SPITTING IMAGE

                                                                    SPITTING IMAGE

Galatians 4:¹² Brethren, I urge you to become like me, for I became like you. You have not injured me at all. ¹³ You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first. ¹⁴ And my trial which was in my flesh you did not despise or reject, but you received me as an angel of God, even as Christ Jesus. ¹⁵ What then was the blessing you enjoyed? For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me. ¹⁶ Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth? ¹⁷ They zealously court you, but for no good; yes, they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them. ¹⁸ But it is good to be zealous in a good thing always, and not only when I am present with you. ¹⁹ My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you, ²⁰ I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you.

Introduction

Paul is urging the Galatians to become his spitting image. Previously, the had received him as a true messenger of God, as an angel. He says that they had received him, “even as Christ Jesus” (Gal. 4:14). In other words, they could see Christ Jesus in him.

He calls the Galatians, “My little children” (4:19). Children image their parents. Sometimes they are more than similar, they may even be the spitting image of their mother or father.

The Galatians have seen Christ Jesus in him, and now he wants to see Christ manifest Himself in them. “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (4:19). So, it’s all about Christ Jesus in him and in them.

Clear Image

Who is Christ Jesus? “He is the image of the invisible God” (Col. 1:15a). “He is the express image of [God’s] person” (Heb. 1:3). We use the vernacular, “spitting image” to mean the same as “express image.” This, of course, should instantly bring to our mind the words found in the Cultural Mandate, “Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness” (Gen. 1:26a).

Now, we don’t want to get too hung up on the etymology of the term spitting image, whether it really has to do with spit or is a corruption of splitting image. To say “splitting image” where the idea is that the image is split, divided in two, like when you look in a mirror, there is both you and your image, may lead us away from the true source of spitting image. However, it does help us to understand what is going on here. The Galatians, the “foolish” Galatians, “before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified” (Gal. 3:1), are forgetting what they saw in Paul and his message.

“For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does” (James 1:23-25). The Galatians had looked into “the perfect law of liberty” when Paul had shown them “Christ and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2) but now, under the evil influence of the Judaizers, were becoming forgetful hearers.

Adam was tempted or tested in the Garden. He failed the test. Christ Jesus was tempted or tested in the wilderness and passed the test. The Galatians, by imaging the fallen Adam instead of the righteous “last Adam” are failing their temptation or test.

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Whether he appears as a serpent or in person or uses men such as the Judaizers, the devil is the tempter, the tester. The Galatians were failing badly. Why? They were looking to themselves instead of looking to Jesus. Like doctors and nurses looking after a pregnant woman while watching monitors and listening to electronic beeps until the child is born, so the Galatians were now observing the things that pointed to the Christ that was coming instead of the Christ that has come. “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman” (4:4).

Corrupted Image

The Galatians were returning to observing the signs that point to Christ and His coming, i.e., the law. The ceremonial law was the umbilical cord. This was cut because it had become obsolete when Christ was born of a woman. When Christ was crucified, the ceremonial law was cut away like the circumcisional foreskin. That previous covenant with its administrations, at the time of the Galatians, was being phased out as the old covenant transitioned into the new. The Book of Acts records this period of transition with all its teething troubles.

The Galatians were corrupting the gospel by reintroducing those things that the gospel had put paid to. “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision avails anything, but faith working through love” (Gal. 5:6). Bloody circumcision was already transitioning into unbloody water baptism. “In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, buried with Him in baptism, in which you also were raised with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead” (Col. 2:11-12). Thus, although administered differently, Old Testament circumcision and New Testament water baptism mean the same thing – the “putting off the body of the sins of the flesh.”

Circumcision was the Old Testament “mark of Christ.” Water baptism is the New Testament “mark of Christ.” Both are the application of the covenant promise of God. The Old Testament saints believed in the Christ to come. We New Testament saints believe in the Christ who has come. Therefore, to be “buried with Him in baptism” is more about having the “mark of Christ” affixed than about being lowered into a six-foot hole in the ground and having dirt shovelled on top of you, apparently depicted by immersionist baptism! Can you imagine being held under water for three days and three nights?!

