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We are continuing our journey in a book of Galatians and we come to chapter 4 Verses 12 to 20 and I like to start with a video. Take a look and we will take it from there thereafter.

Video plays

I hope you brought tissue paper, uh, it's a touching little clip from a Thai advertisement and it's called the Silence Of Love, it speaks about a father's love, but it is also an unappreciated love.

In a sense, I think that's what Paul must have felt the Apostle who wrote to the Galatians. Paul was their spiritual father. He preached to them the Gospel He told them the message of life and the Galatians have received him well. But now the Galatians have turned their back against Paul because in chapter 4 and verse 16, we read how Paul says have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? It is a very unique section of Scripture here in Galatians 4 because for the first three and a half chapters, it's all doctrine and explanations and defense of the Gospel.

But now Paul switches his tone to be one of emotional appeal. It's a very personal pastoral segment and here we therefore read about Paul's pastoral plea to the people of Galatia. This is a glimpse into Paul's heart and I like to take this in a very simple way, we're just going to run through these verses, nine verses in all and end off with some concluding applications.

Paul starts off this segment by saying, brothers I entreat you become as I am, for I also have become as you are, you did me no wrong. He calls them brothers and that marks a change of tone, because earlier on, Paul was quite strict, Paul was quite stern with them. He calls them O, foolish Galatians.

This segment is about Paul explaining the doctrine of justification by faith, in other words he's teaching that a man is made right before God not by his own works, but by faith in Jesus and as he was explaining this doctrinal truths, he calls them you foolish Galatians. JB Phillips, a writer in 1950s, he paraphrased this to be O, you dear idiots. I'm not sure if that's exactly the tone, but it was strong. However, as we come to verse 12 to 20, it's a emotional personal appeal, he says brothers.

He's reaching out to them on an emotional level now. I entreat you, I beg of you. He humbles himself to implore the Galatians. He tells them, become as I am for I also have become as you are. Now this is rather difficult to figure out just here, but if you look at the entire narrative so far, the entire context of Galatians, Paul must be saying O, Galatians, become like as I am, because I'm someone who is freed from legalism. I am a Jew, I'm very much a Jew. In fact, I'm as good as a Jew can get.

Remember how he said in chapter 1 in verse 14. I was advancing in Judaism, beyond many of my own age among my people. I'm the top dog. I'm unparalleled amongst my peers. So if there's anything, I can be the one who will boast of my Jewishness, my compliance to Judaistic practices, like circumcision and keeping of the festivals, but guys I do not boast of these things, I'm freed from legalism which is trying to obey the laws in my own strength to find justification. Don't go there, be as I am freed, stand in grace, stand in a freedom the Gospel gives.

So he says become as I am, freed from legalism, for I also have become as you are. I am not boasting of my Jewishness amongst you. Interestingly, this is the first imperative in Galatians. Imperative is a command. It's the first command here in Galatians after three and a half chapters, this is the first thing he commands the Galatians to do, be free. Live in this Gospel freedom, rejoice in the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. Do not be enslaved to legalism.

Legalism is a deadly trap. It's a principle of the world, not from God. You say what is legalism, it's my first time in church. I say, I'm glad you're here with us. Let me just explain, legalism is trying to obey the law in one's own strength for justification. Justification is trying to get a right footing, a right standing before a most Holy God.

And the operating principle of the world, in all its religions, is trying to earn a right standing before God on my own. Be good, don't sin, do charity. That is legalism and Paul says don't be enslaved to it because you will never save you. It can't save you because you can never be good enough, you can never be perfect and find that right standing before a Perfect God.

The only way you can stand before God is the Gospel, where God sent His Son to die and to pay for your sins. So Galatians, my brothers, I beg of you, don't go to that cursed weak and worthless principle. Stand in Gospel freedom. He goes on to say you did me no wrong. Now it's difficult to understand you did me no wrong, if you connect it to what we have just read.

The difficulty is this, when you read the Bible, when we read the Bible, we read verse 11, verse 12, verse 13, like that right, we are very influenced by the numbering system. But actually when the Bible is written, no one wrote Galatians 4:11, 4:12, 4.., it's one continuous essay. So I think verse 12, you did me no wrong, is best understood when you read on.

