Telling the Truth

Galatians 4:13-16

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What We’ll See

How Paul first witnessed to the Galatian believers.

God used Paul’s ailment for good.

The Galatian believers were turning away from the truth.

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Context

Paul wrote the letter to the Galatian believers because there were bad teachers trying to push a false gospel. Part of what these teachers taught was that you needed to live under the Law of Moses written in Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy to live the way God and Jesus wants us to. Paul has been showing how God has always wanted people to live by trusting in Him rather than a set of rules. Last week we saw that the Galatian Believers were leaving Jesus behind and started to practice the Old Testament Law instead. Paul said that he was afraid for their sake, and is begging them, pleading with them, to change directions, and go back to the truth.

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Galatians 4:13-16

12. Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. 13. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first,

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14. 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. 15. 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.

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

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Telling the Truth

What does it mean when someone says to you “I’m just telling the truth.” Sometimes people say this to excuse being rude in how they talk; What people tend to mean is that they have no other intention or purpose than to tell you what’s actually going on. During court trials, multiple people are chosen to serve as the Jury to decide whether or not a person is guilty, because we all understand that a regular person, while being able to see part of the truth may not see everything. This is what we mean by, “two heads are better than one.” But according to scripture there is someone who can see the full truth, in its complexity and it’s simplicity, and that Person is God. So what happens when someone has the truth revealed to them by God? That is what we are seeing here in our passage today.

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Galatians 4:13

12. Brothers, I entreat you, become as I am, for I also have become as you are. You did me no wrong. 13. You know it was because of a bodily ailment that I preached the gospel to you at first,

In the Next Three verses, Paul is going to remind the Galatians and reveal to us in the process, how they first met.

The phrase “because of a bodily ailment” literally means “weakness of body.” It’s the same phrase used in Romans 6:19 when Paul is giving a word picture about people being slaves to sin. He then says, “I am speaking in human terms, because of your natural limitations.” The idea being that a natural limitation or weakness of body could be that we have a hard time understanding something, or that we have something wrong with our bodies, for example; a sickness or an ailment. This seems to be what Paul was dealing with here in Galatians. Paul isn’t clear what happened when he first came to Galatia, but notice that he said: “You know”. This shows that either it was well known to the Galatians believers when they first met Paul, or it was such an obvious or visible ailment that it came to be known later on in the church.

But we see that God used this situation. Look at the end of the verse 13:

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

What Paul is saying is that

Notes: Paul first preached the Gospel because of a bodily ailment.

Now when he talks about preaching the Gospel, what does this mean? Well, he told them about Jesus. He would have told them about how Jesus is God who was born as a human and died for our sins. He would have also told them about believing in Jesus, and accepting his gift of Eternal Life. He probably told them that Jesus would return one day, rule as the perfect king as Isaiah and Daniel say. And, I think he taught them about living by the Spirit; about trusting in Jesus and the Holy Spirit to live the right way. What he’s telling them here in this Letter probably isn’t new information; that’s probably why Paul is so afraid for their sake. The Galatian believers had God’s truth from the beginning and they were turning away from it.

By saying “at first”, Paul shows us that he probably preached the Gospel multiple times, but the first time it happened was because of this bodily ailment. Well, how did the Galatians react to Paul when he was suffering? Quite differently to how they were reacting now. Look at verse 14:

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Galatians 4:14 (ESV)

14. 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.

Paul says here that

Notes: The Galatians recieved Paul like an Angel; and Angel of God, to be precise.

But we see a more detailed look at how they treated him at the beginning of the verse.

and though my condition was a trial to you.

This could also be read as “you didn’t despise or disdain the trial that came with my condition.” Whatever Paul’s condition was, it was a burden to the Galatians. But how did the Galatians deal with this burden?

The word “scorn” here is the Greek word “ἐξουθενέω” and it means to treat someone or something like they are nothing. That’s a little stronger than despising. What happens when you believe another person isn’t worth anything? You think that people are worth mistreating. It’s like when we say, “he treated him like the gum… on the bottom of his shoe”.

The word “despise” originally meant to spit. Some Greeks believed that spitting kept evil spirits away. The idea behind this word us, “get that thing away from me,” or “avoid it like the plague!”

Paul is saying that when the Galatians met him, in his fragile state, they neither treated him like he was worthless, and they didn’t throw him out.

But what does the word “trial” mean here? It’s not a court case; it’s like when someone goes through something hard, and they say, “that really tested me.” It was difficult for the Galatians to take care of Paul. But, again, they didn’t mistreat him or look at him with disgust. Instead, Look at how else they treated him:

but received me as an angel of God, as Christ Jesus.

The Galatians recieved Paul like God’s Angel. Now, do you remember how the Shepherd recieved the Angels in Luke 2? Does anyone remember how people usually receive Angels in the Bible? What is a common phrase Angels have to say when they show up?

“Do not be afraid.”

This phrase could mean that they recieved him with compassion, and based on how they dealt with his condition, that’s exactly what they did. But this could also mean that had a healthy respect for Paul. Remember how Paul says that the Galatians experienced miracles from God earlier in the book.