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We are “buried with Christ” (funeralized) through baptism. However, Christ was never buried the way we do burials in Western nations. The sprinkled or poured out water on the baptismal recipient represents the finished work of Christ. It signifies the same as that which circumcision pointed to. The foreskin of our sin has been removed by Christ. We shed no blood (as happened in circumcision). He shed His blood, the “blood of sprinkling” (1 Pet. 1:2) that cleanses us of all our iniquities. Christ is the High Priest who sprinkles us, not with the blood of bulls and goats, but with His own blood (Heb. 9:11-15). Therefore, “let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water” (Heb. 10:22).

Corrected Image

The blood Christ poured out while on the cross is applied by the poured out Holy Spirit depicted in water baptism. The Galatians, by misunderstanding the true nature and intent of circumcision, were in danger of severing Old Testament circumcision from New Testament baptism. They were about to make their circumcision the profession of their faith, much in the same way as many today view their baptism as their profession of faith rather than it, like circumcision, being the covenant promise of God.

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Just as circumcision did not make anyone a Jew under the old covenant, neither does baptism make anyone a Christian under the new covenant. As a sheep was daubed with dye to identify its owner, so these are simply signs that God’s covenant promises have been applied to you. A sheep’s bleating does not identify the owner. The dyed wool does. The bleating only identifies you as a sheep and therefore are a possible candidate to be daubed with dye.

Just as many today look to their baptism as the sign of their faith, so the Judaizers looked to their circumcision. To view things this way is to look to our own works, things you have done/are doing. However, these are only reminders, signposts. The writer to the Hebrews says that we should be “looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith” (Heb. 12:2a). The signposts of Old Testament circumcision and now New Testament baptism show us where to look. We are to look away from ourselves to the One they depict, i.e., the Owner.

There are two sacraments in the new covenant: baptism replacing circumcision and the Lord’s Supper replacing the Passover. Each of these ceremonies transitioned into the other via Christ. Though some Protestant denominations are guilty of doing much the same thing, the Roman Catholic denomination, with the doctrine of its mass, elevates the Lord’s Supper over the gospel. For Rome, the elements literally become what they are only supposed to represent, viz., Christ and Him crucified. However, some Protestant denominations do something similar with baptism. Instead of receiving the sign and seal of the covenant, they make it all about something they do, something they give, i.e., their profession of faith. Therefore, baptism becomes more about a person’s profession of faith than the promise of God. Thus, we are back to what the Judaizers were doing with the fulfilled ceremonial law. They saw their participation in the ceremonies as that which saved them rather than the Christ depicted therein. The law only pointed to Christ, but the Judaizers want to use it as a means of salvation.   

The Judaizers want to form the Galatians in their own image, “they want to exclude you, that you may be zealous for them” (4:17b). However, Paul corrects them. He wants them to conform to the image of Christ. He is like the midwife monitoring a woman giving birth, nay, he himself is like the one who is given birth, “My little children, for whom I labor in birth again until Christ is formed in you” (4:19).

Paul wants the Galatians to be the image of Christ and not the Judaizers. So, he has to correct the image that has been distorted, corrupted by the legalistic Judaizers. Some Christians do not like to have their errors corrected. “Have I therefore become your enemy because I tell you the truth?” (4:16). However, we ought to follow Paul’s example, just as he is following Christ’s example. Christ corrected everyone including the devil. “Jesus answered and said to them, “Are you not therefore mistaken, because you do not know the Scriptures nor the power of God?” (Mark 12:24). “Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’” (Matt. 4:10).

We get our doctrine of Christ and His gospel from what is written in Scripture. The Scriptures are about Him. “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (John 5:39-40). They saw their salvation in the use of the Scriptures rather than in the One the Scriptures reveal. For them it was sign over substance.

Whether it is circumcision and all the rest of the ceremonial law or the mode and meaning of baptism, the old and the new covenant, we must diligently search the Scriptures for the answers and we must correct anywhere that we have got it wrong. That’s what Paul is doing with the Galatians. They are in error.

Paul reminds them, “You know that because of physical infirmity I preached the gospel to you at the first” (4:13). Some tend to think that Paul’s injury or illness had something to do with his eyes because he says, “For I bear you witness that, if possible, you would have plucked out your own eyes and given them to me” (4:15). This may be true, but by these words are we not being reminded what he has written earlier to them? “O foolish Galatians! Who has bewitched you that you should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ was clearly portrayed among you as crucified?” (Gal. 3:1).