In verse 13 and 14, where Paul will say, you guys did not reject nor despise me when I first came to you. You did me no wrong, because when I came to you last time, I had a bodily ailment and I preached to you, the Gospel at first, with this bodily ailment. So Paul is saying, when I came to you, I was visibly, ostensibly sick, unwell.

Now, what is this bodily ailment that Paul suffered? Nobody really knows today, he didn't say it then. But there are many scholars and commentators who speculated what that disease might be. Some say he has malaria. Why, because the southern coast of Galatia has a lot of swamp lands, marshy lands and they say a lot of mosquitoes. Therefore he might have malaria. Don't know zhun or not lah.

Some say he has epilepsy, also don't know zhun or not lah. But the most common suggestion is that he has some kind of eye disease. Why eye disease, because later on in verse 14 Paul says, if you could you, you have gouged out your eyes for me and then in chapter 6 verse 11 he says, see how large a letter I've written to you. How large, because I can't see, so right very big, like your hand phone like that lah, your, I know how old you are by looking at your fonts ah.

But, I think it is best for us not to be too dogmatic in this. Someone wisely quipped, the difficulty of diagnosing the case of a living patient, Should warn us of the futility of attempting it for one who has been dead almost thousand nine hundred years. So, if you're sick today doctors also have a hard time figuring out right? So what makes us think we can be so sure what was his disease then?

Anyway, this was a disease that was obviously very disturbing and troubling because he says in verse 14 and though my condition was a trial to you. Maybe it's full of pus, maybe it's disfiguring. Maybe it's embarrassing, maybe it's very uncomfortable. Even though my condition was really nasty, it was a trial to you, you did not scorn or despise me.

The word despise, literally is referring to someone who spits at you. So, you did not scorn me, you did not despise me, you did not loathe me, but actually you treated me very well. You received me as an angel of God, as if even I am like Jesus Christ. You were so good to me. Obviously, they were so good to Paul not because Paul looked great, he was sick, but they were so good to Paul because Paul carried the message of life, the Gospel and they received it and that is the mark of God's grace upon Paul and Upon the Galatians, for allowing them to recognize, This is the message from God.

But things changed and so Paul says, well, you did me no wrong. I think that's how we connect verse 12 and verse 14, but things change in verse 15, what then has become of your blessedness? Why is it now that you turn your back against me? Why is it now that you treat me bad, why is it that you now reject and scorn me? For I testified to you last time the good old days. Huh, remember how we had great times together if it was even possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.

Now. I think this is clearly hyperbole or exaggerated speech. It's a figure of speech. It's almost like someone saying to his girlfriend, I love you so much, I'll go to the moon and come back. You're not going to the moon lah. You're not Elon Musk, but you say that because you just want to emphasize something. I think Paul is not saying you would give me your eyes because they don't have eye surgeons. They can't do eye transplants. It will be vain and meaningless. But they obviously loved him. And so he asked, where is your blessedness. You love me once, you love God once, you receive the Gospel once. Why are you turning back?

Verse 16, have I then become your enemy by telling you the truth? So sad, isn't it? When I'm giving you the truth and you do not want it, almost like the daughter in the mov..., that, that clip. The father will do everything for the daughter, but the daughter just wouldn't want it.
Why, the answer is given in verse 17. Paul identifies the problem, the enemies. They make much of you, but for no good purpose, they want to shut you out, that you may make much of them. So let's break this out a little. The they here, I think must refer to the false teachers who are referred to in chapter 1. They are those, there are some, who trouble you and want to distort the Gospel of Christ. They are here to give you false teachings. They want to trouble you.

These are the they we're talking about and they make much of you. The word in a Greek means to have lots of zeal over you. They are very zealous over you. Probably referring to how they would shower attention and affection on you. They make much of you. It's apparently said that this is a phrase that they use even about courtship. How a man a young man would shower lots of affection and attention on a young lady and actually that in and of itself, it's not wrong.