You can both love and respect people. To receive Jesus Christ here seems to mean that they recognized not only Paul’s message, but the authority he was given by God.

So just to give a timeline of events, this is what seemed to have happened. Paul, at some point, arrived in Galatia. He ended up having some sort of bodily ailment, one that probably made it hard for him to go anywhere, and some of the Galatians ended up taking care of him. While they were taking care of him, Paul probably either then or after getting better, shared the Gospel with them.

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You know, this isn’t the first time God has used the suffering the Paul has gone through for something good.

In 2 Corinthians 12, when confronting arrogant people who talked about how great they were in the church of Corinth, Paul says that a person should instead talk about how weak they are.

Paul then talks about how God revealed something special to him by divine revelation and then he says:

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2 Corinthians 12:7–9 (ESV)

7. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8. Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9. But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.

Paul asks God to take away his Suffering, and God says, ““My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.:”

Paul says that when we are weak, we can expect God to show up, because God makes up the difference. He works through our weaknesses. Also, when we’re weak, and God helps us to live a Godly life, God looks better. People can see that and see that God is real, because God is the one making the whole thing happen.

So what is Paul’s take-away. He’s going to boast about his weaknesses! He’s going to shout them from the rooftop! He wants God to work in his life! The word for weakness here in 2 Corinthians is the word ἀσθενεία which is the same word used Greek word used here in our Passage that we translate “ailment” in Galatians 4, verse 14.

Now, notice, neither of these passages say that Paul did something wrong. Unfortunately, suffering is a part of living in a broken and a fallen world, but God is so powerful that he can use all things for good. Look at What Paul says in Romans 8:28-29

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28. And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. 29. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.

When we put our faith in God, he uses all things together for our good, and one of those goals that God will make happen in every believer’s life is that they will become like Jesus; when we live by faith, God uses all things to make us better people and for a greater purpose.

God used Paul’s suffering for Good in 2 Corinthians; he used it to help Paul become a better person; he helped Paul to learn more about what it means to live by the Spirit’s power. Here in Galatians, God used Paul’s suffering to do what? To open the door for him to share the Gospel with the Galatian believers.

Whatever our weakness is, God can and will use it for good. When we are weak, He is strong.

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Galatians 4:15 (ESV)

15. 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.

Paul states that the Galatian believers helped him while he was suffering and they accepted him like and Angel of God. He wants to know. What changed?

Notes: He says that the Galatians were Once Loyal.

The word blessedness can also mean “happy.” They used to seem so much happier. Paul says that they were so enthusiastic that they would have given him anything they asked for; that’s what he means when he says, they would have given their own eyes to him. They were probably very excited about trusting in Jesus when they first believed, but what happened now? Look at verse 16.

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

Paul is either asking them question or stating what’s happened: He seems to be their enemy for being honest with them.

Have you ever heard of pleather? It’s a word that combine “plastic” with “leather” hence, pleather. It’s made from plastic instead of Cow. What is the difference between pleather and Leather? Authenticity. A pleather jacket is not authentic leather. It feels different; it’s less likely to keep you warm and more likely to crack and for plastic pieces to fall off. (Apparently someone tried to rebrand pleather to call it “vegan leather”)

Talk about fake protein powder, and selling cake batter instead.

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Authenticity and honesty matters a lot If you’re car isn’t doing well like this pick-up in the picture.

Mechanic A who tells you the truth and says: You should not be driving this car around until I fix it; it’s gonna be expensive, and you’ll have to take better care of it afterwards, but I can fix it.

Or:

Mechanic B who only wants to make you feel good and says, Ah, your car’s fine! Don’t worry about the rattling that sounds like you’ve got a skunk stuck in your muffler! That’s completely normal. Go take a load off and go relax at home.

Which Mechanic would you rather go to? When there’s something wrong with your car, you want honest mechanic who’s going to tell you right away. Paul was, in a loving way, being honest or authentic, with the Galatians. Notes: Paul told the Galatians the truth.

And Paul wants to know:

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Hey Galatians, does that make me your enemy?

Again, Paul could be asking this as a question or he could be making a statement. Last week we saw that Paul was afraid that the time he spent working and discipling the Galatian believers was in vain. Maybe Paul isn’t sure where the Galatian Believers thought of him. It’s like Paul is laying everything out on the table and saying, “look I’m afraid for you and it seems like you think I’m your enemy now because I was genuine with you!”

And what is he being genuine about? He is telling them that no set of rules will make them live the right way, and instead, they need to live the Christian life by faith; by trusting in Jesus.

Next week we are going to see one of the reasons why some of the Galatians believers are turning away from God in verse 18, but we will look at that next week.

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What We’ve Seen

God uses our weaknesses for good.

Paul first witnessed to the Galatians because of an ailment.

Some of the Galatian believers were turning away from the truth.

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Application

Trust God with your weaknesses.

Look for opportunities to share the Gospel with others.

Pray for the people around you who refuse to see the truth.

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Prayer