Known By God
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Galatians 4:8-20
Galatians 4:8-20
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 am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.
Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong.
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 your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have 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 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.
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 Were A Slave
You Now Know God
Do You Want to be A Slave Again?
You were a Slave
What can man offer you that God cannot?
Example:
“A good slave, of the Law (World), would.....”
“A good Christian would...”
“A bad slave, of the Law (World), would...”
“A bad Christian would...”
Remember: James 2:10
For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles in one point, he has become guilty of all.
How did Jesus treat people?
You Now Know God
We know that God does not listen to sinners, but if anyone is a worshiper of God and does his will, God listens to him.
“He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
Do You want to be a Slaves Again?
You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder.
Has your heart been changed?
You observe days and months and seasons and years!
Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.
I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.
All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;
so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
I am afraid I may have labored over you in vain.
Are there people in your life that it seems like we are laboring in vain over?
Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong.
“To Do List”
To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law.
To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
“Embedded here is a principle of far-reaching importance for ministers, missionaries and other Christian workers. It is that, in seeking to win other people for Christ, our end is to make them like us, while the means to that end is to make ourselves like them. If they are to become one with us in Christian conviction and experience, we must first become one with them in Christian compassion.” -John Stott
Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong.
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 your blessedness? For I testify to you that, if possible, you would have gouged out your eyes and given them to me.
For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.
For what does it benefit a person if he gains the whole world but forfeits his life? Or what can a person give in exchange for his life?
But you, be sober in all things, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.
For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come.
I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith;
in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.
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 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.
“He is not satisfied that Christ dwells in them; he longs to see Christ formed in them, to see them transformed into the image of Christ, ‘until you take the shape of Christ.” - John Stott
“Until Christ is formed in you?”
I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers,
to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,
“In the evening, I went very unwillingly to a society in Aldersgate Street, where one was reading Luther’s preface to the Epistle to the Romans.
About a quarter before nine, while he was describing the change which God works in the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely warmed.
I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for salvation, and an assurance was given me that he had taken away my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death.” - John Wesley
“Until Christ is formed in you?”