The Galatians have gone from loving Paul to the point of plucking out their own eyes to help him, to becoming his enemy because he is correcting their error. Why? Because they have taken their eyes off Christ and Him crucified! And by doing so they are in danger of totally rejecting the gospel.

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Paul has been using the stick with the Galatians when he would rather be using the carrot. “I would like to be present with you now and to change my tone; for I have doubts about you” (4:20). We see then why he has been using the stick, “for I have doubts about you.”

If you have doubts about other Christians, then let God’s Word be the judge of that. Paul knew what he had taught the Galatians. He could see that, under the influence of the Judaizing Party, they were beginning to reject the clear teaching of the gospel. They were beginning to reject the finished work of Christ in favour of ceremonies, yeah, their own “good” works.

Conclusion

We must listen to the Spirit speaking in the Scriptures. We must conform to what is taught therein. For by doing so Christ will increasingly be formed in us, and we, like Him, and like Adam when he was first created, will again become His image and likeness, His spitting image.

Therefore, seek a church that faithfully preaches Christ and Him crucified, properly administers the two sacraments, administers discipline, a church that does not neglect to preach the whole counsel of God (of which the gospel is the heart). Pray that our teachers and preachers, like Paul, will love us by being bold enough to correct our errors.  

CITY V COUNTRY

                                                                    City v Country

Brisbane (image from Web)

         City dwellers have better access to hospitals, health facilities and shopping malls etc. However, unlike country dwellers, city dwellers would never think of leaving their cars and houses unlocked. The television show ‘Midsomer Murders’, set in the beautiful English countryside notwithstanding, cities would seem to have higher crime rates.

God, the Creator, planted a garden ‘eastward in Eden’ (Gen. 2:8), created Adam (Gen. 2:7), entered into a covenant with him as the head of humanity (Hos. 6:7; Rom. 5:12); made a wife for him from his rib (Gen. 2:22), and issued the ‘Cultural Mandate’: ‘God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground”’ (Gen. 1:28). Thus, Adam and Eve were commissioned to produce offspring and extend the country garden to the ends of the earth to God’s glory. What could go wrong? ‘Everyone who sins breaks the law; in fact, sin is lawlessness’ (1 John 3:4). Adam sinned by breaking God’s covenant with him, and instead of the country garden expanding throughout the world, lawlessness spread with humanity.

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On my way from Brisbane to Hobart, as I drove through Eden in New South Wales, I saw a sign, ‘Eden Sawmill.’ It created a picture in my mind of Adam cutting down trees and building things to the glory of God – as per the ‘Cultural Mandate.’ Solomon building the temple at Jerusalem illustrates this. God supplies the raw materials and we humans reflect our Creator by being creative with them. Beauty is in the eyes of God. He is the Beholder. Sin distorts. Therefore, we must follow the manual, the Bible. ‘So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God’ (1 Cor. 10:31).

Contemporary Christianity has reduced the ‘Cultural Mandate’ to mere pietism and quietism, i.e., the saving of sinners. As important as salvation is, this is a kind of neglect of ‘the weightier matters of the law’ (Matt. 23:23). It is remedied by viewing the post-Fall ‘Great Commission’ together with the pre-Fall ‘Cultural Mandate.’ The same God who gave mankind the raw materials in the country garden to make things to His glory, gave Noah the wood to build the ark, gave Solomon the supplies to build the temple, also supplied the Romans with wood to make a cross. Jesus was taken outside of the city and into the country to be crucified.  ‘A certain man from Cyrene, Simon, the father of Alexander and Rufus, was passing by on his way in from the country, and they forced him to carry the cross. They brought Jesus to the place called Golgotha (which means “the place of the skull”)’ (Mark 15:21-22; cf. Lev. 4:12, 16:27). ‘And so Jesus also suffered outside the city gate to make the people holy through His own blood’ (Heb. 13:12).

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        So, Adam was ejected from the country garden. Jesus, ‘the last Adam’, was ejected from the city. However, we are back to the country garden with the death and resurrection of Jesus. ‘At the place where Jesus was crucified, there was a garden’ (John 19:41a).