But what is wrong is that they make much of you for no good purpose. They are not showering you with attention and affection because they love you, because they want the best for you. But it is for some selfish agenda as Paul would say, they want to shut you out. They want to isolate you from others.

They give you this barrage of attention, so that you are now cut off from the rest, including Paul. And they do that, so that ultimately you Galatians may make much of them. So this is ultimately self-centered. The false teachers come in, not to bless the Galatians, but to use the Galatians to boost themselves.

This is what psychologists today would call, I give you a clue. Wah, very good, who said one ah? Wah, how you know? You read up on it, very good. Well, okay. Is it, this is a good drawing, huh? Love bombing and love bombing is not something that happened only recently love bombing has happened in the days of Galatians. And cults and religions employ this psychological tactic. Cults, Religion and love Bombing.

So what is love bombing? Well, you can Google it. You can find it on Wikipedia. I quote to you what Wikipedia say, just a bit of it. Love bombing is an attempt to influence a person by demonstrations of attention and affection. So you're not trying to do this for their sake. But you're trying to do this to get a certain control and influence over them. So there is an ulterior motive, implied in this phrase love bombing. It is not altruistic. It is selfish.

Another person in Wikipedia wrote, psychology professor in her 1996 book, that's close to 30 years ago, writes: As soon as any interest is shown by the recruits, they may be loved bombed by the recruiter or other cult members. So once there is a target they will hunt you down. They will bombard you with lots of attention.

I actually spoke with someone after the first service and they said exactly that's the case. There was a man who was in uh, some part of the States, had no place to stay and once the cult members knew about it, got to him showered him lots of affection and after 50 years that man is still in the Moonies church, which is a cult.

Love bombing is a coordinated effort, usually under the direction of leadership, that involves long-term members flooding the recruits and newer members with flattery, verbal seduction, affectionate but usually non-sexual touching and lots of attention to their every remark.

You still don't get it. Maybe another infographic, uh, recruitment tactic, love bombing and it will be a barrage of positivity. They affirm you, they make you feel good. They promise you wealth, success and they will rush to recruit you. They really want to get you in as soon as possible.

Or another infographic, In essence love bombing is a form of conditioning tool, otherwise known as a form of abuse, ultimately it's an abuse, whereby one person in the relationship, drowns the other in displays of love to maintain power and control. Cult leaders started this whole love bombing, actually not true lah, Galatians already have.

The unification Church of the United States aka, the Moonies, you can Google it when you go home, Use love bombing methods to gain trust, Convince new recruits that they are loved, wanted and secure. Then when the hooks are sunk in, trust and dependency were established and other forms of abuse will begin. Like I said, it's not in US, It's all the way back in Galatia. They, the false teachers would fuss over you, with zealous over you, but it's not for a good purpose. They just want to isolate you from truth, from me, from the Apostles and so that they 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'm present with you now. Paul here I think is saying, I'm not saying that being made much of is bad. Being made much of is good. It's not wrong for people to show you attention and affection. It is always good to be made much of, provided it's for a good purpose.

So I'm not against people showing you affection and attention. In fact, I'm not against others doing it for you when I'm not around. I'm not trying to be forming my own fan club. I'm not trying to get hero worship, I'm not trying to have turf wars, I'm happy that after I've preached the Gospel, others will come and teach you God's Word and help you grow. I'm happy with that, provided it is for a good purpose, which is not what the false teachers are doing.

So verse 19, my little children for whom I'm again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you. He's, he's appealing to them, he's communicating his grief and heart pain, his keksim ah, his anguish. So he pictures himself like a parent, like a mother, how he travails in childbirth until Christ is formed.

I think here it refers to how they are truly saved. He's laboring so that they will truly be saved. Because he's not sure, as we see in verse 13, he says, I preached to you the Gospel at first, I'm telling you the truth, so that's why he's saying, I'm laboring again. But I'm saying he's not sure because in verse 11 of the same chapter, I'm afraid I may have labored over you in vain. So now, I've got to come in again, teach, warn, rebuke, appeal, so that I know Christ is truly formed in you, Christ lives in you.

