Our Story, His Glory

Introduction

How many you know of a testimony about someone, or perhaps its you, who had an egregious past, a violent past, or a promiscuous past, and today they are devout followers of Christ? There are few that come to my mind, the first being Brian Welch. Also known by his nickname “Head” Brian is the guitarist for a metal band named “Korn.” This band rocketed to popularity in the 90’s, touring the world with a massive fan base. Brian enjoyed all the “perks” that came with it, fame, drugs, sex. Brian became depressed and suicidal. Eventually, he left the band and in that absence he found Christ. Brian would eventually come back to the band, but he uses that access to those fans as opportunities to spread the gospel, praying with kids after every show. Surely, the message Brian is sharing is transforming lives and his relatable testimony is impacting hearts.

More personally, my uncle Bud. I never actually met him. I’m told by my parents that he stopped by our house when I was around one or two years old, so around 1983-1984. My parents said that he was an alcoholic and drug addict. He stuck around for about a week and disappeared. In 2016 my father recieved a call from a woman in Kansas who notified my father that his brother, Bud, had passed away. I’m sure my father may have initially assumed it was from drugs and alcohol, but it was more or less natural causes, surely his previous life choices may have had something to do with. This lady said that my Uncle Bud had been living with her family since 1989. They took him in, helped him become clean and most importantly shared the gospel with him. Somewhere in the early 90’s, my Uncle Bud had given his life to the Lord and went on to become a preacher of God’s Word. His life was transformed by the message shared by others and surely his testimony led many others to the same saving grace he experienced.

Finally, a more famously known conversion, one that a vast majority of you are perhaps aware of is the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. More famously known as Paul, the author of a majority of the New Testament. You see, prior to the missionary we read about in many of these Bible letters, Paul was a Pharisee. Pharisees were devout religious leaders of the Jewish faith and they were not fans of the Christian uprising. The short hand version of his story is this, Paul was a zealous religious leader who made it his top priority to seek out and persecute any Christ follower he could find. He was responsible for the death of Stephen, one of the Apostles of Christ. On his way to Damascus he encountered Christ and after a few days blind, Paul recieved his sight and his transformation began. Instead of hunting Christians in Damascus, Paul would go on to preach Christ in Damascus.

This is what each and everyone of us experienced when we came into a relationship with Jesus Christ. He would first transform our hearts and then begin the transformation of our lives. This process is not an immediate change, Its sanctification, a gradual growth as the Lord starts adding and subtracting form certain aspects of your life. Part of this transformation process is also known as our testimony. The story of God’s work in our lives that exemplifies His glory.

Lets take our Bibles and and open up to Galatians chapter one.

Raise a Need

Lets ask ourselves these questions, how many people know my testimony? Who is aware of my story, who I was, and how I have arrived to where I am now? Do I consider my testimony a private matter? Some of us, probably most of us, have a history we are not proud of, we’ve done things that have been hurtful to others. There are things that are very hard for us to recount, let alone allow others in on our history. I mean, what if others, especially believers, judge me? What will others think of me if they knew my story?

The human race has a knack for self preservation, both in living and in reputation. Some how when we mess up as individuals, we believe that we are the only ones who have ever messed up in that manner, and if anyone finds out about how messed up we were, they will be shocked and probably cut off the relationship. We believe our story, our testimony of where we were and where God has brought us from will somehow hurt both ourselves and the image of God.

Imagine if after Paul’s experience on the road to Damascus we heard nothing else from him. Jesus intervenes, the persecuting Pharisee is no longer a threat, and we he is simply just out of the picture. No word on his transformation, no word of his testimony, or more importantly, no word on how God went on to use him for His glory.

Do we really think that God brought you, I, Paul through what He brought us through for it to be a personal matter? Do we think our story is just about us?

Transition to Text

That is what we are going to try to answer today. But, to answer those questions we are going to discuss first what a transitional life in Christ looks like. Specifically...

The people we surround ourselves with.

Our time in the Word.

And our time in prayer.

Our transition is important, it helps create the dichotomy between our old self and new self, in order for others to see and understand how God has worked specifically in our life. How He brought us from where we were, to where we are. Then we are going to discuss the power of our testimony. The Bible teaches the gospel, but our testimony shows the gospel in action.

Lets start with a little background.

Context

In Galatians, the church is under attack from Judaizers, religious leaders who are telling the Christians they must follow Jewish laws, such as circumcision, and abide by Jewish customs in order to be considered true Christians. These Judaizers are trying to discredit Paul’s position as an Apostle and the gospel he has preached to the Galatians. Truth is, the Judaizers hate Christianity, and even more so, they hate those who preach it.

Paul addresses these challenges with his own testimony in Galatians 1:11-20. He emphasizes his dependence from the other Apostles, for it was Jesus who called him, no one else, no other Apostle.

Lets pick up in Galatians 1:21–24, please follow along with me. “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.”

Let us pray.

Prayer: Father we know it was only through what you have done that anyone of us have a relationship with you. Through your son, Jesus Christ, we have been cleansed of our past and made new. It is only through your power and grace that those of us who call you Lord can walk in freedom from our old selves. Lord, may your words be spoken this day and your work in our lives be glorified. In Jesus name. Amen.