City or country?  There’s both for following Jesus! And it’s with Him that the ‘Cultural Mandate’ and ‘Great Commission’ meet. It ends with the country garden and the city united (Rev. 2:7, 20:2), the Garden City of the ‘New Jerusalem’, the ‘Jerusalem above’ (Rev. 21:2; Gal. 4:26). ‘Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city’ Rev. 22:14).

BILLY THE GOALIE

                                                        Billy the Goalie

    We lived in Tasmania for five years back in the early 2000s. A lot of the mountains and hills reminded me very much of where Billy and I grew up in Scotland, the Vale of Leven, “The Vale”. 

            Our local mountain was Ben Lomond, overlooking the beautiful Loch Lomond, made famous in song.

Ben Lomond, like a sentinel, with its head and shoulders, watched over the Vale of Leven, winter, spring, summer, or fall. Snow-capped in the winter, it looked like a Christmas pudding with icing on the top of it! Or the more noble, if you will, a bald eagle about to take off! Magnificent!

It was while my wife and I were in Tasmania that I became reacquainted with Billy. I’ve known Billy since the late 60s, from School at the Vale of Leven Academy and the Jamestown Boys Brigade. Billy was a great goalie at soccer, football, or as we call it, “fitba.”

            Billy was one of those guys that aren’t scared to dive into a frozen, muddy puddle in winter just to make a save. Who knows how many saves Billy made over his football career.

Anyway, about twenty or so years ago I looked after a wee church next to Hobart, Tasmania. As Dorothy and I were opening up the building for the evening service, we noticed a car pulling into the church’s parking lot. A woman jumped out. I thought she was going to ask for directions. But she said something like, “Can you save my soul?” It turned it that it was Billy and Morena Cameron!

I think it was Morena’s sister Ingram who had told them that I was a minister in Tasmania. They had no idea where or what church I was minister at. “Och, you’ll find him,” said Ingram, “Tasmania is just a wee place!” It was sort of miraculous that they found me as Tasmania is about the size of Wales!

They declined my invitation to attend our wee worship service. So, we gave them our house keys and directions and told them to watch out for our dog. Wee Jamie was a Sydney Silkie, an overgrown Yorkie, that wouldn’t hurt a fly. We joined them after the service and reminisced about things in the Vale as well as things in the Bible.

One of the things in the Bible is the idea of getting “saved.” There was a jailer who asked Paul the Apostle, “What must I do to be saved?” Paul gave him a simple answer, “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved…” (Acts 16:31).

Now, Billy diving into a frozen puddle to save a goal is pretty impressive, but Jesus having Himself nailed to a cross to save everyone who believes in Him is impressive to the max!

And just as Billy would get out of the frozen puddle after having saved a goal and kick the ball back up the pitch, so Jesus got out of the grave after having saved all who will believe in Him and He takes them to be with Him in Heaven when they die.

To get the ball into the back of the net you needed to get through Billy the goalie. And that wasn’t an easy thing to do. To get into Heaven you need to go through Jesus the Saviour. And it’s impossible to get to Heaven without Him. Because Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” (John 14:6).

I hadn’t seen Billy for a year or two before he died. To my knowledge, Billy was never hostile toward Jesus, at least not in my company. As his health failed, I hope that he started trusting in Jesus. As Paul says, “If you declare with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved” (Rom.10:9).

My wife, Dorothy, and I left Tasmania and came back here to Brisbane in sunny Queensland. In 2008 I became an army chaplain posted at Gallipoli Barracks, Enoggera, here in Brisbane. I was with 2GHB, a sort of M.A.S.H. unit, all doctors and nurses, where I was a sort of “Father Mulcahy.” Anyway, as I was walking to my car, there was Billy with his head under the open hood or bonnet of someone’s car! He worked for RACQ at the time. “Hello Billy!”

    From then on Billy was the main organiser for the Scottish contingent living in Brisbane of which I was part. We’d all go out for meals together. A lot of the men would go golfing together.

Billy was the one who would gather us all. He would organise things. He was like the team manager. The rest of us, it would seem, couldn’t organise a “manáge!”

Billy, today you’ve really outdone yourself. You’ve gathered friends and family from all over the world! And we’re all going to miss you!

Apparently, family and friends are going to have a wee service for Billy on the bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond soon. I’m sure we’ll be there in spirit.