Last verse, I wish I could be present with you now and change my tone. Well, if Paul lives in our day, then not so big a problem because you can have your WhatsApp, FaceTime, Zoom, you can still talk. But he didn't have it. He could only write this letter. And actually, I'm thankful, he had no Zoom. Because if he had Zoom, we wouldn't have this letter.

He says, I wish I could talk to you face to face and thereby be able to change my tone because I'll know how you will respond. But for now, I am perplexed about you. I, I'm not sure how you are thinking this through, how you are led into this, and how you will respond. I really am at a loss.

So this is really a quite unique section or segment in Galatians, because it is somewhat in the middle of some doctrinal explanations in chapters 1 to 4 and verse 11. And then after this, if you will follow us next week, Paul will go back into some doctrinal teachings about Hagar and Sarah and so on and so forth. So this is a unique segment where Paul shares his heart. It's a personal, emotional, pastoral plea.

So what can we learn from here? I think, as we conclude, I'd like to share with you, the big idea here is we really get to see, together with the Galatians, we get to see Paul's love and Paul's heart for his people. It's a pastor's heart. It's a shepherd's heart. And a pastor's heart, a shepherd's heart, Paul's heart, is one that is centered on the Gospel.

Real pastoral concern must be anchored in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, real love for the people of God is not just empty calories sweetener. It's not just some sentimental mushiness. It is something very objective. That your great concern is that the people of God, the sheep, would be centered in the Gospel.

That they would not be led astray into some elementary principles like legalism. But that they would stand in grace. They would live in the Gospel freedom and they would be filled with the Gospel. They walk in love and joy and freedom and in the power of the Holy Spirit. That is Paul's pastoral concern.

And I think a church and the leaders should have this concern. We should be concerned, we should be focused, if I may say, that our people are centered in the Gospel. We have this saying, I have quoted this a few times. A healthy church is not a building filled with people, but a people filled with the Gospel. That is my concern, that is my prayer for the church. When I pray, I'm not looking to numbers. I think that is sometimes accurate, sometimes inaccurate assessment of the church.

But what I think is most important is that the people of God are centered in the Gospel. That means we firmly understand and believe how God sent His Son to die and to rise again to save us from our sins. We see God's love for us and in that Gospel, we love Him and we serve Him.

So we say, we want to be a people who will drink in the Gospel, regularly be refreshed with the love of God in the Gospel. We will live out the Gospel in godliness. And we will give out the Gospel. I, I long for nothing more than Gospeliters, all of us, you and I, to be a people not filled with money, but filled with the Gospel.

And that's why it fuels all that we do. This is the main thing we do. We had a work plan meeting this week with the heads of department. We were planning for the schedule or the calendar for 2025. And so we have lots of events, Christmas, Easter, mid-autumn outreach, various camps, and so on and so forth. And there was a question, what is the main thing for us as a church?

As I looked at the calendar, I say, the main thing is not on our calendar. What do you mean? We have so many events. What is the main thing? I say the main thing is not on our calendar because our main thing is our services, care groups, discipleship groups, Bible study groups, because it's in such regular platforms that we do throughout the year that we pray that God would fill His people with the Gospel. And that, to me, is always the main thing.

We celebrate, we reach out, we have events. But let us not, forget the main thing is always the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

We are now in the Olympics season. Everybody is concerned about Olympics. They talk about Low Kean Yew and, aiyah, sayang lost to Viktor Axelsen. That one, bopian one lah, Axelsen really very good lah.

But I saw some pictures and one picture that caught my attention last night on social media is this one. Can you tell me what's interesting about this photo? Olympics ah? What's special about this photo? What am I doing here? That's a great question. So, on the social media people put up, the world's most useless job.

It's in Chinese ah? shi shang zui wu liao de gong zuo 史上最无聊的工作, ao yun hui de jiu sheng yuan 奥运会的救生员. What does it mean? It means, the most useless job in history, a lifeguard in the Olympics. Hashtag, hashtag. What is hashtag? wo jiu jing zai zhe li zhuo shen me? 我究竟在这里做什么? yong ci li mei yi ge dou yiu de bi wo hao 泳池里每一个都游得比我好。 Which is to say, what am I doing here? They all swim better than me.

