Set Apart…

intro:

What does it look like to be set apart?

What are some illustrations or example examples of what it means to be set apart

How would you describe being set apart?

I think often times when we think of someone who’s set apart at least within the Christian context, we think of the man or a woman who is close to perfect

They grew up in the right home with the right parents with the right schools or homeschool with the right teaching, Pastor and Sunday school

People often times to think of the pastor’s kid who has been Prepared to be the next great preacher

Often time we think being set apart is clean and tidy and perfect

But today I want to shatter that today I want us to see clearly that to be set apart doesn’t mean to be perfectly clean doesn’t mean to have the perfect upbringing or story

So tonight we’re gonna look at the apostle Paul his origins his mission and his message to the Churches in Galatia

And we will see that his story is not perfectly clean…

But before we jump into it, let’s pray…

Text:

Galatians 1:11–24 ESV

11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

Prayer:

Galatians 1:11–24 (ESV) 11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel.

Men who build their ministry on their own words who will fall and fail

Paul is coming to the church and saying I am not who you follow the gospel is not my own invention. Paul did not reinvent Christianity. Paul did not reinvent the Bible.

All he did was faithfully present and preach what was presented to him by Jesus and by the Holy Spirit

And what is emphatically important is that Paul remains consistent with the rest of Jesus is teaching and the Old Testament… He does not bring for a new doctrine that brings contradiction, but he brings forth clarity of what Jesus did

Many false religions will come and say the Bible got it wrong or I need to add something too, but Paul says let me show you what is

And then he begins to prove that the gospel is not from his own thought mind or vision, but it’s from the Lord

12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

Here we see Paul beginning to appeal to his testimony… Who in this room knows Paul’s testimony??

What’s his story?

Who was he before he became the apostle Paul???

And Paul brings clarity to those who don’t know him again. This is one of his first letters to the churches.

13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers.

Paul is beginning to describe who he wants was before Christ… Paul is describing a man who was responsible for the murders of many Christians and was on his way to arrest And lead to death, other Christians and churches as well

Paul is bringing a flashlight to his dark past showing everyone the nitty-gritty

And I’m curious, how many of us in this room are afraid of these moments… Moments where we become vulnerable to others and acknowledge the sin in our life or in our past

Because I’m sure for every single one of us, we are afraid to share our stories. We are afraid to share where we have been and what we have done or we are ashamed of them.

I don’t believe that Paul is standing proud of what he has done but riding with tears of regret of what has happened and who he was

How many of us in this room have lived alive that we know is wrong and regret it

How many of us in this room have things in the dark that we’d rather keep buried that we don’t even look at

How many of us in this room are ready to let those things go are ready to realize that God can use that for his glory

Because in verse 15 Paul points to the reason and purpose for his life

15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone;

Paul was set apart to serve the Lord and preach the gospel… And as Paul has already stated, his background isn’t clean his ledger isn’t spotless he has seen before God and the church

But nonetheless, when God saw it fit at the right time, he stepped in and revealed himself to Paul… Paul showed us that he had sin but then also revealed that he had a but god moment

And because of that he is now able to stand on the testimony of Christ, stand on the truth of Jesus and preach

But he isn’t preaching Peter. He isn’t preaching James but he is preaching Christ.

17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus. 18 Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to visit Cephas and remained with him fifteen days. 19 But I saw none of the other apostles except James the Lord’s brother. 20 (In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia.

What is Paul trying to communicate here?

What’s his goal?

But I believe he’s trying to sustain the point that he did not come up with this on his own he didn’t collude with the other disciples. This wasn’t something that Paul and the apostles put together.

This was supernatural. This was Jesus. This was God himself speaking through Paul to the churches in Galatia

And because of this, Paul is not getting glory Peter is not getting glory. None of the other disciples are getting glory.

Which today we often see false religions, and false teachers boast up themselves or others

People will stand on the claims of this priest, said this this other pastor said this our fearless founder said this

And they begin to elevate the words of Mann over the words of God

And Paul is doing the opposite Paul is saying this isn’t from me and if I ever contradict this then I’m wrong

I’m curious how many of us elevate the words of Pastor preachers teachers over the words of the Bible???

Do we elevate, political positions, personal beliefs, and experiences over the Bible???

Because we can all fall this trap of saying well my pastor said this as an argument, and that argument is horrible, and the argument has holes

Because the only firm foundation we have is Christ, the only firm foundation we have is his word of the Bible

Paul is declaring his credentials not that he was a fairy not that he knew the apostles but that he encountered Christ

So that, even though in Judea, he was unknown they knew what was important

22 And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me.

Paul was known even when he was unknown… People knew who he once was, but they did not know him because of who he wants was they knew him because of who he now was in Christ

They saw the change they saw the growth they saw him become a new creation and glorified God because of it

When it comes to your testimony when it comes to your story, do people glorify God because of you

Do people glorify God because of us???

Do we share our testimony are we open and honest with our social media with our friends with our family with our coworkers about who we used to be and who we are now in Christ

Because I am so sick of being in a generation that is afraid to be honest and bold about their faith

There is not enough time left in this life in this world for us to sit on our hands sit on our thumbs and do nothing and then blame other people for not doing it the way we would have

As a culture as a generation, we criticize those who have the ability and have the guts to stand up and share what they believe, and share their faith when we ourselves share with no one

I’m sick of that life. I’m sick of that world. I’m sick of that culture within the American church… I’m sick of us, looking to our pastors and our teachers to say the things that we need to say

I’m sick of us, relying on what our pastors and preachers say instead of opening up our Bibles in learning about who he is

We look to the evangelist we look to the missionaries we look to the preaching staff and teaching staff and ask them to share the gospel

That’s not how it’s meant to be… We are meant to be bold with our light to be bold about who we once were how Christ changed us and who we are now and offer that hope to other others

So I wanna ask you will you stand up in this world that is so dark I don’t know if you’ve been on social media much at all, but the world is so dark…

Don’t care who you are what your political background is this world is falling apart… And in a dark world We need people to stand up and be light

Each and everyone of us carry a story about how Christ changed us and Jesus is the light of the world. Will we share that light with the world or will we just complain that it’s so dark?