By yon bonnie banks and by yon bonnie braes,

Where the sun shines bright on Loch Lomon'.

where me and my true love were ever wont to gae

On the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomon’.

O ye’ll tak’ the high road and I’ll tak the low road,

An’ I’ll be in Scotland afore ye;

But me and my true love will never meet again

On the bonnie, bonnie banks o’ Loch Lomon’. 

Billy, we’re really going to miss you. Goodbye old friend.

Watch a recording of the funeral service here: OneRoom - Viewer

A RAINBOW IN MY HEART (Review)

A Rainbow in My Heart by Russell Brandon is a delightful little book that follows the lives of two precocious youngsters as they grow up in the grace and knowledge of Jesus Christ. It well illustrates the truth of “Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it” (Proverbs 22:6 NIV).

Jack and Ellie are a positive influence on all they meet as they negotiate many of the pitfalls along life’s journey in a fallen world. They avoid these wiles and snares of the devil by wise use and application of Biblical teaching. They become entrepreneurial and altruistic as per the Bible. Their success is measured by their service to the glory of God and their enjoyment of Him.

It is a book to be enjoyed by all, especially those going through their teen years.  

GOSPEL GUIDANCE (Take 2)

Psalm 51

For the director of music. A psalm of David. When the prophet Nathan came to him after David had committed adultery with Bathsheba.

1 Have mercy on me, O God,
    according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion
    blot out my transgressions.
2 Wash away all my iniquity
    and cleanse me from my sin.

3 For I know my transgressions,
    and my sin is always before me.
4 Against you, you only, have I sinned
    and done what is evil in your sight;
so you are right in your verdict
    and justified when you judge.
5 Surely I was sinful at birth,
    sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
6 Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;
    you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

7 Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean;
    wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
8 Let me hear joy and gladness;
    let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
9 Hide your face from my sins
    and blot out all my iniquity.

10 Create in me a pure heart, O God,
    and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
11 Do not cast me from your presence
    or take your Holy Spirit from me.
12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation
    and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
    so that sinners will turn back to you.
14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God,
    you who are God my Saviour,
    and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
15 Open my lips, Lord,
    and my mouth will declare your praise.
16 You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it;
    you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
17 My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit;
    a broken and contrite heart
    you, God, will not despise.

18 May it please you to prosper Zion,
    to build up the walls of Jerusalem.
19 Then you will delight in the sacrifices of the righteous,
    in burnt offerings offered whole;
    then bulls will be offered on your altar.

THE MASQUERADER

                                                            THE MASQUERADER

“As many as desire to make a good showing in the flesh, these try to compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ” (Gal. 6:12)

Introduction

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The Apostle is instructing the Galatians in how to recognize false teachers. First off, they are recognized by their focus on the outward show. They are overly concerned with, and place much emphasis on, externals. And secondly, the reason why false teachers place so much emphasis on the externals is because they live in fear. They are overly concerned with what others think of them. And this, when you think about it, amounts to the same thing as the first point. So, in a word, the false teacher is one who fears man more than he fears God.

Now, you may think that a false teacher would be a very easy thing to spot in the church. But that’s not always the case. He may not be that easy to recognize. For example, he may be quite orthodox in what he teaches. He may assent to the Reformed Confessions of the Church, such as the Westminster Standards and the Three Forms of Unity. He may even swear before God that the Westminster Confession is his own confession

And, as I said, the false teacher may even be teaching what Jude calls, “the faith which was once for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3b). He may do so with great frequency, even every Sunday. He may do so with great eloquence, even have people flock to hear him. He may even get invited to speak, even all over the world. But truth be known, the man is a false teacher.

Here’s the subtlety: We tend to think of false teachers as those who teach false teachings. But the true nature of the false teacher is that he may even teach true doctrine, but for his own end. And, he will continue teaching proper doctrine, i.e., so long as he doesn’t have to suffer for it! Therefore, the false teacher may not be discovered until pressure is brought to bear upon him. He won’t necessarily be exposed until he’s driven to make a stand on what he claims to believe. The false teacher, as we shall see, will compromise the truth to avoid persecution.

The Masquerader’s Dress

“As many as desire to make a good showing, these try to compel you to be circumcised.” Paul here is speaking of the false teachers who are in Galatia. He’s describing them as those who “desire to make a good showing.” Or, as the NIV would have it “Those who want to make a good impression outwardly.”

