Galicia was directly related to him being unwell to a point that he was socially repulsive.

Right?

That's all we need to know.

We don't know what the disease was.

All we know is he was some kind of sick where you don't go out in public because people will spit at you, so he finds herself in Glacia, either sick and Galicia or sick near Glacia.

It needs to be there to recuperate, and so Paul Goes, you know what?

I'm going to preach the Gospel while I'm here,

and he made himself vulnerable.

He made himself transparent so that they could see Christ in him and do life with him

in a vulnerable way.

This is how we do the Christian life.

This is what it's supposed to look like in a love in first Thessalonians, two, eight.

Paul says, being affectionately desirous of you, remember that phrase desirous of you going to come back to it.

We were ready to share with you.

Listen, not only the gospel of God, God,

but also our own selves because you had become very dear to us.

Ministry is messy, and if you're not living it out in a way that somewhat messy, it always looks put together.

I think you're in a form of legalism.

You're scared to be known and listen here, I don't want to.

I don't want to get onto your being scared to be known.

I get it.

That's a scary idea to be known.

We can eventually rest with the idea that God knows us fully and accepts us because he's God.

It's much harder to submit ourselves to that kind of vulnerability with a human being who's broken and sinful, and here's I'm gonna tell you, you will get burnt on that.

I promise you, it will not always go smooth.

You will get burnt.

You will choose somebody to be vulnerable with, to expose yourself, to let them know about you and you'll get burned and when that happens you have a choice to ignore what scripture says because you got hurt or pursue what scripture says because you got hurt the enemy so the enemy wants you to get burned so that you'll never do it again.

Once you get burned, it's a lot harder to do it again and the Bible will tell us, keep going.

I remember when I was praying about whether to move here or not and do this, I knew it was going to be difficult.

I'll be honest.

I didn't know how difficult it was going to be and I was praying about it and I was asking God to give me a word or whether we were to pursue this or not.

No one that was going to be messy and that reading the proverbs every day like I tend to do.

I was on January 14th, 2014.

I was reading proverbs 14 where there are no oxen.

The manger is clean, but abundant crops come by the strength of an ox.

No, I may just sound like a weird proper, but you got to think about it for a second.

How do you keep a manger clean?

You don't do anything.

You'll have no oxygen in there.

Prop ms.you have no oxen in your manger.

You also have no crops.

You can't grow anything, right?

So there's proverbs is saying, listen, you can.

You can keep everything clean and tidy, but you won't grow.

Growth takes manure.

Got Me.

Growth takes MINU or the reason grass looks greener on the other side because there's a lot more manure over their ministry is messy and we can't grow without it.

As we look at the way that Paul under suffering last thing I want to on this point and then we'll end with the last point.

Suffering we need to understand is a part of our inheritance as children of God.

There's a lot of amazing things.

A lot of the things we inherit about the kingdom and all these things that we inherit.

We we get a an already but not fully kind of reality.

We already get to experience the blessings of being a child of God, but not fully right.

We'll fully experience the blessings one day when we're with him in heaven, but there's one that we get fully here and we won't get later suffering.

One of the other great texts on adoption is Romans eight, Romans eight, 16 and 17.

It says this, the spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God and if children, then heirs, sound familiar, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, meaning we, we in Christ inherit the same thing provided

we don't like this part, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified in Him Verses 16 through 20, it says false teachers often display themselves by their need for people who need them.

They'll create systems centered around themselves.

So we see this idea when I said hold onto that word desirous

where it says they'll make much of you, but for no good purpose as really hard words to translate out of the Greek.

It basically means desire.

You like a young man wanting to court a young woman like there's this seeking.

Your translation may say that they seek a pursue theirs.

In other words, false teachers will always pursue you for their own benefit.

So be careful with that.

Um, they, they are desirous to eagerly seek you, uh, but they don't actually have a healthy interest in you.

And Paul says, listen, I understand that they make much of you.

They seek you out, they come after you and, but, but you need to catch.

They do that.

So that will make much of them.

I desire you, but, but in a good way, how does, how you could have just want to see Christ fully formed in you?

