When I was growing up, my great grandfather used to tell me stories – all kinds of stories. And some of them, were just that. However, others of them, were stories about the old days, about what it was like to grow up on a farm, and how different life was compared to now. Well, when I was growing up.
I still recall and dearly love all of those old stories, that he used to tell me, to this very day, they still have great value to me. Why? What made those stories great? Because those stories were from
his personal experiences. They were little pieces of his life. Those stories
created a bond, a personal connection between my great grandpa and me. Its how I got to know who
he was before I came along.
Perhaps that's why I love the Bible so much, it creates a bond, a personal connection to the Creator of the universe and me. A personal connection to the One, who willingly laid down His life, who took the punishment that I deserve, that I might believe upon Him and be reconciled with God the Father.
The best stories are the ones from our personal experiences. When you
tell stories from your own experience, you have a connection to the
story, and people feel that connection, they can relate to it. And it
connects them to YOU.
In our text today, that is exactly what the apostle Paul is doing. Paul has an incredible testimony in which to share.
Let us bow our heads in prayer.
Heavenly Father,
Thank You for Your Word for us today. We thank You for the testimony of Paul, and the other apostles, for Your Holy Spirit, recalling to their minds, for inspiring them to record the gospel, the Words of Christ, given by You, which has so greatly, so significantly changed our lives through the willing sacrifice of His own. Father, we cannot thank You enough for that.
Lord, I personally thank You for the incredible influence it has had on my life, and those lives whom I have touched. Thank You for that. Thank You for the book, the life altering message, we hold in our hands, the unalterable, non negotiable truth. Your true Word!
And we also realize, that because of it, we are an enemy of the culture in which we live, we are an irritation to society, because we proclaim an intolerant Gospel to a tolerant world, that there is One God, One Savior, One Gospel, One through Whom we can be saved, and receive the gift of salvation, One way to the Father: Jesus Christ. We are also acutely aware, that the world in which we live, wants nothing more than to silence our testimony, discredit our witness, and invalidate Your Word.
Father we thank You, we are so grateful for this truth and for Your equipping us with the necessary tool to proclaim it, the Gospel of Jesus Christ
In Christ's name we pray
Amen
Today's Message: Refurbished: Tested and Approved
First things first. I want to get something out of the way, before we begin today. I want to make the most offensive, most divisive claim that can ever be made in this tolerant, immoral, deceived post modern culture in which we live: There is only One God, One Savior, One true religion, One Holy Book, One
gospel, and One way of salvation, Jesus Christ! And that's not all, every other religious claim is nothing more than Satan's lies,
his deceptions, his demonic doctrines propagated by Satan and his demons, his false teachers, that lead people away from God, from Jesus Christ, from the finished work of the cross and straight to eternal
hell, along with all the immoral, irreligious, atheistic, hedonistic,
naturalistic spiritualistic unbelievers.
I do realize, that is the most offensive statement that I
could possibly make, however, it just happens to be the absolute truth. And as a man of God, I am called to give you that truth. The exclusive truth of Christianity.
Open with me your Bibles, to the book of Galatians chapter 1, as we conclude our study of this marvelous passage, this rich text in the Word of God, through the apostle Paul. Paul’s personal testimony, his personal story, lends to his credibility, and
reminds the Galatian believers of his integrity. It recalls to their minds, the
person they saw him to be on his earlier visit. It helps to renew their mind of the
person, they knew Paul to be.
I invite you to follow along with me in your Bibles, as I read to you this rich and wonderful passage.
"For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For
you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to
persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; and
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my
countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor
did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I
went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus. Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother. (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.) Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” And they were glorifying God because of me."
For any one teaching the Word of God, any deviation from truth, any deviation from the true gospel of grace is a damning lie to be accursed. Getting the gospel right is the most important reality in the world!
Why? Because the true gospel is the only way to salvation!
Paul, in our text is being is being a bit of a name dropper here. Oh, yeah, well I got a personal visit from the resurrected Christ. Paul says, "I am a true apostle. “Based on the fact that I received the truth of the gospel from a revelation that came
to me through Jesus Christ." These false teachers were telling the Galatians that Paul was taught the gospel by the other
apostles like Peter and James, and that Paul was leaving out the all
important adherence to Jewish laws and traditions – like circumcision.
These false teachers were attacking the credibility of Paul and were
denying that he was a true apostle. Their argument would include the
fact that the true apostles were with Jesus during his ministry and were
commissioned by Jesus. Paul is arguing here that he was also commissioned by Jesus Christ Himself, on the road to Damascus and in person.
That’s why I always back up what I preach with God’s Word. Because you can trust the source, and God is the source of truth, and
God is the source of authority. It's God's Word, I just teach it.
There's a reason, I make this point. At the time of Paul, Judaism, at the time of the New Testament, gave very little attention to the Scripture. It was like some ancient relic, much like Catholicism today. Men calling themselves by some fancy religious title, dressed in flamboyant religious garb, sit in their gold , jewel bedazzled chairs of authority and power, in judgment on the Scripture.
That there was no way that anyone other than Jesus Himself could have turned Paul from his former way of life. Peter or James could not talk Paul into becoming a Christian. No more than you or I can today. It takes a personal encounter with the risen Christ. Transformation, and change, was the last thing on Paul’s mind before he met Jesus. So Paul reminds the Galatians about what he was like before Jesus showed up in his life and turned it upside down.