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So, we see then, the “masquerader” dresses himself in order to make a good show. He wants people to like him. He wants people to be suitably impressed with him. So, he “dresses” for the occasion. If you’re going golfing, he’s got the plus-fours on! If you’re going fly-fishing, he’s got the waders on! If you’re going cycling, he’s got the spandex-shorts on!

Now, we’re talking metaphorically here. We’re not necessarily talking about actual clothes here. Although outer garments might very well be part of his act. No, what we’re meaning by this, is that the false teacher is one who masquerades. In other words, the masquerader is the type of person who tries to disguise his true personality. He tries to mask who he really is. He masquerades.

Let me explain what I mean a little further. In the church you expect the teaching elder to be someone who cares about people. Well, the masquerader, the false teacher, might very well care about people too. However, the way he cares about people is different to the way the true teacher cares about them.  The true teacher cares about people because he cares about God and what God thinks. Whereas the false teacher cares about people because he cares about himself. But it doesn’t just stop there. He cares about what people think of him.

Now, don’t get me wrong, no-one likes it when people dislike them. But being liked by others is what the false teacher is all about, according to our text. The masquerader is out to make a good impression in the world. So, you can see that it’s not so easy to spot the false teacher. He might be a real “people’s man” He might even come and visit you – often! You might even be impressed by how much he cares about you. But, according to the verse before us, he has an ulterior motive. He’s after your approval. He wants you to like him. He’s out to make a good showing, a good impression.

So, you can see then, that it’s not as easy as looks, to spot a masquerader. In fact, truth be known, the masquerader may not even know that he himself is a false teacher! Jeremiah says, does he not, that the heart is a deceitful and desperately wicked thing (Jer. 17:9). That’s why the Apostle, e.g., says elsewhere, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove [or test] yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you are disqualified” (2 Cor. 13:5).  Also, he says, “But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified” (1 Cor. 9:27). Commenting on this verse Matthew Henry says, “A preacher of salvation may yet miss it. He may show others the way to heaven, and never get thither himself.”

The false teacher may think himself the epitome of orthodox Christianity, i.e., the Reformed Faith. He may, for a time, faithfully proclaim the whole counsel of God. He may even preach on Hell, Repentance, the Christian Keeping of God’s Law. Why, he may even preach on Tithing! – along with all the other less offensive doctrines. However, just because his theology is all dressed up in Presbyterian and Reformed, i.e., Biblical, garb doesn’t make him the real thing.

So, what is it then, that makes him the real thing and not a masquerader? What is the difference between the false teacher and the true teacher? Well, for a start, it’s the grace of God. A man is a true teacher simply because of God’s grace. It is God who supplies the true teachers to His Church. Which is not to say that the false teacher doesn’t have a role to play. (We’ll look into the role he plays a little later.) But the main difference between a false and a true teacher is one of desire. Yet, on the surface both the false and the true teacher may desire to put on a good show. However, here’s the difference, the difference is in the object of the desire. The object of the false teacher’s desire is his own glory. “They desire to have you circumcised that they may GLORY in your flesh” (Gal. 6:13b). But what is the chief end of the true teacher? His chief end is to glorify God and enjoy him forever! Therefore, the true teacher is the one who puts God’s glory first – regardless of the consequences, for that’s the pattern in Scripture.

“And others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented – of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith” (Heb. 11:35b ff.).

Again, as the Apostle says, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith.” Then look carefully at the teachers in the churches, and examine them – not to judge but discern. Are there men (and women) teachers in the churches trying to put on a good show? Are they all dog-collars, purple-robes, gold crosses, and muttering pious-platitudes? Are they all outward pomp and ceremony? It’s not hard to spot some false teachers just by their outward dress and manner.

But, again, I remind you, it’s not so much their outward dress that betrays the false teacher, it’s their inner motives – their heart betrays them. It’s by their fruits ye shall know them – not by their suits! But what about those false teachers who actually teach according to the Scriptures. What about those ones who may not even have realized they are false teachers? How are they revealed to be what they truly are, i.e., man-pleasers? Well, look at the rest of our text, “these try to compel you to be circumcised, only that they may not suffer persecution for the cross.” So, we see then, that the false teachers are exposed by persecution. The last thing the false teacher wants is persecution. He is after the approval of men not their disapproval.