So Paul says, all right, lastly, we're going to go through this pretty fast.

They're children of promise.

I'm not gonna.

Read the whole text.

I'm gonna.

Summarize it for you some.

The idea here is he's just reiterating these same ideas that what is our heritage?

What is our inheritance?

We're children of promise.

And so he goes back to an old story, Abraham and Sarah, and they get a promise from God.

The promise that they will have sons who have sons, who have sons, who have sons, who have sons, who will be blessings to all nations, right?

Father Abraham had many sons and many sons had father Abraham and I am one of them, and so were you, so let's just praise the Lord, right arm five.

Anyway, we get this idea and so what he, what he saying is gotta catch who he's talking to.

He's talking to pagans who are children of God been adopted, but he's talking against Judaizers who are trying to make them extra Jewish and he kind of hammers these judaizers and he basically says, they're sons of Hagar.

Yes, they're sons of Abraham.

Abraham is their father, but Hagar is their mother.

You are children of promise like Isaac.

Now, what's the difference?

The difference, if you go back to the story, if you're familiar with it, they get this promise from God, but God doesn't operate in their timing.

Maybe you've experienced that in your own life before, and so because God didn't operate in their timing, they said, we'll make it happen on our own.

So out of their own efforts, they pursue the promises of God, let's keep out of their own efforts.

They pursue the promises of God and that starts the lineage of really bad things.

And so are these Jewish people, children of Abraham?

Yeah, they are, but he's saying, but they're their mothers, Hagar.

It's all their own strength.

It's all their own power.

We're children of promise, which is not our own effort, not of our own strength.

So here, here's what I want you to hear in all of this today, a preview of next week, Galatians five, one for freedom.

Christ has set us free.

Stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

John Macarthur says it like this.

Paul says, and Fatima talking about this passage that God's stated purpose for our redemption was for freedom of the believer.

Christ set us free from the guilt.

Establishing and dreading power of the law through his death and resurrection.

Going back into a yoke of slavery is absurd.

So I want you to experience transformational freedom, not a transactional relationship.

One of the results of society, the way we've created it with all eyes on me, his therapy is on a massive rise, so I want to distinguish something though there is good Christian Council

and if you need counseling, which I think far more people probably do than they realize,

get good Christian counseling.

Not Against that at all.

What I'm talking about is this secular kind of therapy which does nothing transformational.

They just listen and go, well, how does that make you feel?

Well, what do you think?

And they never points you to wisdom or truth.

Look, I get that.

Sometimes we want to get things out, but here's what you wanna think about it.

Why would we pay somebody$120 an hour to do what our dog can do and just listen, but offer nothing.

Here's why, because we want to be known.

We want.

We want a safe place to go bare everything out.

Say it all out, let somebody hear it and not be judged.

And so we pay this person$120 an hour to not judge us.

So if you need counseling, here's what I would rather you do, asked me for a recommendation.

I'll do everything I can to find you a Christian counselor that will point you to the transforming power of the word.

It'll walk it through with you that that will listen.

That won't judge, but a point you back to this.

This sermon is not about counseling though.

Here's what the sermon is about.

Without a counselor, you can know today through his word that as a child of God, you are transformed.

You are known and you are loved.

So live in that freedom.

Now is that freedom to just go do whatever you your heart's desire is.

No, that's not.

That's not even remotely what he's saying.

We're going to get to that.

I was not even remotely what he's saying, but it is freedom is freedom from having to measure up is freedom from having to be good enough.

It's freedom from having to hit some Bart's freedom from being able to to to hit some standard that now makes you acceptable.

It's knowing that God knows everything about you and we'll still lovingly accept you and do more than except you transform.

You put away the old bringing in the new that's done through the power of the cross that's done to the atoning weight of the blood of Jesus Christ on the cross.

He paid for our sins.

There is defeat of death and the resurrection and through our adoption as sons.

Let's pray.

Lord,

I pray that you have been clear that I have.

I pray that

we will hear from your word that we have freedom in you and we are not children of slavery, but we are children of promise and we are known by you not.

I pray that we will make you known in Jesus name I pray.

Amen.