"For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions."
Paul had heard Stephen preach the gospel before he was martyred. In fact, he was the one who watched their cloaks while the stoned him to death. He heard the gospel, he heard it from the lips of those he imprisoned. He heard it from the
lips of those he led to their death. It was the reason he was a persecutor, because he heard the gospel, but when he heard it, he heard as blasphemy. He was a man obsessed with destroying Christianity, he saw it as a threat. He had passion and ambition, and zeal, unfortunately, all of it put in the wrong place, he
had a lot of faith, all of it in the flesh, in his ability to obey
Jewish law. However, he was convinced he was on the right path. says he was ahead of many of his peers in Judaism, in the study of and strict obedience to the Jewish customs, traditions and laws. He was convinced that his relationship to the law would save him. He wasn't evaluating Christianity, weighing them against his own beliefs. No, he wanted to destroy it, eliminate it completely. Becoming a Christian was the last thing on Paul’s mind as he traveled the road to Damascus. That was until he encountered the risen Christ!
Acts 9:3-6 says, "As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do."Later in Acts 26:16-18, we learn more of what Jesus said, "But get up and stand on your feet; for this purpose I have appeared to you, to appoint you a minister and a witness not only to the things which you have seen, but also to the things in which I will appear to you; rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me."
Beloved, Jesus is saying to someone receiving this message, I want to rescue you. It takes an Almighty God to reach into our hearts and transform our lives, to change a man like Saul into a man like Paul,
to change a man like me. When your life is going along in one direction, the wrong direction and then it completely reverses, heading in the opposite direction, that's God! That's Divine intervention. God saved Paul. God broke into the darkness, and completely transformed his life. This is the miracle of conversion, initiated by God. It takes Almighty God to reach into our hearts and transform our lives, to change a man like Saul into a man like Paul. He did it for for me, and he can do it for you too, if you'll allow Him.
Paul says in verses 15 and 16, "But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother’s womb and called me through His grace, was pleased to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood,"
Paul is saying look at my conversion, this wasn’t a work of men. My pre-conversion state proves that.
My conversion is all about God!
All salvation is like that. All salvation is like that. God saved Paul for the purpose of preaching Jesus Christ among the Gentiles. God saved you for a purpose too.
Do we deserve such grace, such incredible love, are we worthy? Romans 3:10-12 teaches us the answer to that, "as it is written, "There is none righteous, not even one; There is none who understands,
There is none who seeks for God; All have turned aside, together they have become useless;
There is none who does good, There is not even one."
Paul says in verse 17, even after my salvation I didn’t go to receive instruction from Peter and James, "nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus."
After 3 years, Paul finally did go to Jerusalem to see Peter, however, it wasn’t to learn from him. He didn't see the other apostles, except James, the brother of Jesus. The assumption is, that he met Peter, and spent a couple weeks with him.
In II Peter 3:15-16, Peter says "our beloved brother Paul, according to the wisdom given him, wrote to you, as also in all his letters, speaking in them of these things, in which are some things hard to understand, which the untaught and unstable distort, as they do also the rest of the Scriptures, to their own destruction."
"Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord’s brother."
Verse 20 he says, "(Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.)
It was a common Jewish vow, much like someone today swearing under oath in court.
Then, in the final verses 21 through 24, Paul says "Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy." And they were glorifying God because of me."
These churches in Judea hadn’t known Paul personally, but they had
heard about him. They knew who he used to be, how he used to persecute
the church and try to destroy it, and how he was now preaching the faith
he once tried to destroy.Paul’s story is a story of
transformation, of a miraculous life turn-around. The persecutor becomes a preacher. He is a completely different person – A very different person. Paul was re-born, He had died to his old self and was created a NEW creation, a new person in Christ Jesus. Paul’s story is powerful. Paul’s story brings Glory to God.
A story not unlike so many other Christians, whose lives were completely changed by the transforming power of Jesus Christ! Though each story is a little different, no two people are the same, therefore, no two testimonies are the same. However, I can guarantee that each story is one of transformation, of re-birth. And every one of them can bring glory to God.
In Closing...
Have you shared your story with anyone lately? God saved you for a purpose! If you don’t have a story, have you truly been transformed? Have you been recreated in Jesus Christ, a new creation? When people look at you, do they see the difference
that God has made in you? If not, perhaps you are not living as you
should.
If you throw yourself on the mercy of God – accepting the payment Jesus made on the cross for your sins and you accept Him as your LORD and SAVIOR, receive the free gift of eternal life that he offers.
Jesus wants to make that connection with you – He wants to transform you, change your thoughts, your hopes, your desires, and your motivations. If you will trust Him, and allow Him to make you a new person – Re-born. Then you will have a before and after story – perhaps, even a story like the apostle Paul’s. Though most may not have as experience as dramatic as Paul's, or change as dramatically as Paul, but our new lives
should honor God.
However, we are all Re-born.
Jesus died on the cross for your sins, God raised Him from the dead. He wants you to be a part of His story. But you must make the choice.
May it be so...
And now may the Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make His face shine upon you,
And be gracious to you;
The Lord lift up His countenance upon you,
And give you peace.
Now and forever, in Jesus' name
Amen
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