Now, I truly find this really quite comical. The most useless job, because you don't expect anyone to need saving there. Hey, but when it comes to the church, when it comes to the people of God, there is always a need to watch out. We don't expect people to drown in a pool, but we expect wolves to come into the church.

Paul was actually quite certain of it. He says to the Ephesians elders, that when I depart, mind you, fierce, ravenous wolves will come in. The pastor's heart is always watching out against false teachers. There's always a job to do there. Real love, real pastoral concern is not syrupy, sweet, empty-calorie sentimentalism. It is objective concern that the people of God would remain centered and filled with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's what I learned from Paul and his heart.

2. Concerned for their Good

The second thing I think we can learn from Paul is that he was always concerned for the good of the Galatians. This is a sharp contrast from the false teachers. The false teachers fuss over the Galatians, but actually they fuss over them so that they may make use of them. Paul never had that. Like a good parent, he was merely and wholly concerned for their spiritual well-being.

Now, it's not always easy to tell, isn't it? When someone shows you love and attention, does he show me love and attention because he truly cares for me or because he wants to love-bomb me? Not easy to distinguish. So, let me try to suggest some things. Now, they may not be all correct. These, these are just some of my suggestions. But I think we ought to be maybe taking some reference.

Careful about "leaders"

Be careful about leaders who do these things.

1. Who build a "fan club"

Be careful about leaders who are concerned about building their own fan club. They want big following. They want people to celebrate them. They want to behave like a celebrity. They want to be a VIP. They want to be hero-worshipped. Be careful of leaders like this.

Now, I, I hope I'm, I'm not being offensive when I share this, but I was actually quite shocked. When I hear that there are some who came from a church background where the pastors or the, the, the senior pastor requires all testimony videos to end off with thanking God and thanking him.

Wah, I say that one very hard to reconcile. I, I understand that we need to help people see that it is proper to respect the leaders God has placed. But I think that is taking a lot beyond what I think is comfortable. That every testimony, the people are coached to say, thank you pastor so and so. It's an ever constant.

And when it is the pastor's birthday, the church members in their care groups are all mandated, to write happy birthday. Write in cards, CG this card, that card. And so I think there is some concern I have here, because why would you want to be put up on a pedestal? It's a very dangerous place to be in. So I say to you, if you want your pastor to be removed soon, write all these cards. I think that is very dangerous. So, I'm not saying it is altogether wrong, but I'm just saying be careful, watch out, especially if two or three signs all come together.

2. Poach or steal sheep.

The second thing I need to warn against is that be careful about leaders who poach or steal sheep. The false teachers are doing that, isn't it? They're stealing people from Paul. They're poaching. Now, in Gospel Light, I think a lot of you did not come from this church originally. Let me have a, a sense. How many of you originally came from another church here in Singapore? Now, if you're overseas, you came here, that's fine.

But you came from another church here in Singapore, and now you're joining us. Can I see by a show of hands how many of you are like that? You see lah, siau liao lah. This is a church that poaches and steals. Now I, I want to say with the utmost clarity of conscience, we have, I think not never myself, neither our leaders, the pastors, we have never, never approached, poached or stolen sheep. We have never done that. We do welcome people who come. I mean, we cannot be like, you come, what church? Go back lah. You go back. We can never do that.

I mean, if you, you find that the ministry is helpful, we want to serve you, but we will never go and tell you, eh, you come from this church ah? Good lah. A lot more people there leh. Bring them here leh. We will never do that. Why? Because I think that is just wrong. That's ethically wrong, and that's Biblically wrong.

God is the One who is the Leader of the church. We are just servants. And we must never be kind of accruing members to ourselves to make ourselves look good. It destroys the church, I think. Let God be the One to decide. We serve, but we should never poach. In fact, I had interesting conversations with pastor friends elsewhere, and they tell me they don't, they don't poach or steal sheep. They don't. Because they find that it's better to poach or steal shepherds.