The Masquerader’s Dread

The masquerader fears man more than God. The masquerader, the false teacher, desires glory, not persecution. He’ll do anything to avoid being persecuted. He’ll even begin teaching erroneous doctrine if he thinks it will save his own flesh.

As you well know, certain false teachers had come among the Galatian congregation. And instead of that church showing them where to go, they began to capitulate. That’s the reason why Paul fired off this letter to them in the first place. As in any church, there were those in the Galatian Church who wanted to keep the peace. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to keep the peace in the church. However, false teachers are willing to compromise the Gospel just to keep the peace!

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In other words, the masquerader has his mask removed through persecution. He will only stand for the Gospel if he receives the approval of men. But he will not stand on the truth of the cross of Christ if it means hardship for him. The masquerader’s masquerade is over when the wolf enters the fold. The wolf enters the sheepfold clothed in sheepskin. He enters with darkness dressed up as light. “And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose end will be according to their works” (2 Cor. 11:14-15).

The false shepherd or teacher has a decision to make. And remember, his decision is based upon the popular vote! If most people are clamouring for the new teaching brought by the wolf, then he’ll follow the new teaching, even if it contradicts the Gospel! That’s what we see in the verse before us.

The Galatian teachers were beginning to try to consider circumcision (and other aspects of the ceremonial law) as the way of salvation. The wolf had got among them and he was hungry, and he was demanding a piece of their flesh!

This was a time of testing for the Galatian Congregation. What’s it going to be? Are you going to stand up for the Gospel or not? Or we could phrase the question this way, Do you fear God or do you fear man? These false teachers, these masqueraders are putting pressure on you to compromise the clear teaching of Scripture, what are you going to do? What is your teaching elder (or elders) telling you to do? The wolf is snapping at them, what are they doing about it? Are they throwing the wolf a piece of meat, e.g., circumcision? Or are they standing on the truth?

According to the verse before us, the false teacher will refuse to suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. He’ll compromise. That’s how you tell the false from the true and the true from the false. The true will not compromise no matter how much he is persecuted. But the false will when the fiery trial comes, because he fears man. He dreads persecution. If he sees it coming, he’s planning his escape route. He’s packing his bags with the engine running.

Jesus refers to the false teacher, the masquerader as a “hireling.” “But he who is a hireling and not the shepherd, one who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hireling flees because he is a hireling and does not care about the sheep” (John 10:12-13).

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The masquerader then, is a deserter. He will not pick up the sword of the Spirit and fight. He will not say to the Devil, “It is written, it is written!” No, he’ll feed a whole congregation to the dogs rather than suffer persecution. The masquerader dreads the disapproval of men, because he’s a man-pleaser! So, he’ll leave and go somewhere else if things begin to turn against him.

Also, related to this, is the fact that the masquerader is obsessed with crowds. He loves to make a good showing so that he’ll be commended by men. The more people he has in his congregation, the more accolades he receives. Therefore, the false teacher is obsessed by numbers. Numbers to him are pats on his back. His great fear, his dread is unpopularity. More people means more popularity.

Let’s recap before we conclude: We’ve looked at the masquerader’s dress, and we’ve look at his dread. He clothes himself with the praises of men. And he dreads being defrocked by persecution. But we all stand before God naked in the Fall of Adam (Rom. 5:12). Either you have been clothed in Christ’s righteousness, or you haven’t.

Suffering persecution for the cross of Christ is God’s way of testing you! It’s His way of letting you know who has put on Christ or who has not. Persecution in the Church is God’s way of letting us know the false teachers from the true. Deuteronomy 13:1-3 tells us God raises up false prophets, i.e., false teachers to test our love for God. We’ve looked at some of the ways of recognizing these masqueraders.

Conclusion

Keep in mind that persecution in the church is not always a bad thing. As the Apostle Peter says, “In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, that the GENUINESS of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honor, glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Pet. 1:6-7).

Persecution comes to the Church to reveal the genuineness of your faith. While conversely, it exposes the lack thereof. Therefore, persecution is God’s way of unmasking the masqueraders. So, be encouraged and support the true teachers.