1. The Transitioned Life.

First, lets briefly hit on what a transitioned life looks like. What are the changes we should see when we come into a relationship with Jesus Christ? Sometimes it is important for us to remind ourselves of where we came from. Not to dwell on the past with regret, but to glorify and praise God in the work He has done in us. Remember, in Christ our old selves are dead.

2 Corinthians 5:17 says “Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”

There is nothing to regret any more. By reflecting on what God has done, it helps us to better articulate to others the power of the Lord in us.

I want to give you three things that a follower in Christ should focus on primarily for their growth and maturity. This is not an all encompassing list, but these are three things I think are vital to our maturity. and it is vital to the power of our testimony.

The first is the friends we surround ourselves with. The christian was never meant to be alone, in fact a friend of mine called lone Christians “Targets.” We need a community, but a community of fellow believers.

1 Thessalonians 5:11 says “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.”

We need each other for encouragement.

1 Corinthians 15:33 states conversely “Do not be deceived: “Bad company corrupts good morals.””

Next is time in God’s Word. Daily Scripture reading is what fills our hearts and minds with God’s heart and mind. I could spend a long time here on the importance of daily reading, but we will let the Bible make that point.

2 Timothy 3:16 states “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;”

Everything we need is right here in these Scriptures.

And finally, our prayer life. Are we communicating daily with Lord? Are we seeking him daily in all we do? This is just as important as our time in the Scriptures.

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 asserts “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.”

Again, these are not all the transition points we experience, but these three I believe are vital to our testimony. They help bring the clarity needed when we are expressing how God has worked in each of our lives. It helps us to bring out the gospel message in our personal story. We know who Paul was and then who he became. The three years Paul spent in Arabia and then Damascus was working on the transitional life. He was preparing for the ministry to come, and his testimony would serve both as his defense and the mass glorification of God among the churches.

2. Our Story, His Glory

Illustration

Singer and song writer Matthew west has a song called “My Story Your Glory.” This song describes how God works through our lives, through our pain, our messes, our successes for His purpose. Listen to these lyrics here, “Now the story of me is a story of grace Fingerprints of mercy on every page. No more ashamed of the path I took You set me free to be an open book. If even my scars are part of Your plan Take all of my heart, Lord, here I am. My only cause 'til You call me home Is knowin' You more and makin' You known.”

In Paul’s day there was obviously no hi-tech communication, everything was word of mouth or at most written. His reputation at Saul the Pharisee was known far and wide among Christians and Jewish leaders. Unlike Paul’s day, today chances are most people do not know our history. Our reputation of who we were is only known by maybe a handful of people. I mean, we have the choice to share our story if we want, don’t we?

As I stated earlier, in Galatians, verses 11-17 Paul is defending both his apostleship and the gospel he preached to the church. Paul goes into a briefer version of his story, of his testimony as evidence of what God has done. He explains his “zealous” approach to Judaism in verse 14, his encounter with Christ (on the road to Damascus) in verse 15, and his calling to preach the gospel among the gentiles in verse 16. He tells them who he was, and how he came to where he is now.

So, what does a testimony include?

First, it is acknowledging we have a past, acknowledging that though it is not our proudest moments, God uses our past to glorify His work in us.

Second, articulating where God met us. What was the catalyst that finally brought us into our relationship with Christ.

Third and lastly, understanding the new purpose God has placed upon us. Sometimes this purpose is not immediately clear. Like Paul, he didn’t immediately show up on the scene as the Apostle Paul, but he went to Arabia and Damascus as he worked on transitioning his life.

In that transitional three years Paul’s testimony becomes known and we read about its impact our Scripture for today.

Verse 21, he went into Syria and Cilicia. This is huge, because this is where he grew up. This is a region that produces Judaizer.

Now, he had been away for some time, and as verse 22 states, “I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea who where were in Christ.” So, it is understandable if they didn’t recognize him by face. But do you know what they did know about him? They knew his past, who he was and what he had done. Yet, these Christians were not fearful of him, why?

Verse 23 reads, “But only, they kept hearing, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” These Christians, now seeing Paul face to face have become witnesses to Paul’s conversion. They are seeing the full fruition of God’s redeeming work in Paul’s life.

Did the Christians praise Paul, pat him on the back, tell him “Good job!” No, Paul rightfully did not receive any of the credit. Verse 24 proclaims, “And they were glorifying God because of me.” If Paul was fearful of retribution from the Christians for his previous life, it is kind of understandable. If we are being truthful, it is what we fear from others as well. But, Paul understood his story wasn’t about him.

Application

In closing, I asked earlier, do we think our story is about us? What are we trying to protect when we withhold our story from others? Is it our reputation? Our friendships? Our marriages?

I hate to break to you, but for the vast majority of us, if not all of us, we didn’t blaze the trail with questionable pasts. I am not unique in the addictions I had to overcome, nor are you unique in your situation.

Your story, your testimony was never meant to be personal. It was not meant to be stored away, never talked about again. Your story is not about you. When we are shying away from sharing our testimony, it isn’t protecting us, it’s denying the Lord the glory He so rightfully deserves for the grace he has shown us. And it is necessary for the spreading of the gospel, because your story is the gospel in action.

I’ll close with this line from Matthew West’s song once again, “No more ashamed of the path I took, You set me free to be an open book.”