You get a shepherd, the sheep will come. Wah, I say, gao zhao 高招 ah yours? jue zhao 绝招? I say, that's totally not what I'm interested in. We should never look at another church and say, wah, they have good pastors there leh. Let's get some of them here. Pay them more. Why would you do that? If we are concerned for the people's good, we will never do these things, isn't it?

3. Boast of his ministry "success"

So I think there's a warning sign if we see leaders build a fan club, they poach sheep, or they boast of their ministry success. Every time you hear him talk, it's about how many books he's written, how many conferences he's been to, how many countries he's preached to, how many souls were saved by him, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah. And actually, I find that this is a, I hate to say it, but it's a common thing I hear in Christendom.

This is so and so, he has written so many books, I graduated from this college, and, why do, why would you do that? What is Paul's credentials, may I ask? What did Paul say were his credentials? The credential Paul gave? You see, that's why I say being a pastor always valid one, because people all forget one.

The credential he gave is in 2 Corinthians 11. What were his credentials? Not his success, but his, his weakness or his sufferings. That's the credential he gave. So I think it's very dangerous. We may justify it by saying, O, if I don't tell people where I've been to, how many books I've written, how will they listen? Leave that to God. That's not your pasar. Just focus on teaching, preaching, discipling God's people. Let God decide. But if you're very concerned about building your own kingdom, then this is what you have to do all the time.

4. Use people for their own projects/goals

The last thing I think we should be very careful about is leaders who use people for their own projects or goals. Even those who do so in the Name of God. O, you got to come and serve in this ministry, I'm a part of because God will be glorified, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. But you yourself know why you ask people to come or why you manipulate, why you pressure people. I'm not saying don't invite people to serve. Give them opportunities to, it's good. But there's a fine line between offering those opportunities for their good and using them to make yourself look good in this project or in this work.

A pastor's heart, a leader's heart should be like a parent, who is sacrificial and unconditional in making sure that the children receive the best welfare. And I think a shepherd's heart should be like that of Paul's and John the Baptist, where we all say, He, that is Christ must increase, but I must decrease.

Many of you here are leaders, leaders in care groups, leaders in discipleship groups, in Bible study groups, leaders in your own home. What does it mean to have a pastoral heart? It means you are centered in the Gospel. You know this is the most important priority. You must be concerned for the good of the people. For your children, for your CG, for your DG, for your ministry, for your church.

3. Committed in spite of Grief

Finally, I want to end off. My time is running out, I'm sorry. We must be committed in spite of grief. It's like a parent. Warren Wiersbe, a Bible teacher, he said, his mom quoted here, when they are little, when children are little, they step on your toes, but when they are grown, they step on your heart.

If you are a parent for any period of time, you will know what that means, isn't it? They break your heart. And Paul's heart is broken. Paul's heart must be broken because they turn against him. Paul's heart must be broken because he speaks about the anguish that he has. Paul's heart is like this man, whose daughter totally did not receive him.

I think in ministry, we will be acquainted with grief. People will fail you, people will back-stab you, people will reject you, people may despise you, people may turn against you. But if you really love them like a parent would, you will not quit. You'll stick to it. Your CG member may be very ji siow. Your, your CG member can be very naughty, very difficult. But a pastor's heart, a pastoral heart, is committed in spite of grief.

So, this is Paul. A heart centered on the Gospel, concerned for their good, and committed in spite of grief. May God give us many good leaders at home, in CG, in our ministries, and in our church. Let's bow for a word of prayer.

Father, we thank You today for Your love. So, when we see Paul's love for the Galatians, we are reminded, actually, the ultimate Shepherd is not Paul, but Your Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because He came to give us life. He sacrificed Himself to give us forgiveness. Your Son is always committed to our good. He's concerned for our salvation, our sanctification, our life before You. And Your Son bore all griefs and pains and will never let us go.

Thank You for the promise. Thank You for Your Word that says, nothing shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus. So, as we this day reflect on Your love, and as we this day think about how we are to love others, may we be brought back to the cross of Jesus Christ.

We pray for our friends who are here who do not know Jesus as yet. Lord, help them to see legalism never saves, but help them to see Jesus alone saves. Grant to them repentance and faith. We thank You. We pray all this in Jesus' Name. Amen.

 

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