Cause and Effect

CAUSE AND EFFECT Galatians 1:11-24 September 27, 2020 When there is, no education, no knowledge, or no comprehension - superstition fills the gap. If you can't find an obvious cause for something, the mind begins to fabricate explanations. During Jesus' day the Hebrews were great believers that demons were everywhere. They did not understand that the flu could be passed from one family member to another by germs, bacteria, or virus. So, their explanation for a sick family was that demons must be in their house. This family needs an exorcism for their home, because it's making them sick. Their understanding of cause and effect was based on superstition, and not fact. When we really dig into cause and effect, we begin to understand the truth. Thunder is not angels bowling, it is caused by lightening. Discover the cause, reproduce the effect, know the truth. The period of the Enlightenment in Europe ran from about 1715 to 1790. Scientific discoveries exploded. Huge leaps in understanding cause and effect became common place. Consequently, superstition began to rapidly decline. Wild guesses were replaced with cold, hard examination of the facts. Identify the cause, understand the effect, know the truth. The Galatians have abandoned the faith as Paul first taught them. They have been persuaded to adopt Messianic Judaism. They believe Jesus is the Christ. They believe Jesus died, and rose again. But, they believe Jesus is only for Jews. And, for Jesus to save you, you must follow all of the hundreds and thousands of Jewish rules and Laws. They have completely abandoned sola fide - faith alone. All you need to be saved is faith in Jesus. Nothing else matters. You don't have to believe in Jesus, and keep kosher. You don't have to believe in Jesus, and be circumcised. Paul had hammered into their heads - by the grace of God, you are completely saved by faith in Jesus. But, the Judaizers have convinced the Galatians Paul is a liar. Paul doesn't know what he's talking about. Paul isn't really an Apostle. Paul made up sola fide. If Paul wants to teach about Jesus, he should go to Jerusalem and learn from the real Apostles. This letter to the Galatians is Paul's very angry response to these lies. In today's text Paul opens by saying - you want to talk about learning theology? I learned directly from Jesus.1 I was on my way to the city of Damascus. I was gong to violently persecute the Christians there. The word he uses for 'violently' means to utterly destroy an entire city; to reduce it rubble with no inhabitants.2 But, I met Jesus, personally, on that road. And, he changed my entire life. Jesus called me into Christian ministry, and he taught me what it means to be a Christian. I learned from Jesus himself. You want me to go to Jerusalem and learn from the Apostles there? That would be a huge step backwards. Why would I learn from the student of the master, when I can learn from the Master himself? Nobody does that. Paul says, you act like I met Jesus one afternoon, and then set myself up as an Apostle the very next day. Not at all. That is not what happened. I spent the next three years, that's right - three years, being educated in the Christian faith.3 Enough time to get a Master of Divinity, and a Doctor of Ministry. I went to school in Christian theology. And, my education was presided over by Jesus. When he says this, Paul may mean that Jesus appeared to him and taught him directly. Or, he may mean Jesus sent him his teachers. The wording isn't specific. But, I don't think it matters. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind, that at specific points in my life, God has sent people to educate, encourage, and prepare me for ministry. At the top of the list is my wife. But, there have been so many others. I did not make this journey by myself. And, I cannot believe it was lucky coincidence that just the right people came to me, at just the right time, to bring me here today. Have you ever experienced God sending you just the right person, at just the right time? In Christianity we don't use the word 'luck'. We use providence. We believe God himself orchestrates our good luck, for his own purposes. Providence sent me the perfect wife. Providence sent me a cotton farmer who really wanted to be a seminary instructor. Providence put me in Dallas instead of New York City. Providence sent me a Pastor who realized my calling when I couldn't, and maneuvered me into the pulpit of this church when I wasn't looking to be anything more than a Sunday school teacher. Now, all of those people have been critical to my ministry today. But, I firmly believe, all those people were providentially put in my life by God himself - to accomplish his purposes. I would be willing to say this is all God's doing. I don't know if Paul sat with Jesus and learned Christianity. Or, if Jesus sent Paul the very people he needed at just the right time. But, in either case, Paul is correct in saying he learned from Jesus. Paul says - after those three years, I did go to Jerusalem. I traveled to the holy city and I spent time with James, the brother of Jesus - who is the head of the Christian church in Jerusalem. And, I spent two weeks getting to know Peter. The phrase Paul uses for 'getting to know' is very specific. It does not mean to be educated or discipled.4 Paul doesn't go to Peter to learn Christianity. He goes to Peter to learn background information. Where is Mary, can you arrange a meeting with her? Can you introduce me to blind Bartimaeus? Show me the upper room, and tell me exactly what Jesus said when he taught you the Communion ceremony. These are the things I need from Peter. Paul shows deference, but independence.5 Paul is very respectful of Peter, and his life and times with Jesus. But, Paul is not dependent on Peter to validate his ministry. If Jerusalem turns their back on Paul he is still going to be a missionary for Christ and teach the theology he spent three years learning. We know from the book of Acts, that James and Peter actually validate Paul's ministry. They validate his education. And, they validate his theological message. James and Peter accept the truth of sola fide - you are saved by faith alone. Peter was supposed to be the missionary to the Gentiles. But, Peter makes some mistakes. Paul calls Peter out on these mistakes. And, Peter agrees with Paul. At this point, Paul officially becomes the missionary to the Gentiles. Paul spends the next 14 years in Arabia making Christians out of Pagans. The Judaizers tell the Galatians - don't listen to Paul. He doesn't have a Christian education. He isn't approved by Jerusalem. And Peter disagrees with what Paul teaches. All of that is a lie. And, the Judaizers are lying when they say you need to practice Judaism to go to Heaven. Paul says - in a lot of ways, I'm just like the prophet Jeremiah.6 Like Jeremiah, I was born to ministry - I was anointed in my mother's womb. But, Paul uses an interesting word. It means, but I was born into the wrong religion.7 I should have been born a Christian. But, there wasn't such a thing at the time. So, I was born a Jew. But, Judaism is wrong. Judaism is not the way to Heaven. The Judaizers have convinced you Galatians to become Jews. Let me tell you something. You will never be the religious Jew I was.8 Not even close. Gamaliel was the greatest Rabbi in all of Judaism. He only took 12 students. I was the first one he chose. And, of those 12, I was the best. Ask anybody. I was amazing. Nobody knows the Bible like I do. And, I lived a perfect Jewish life. I became a Pharisee at the earliest possible age. I was a pure and perfect holy man. You don't live more perfectly according to the Bible than I did. I was the youngest man elected to the Sanhedrin - the Jewish council that rules Jerusalem. Youngest to be invited to guide the Holy city of God himself. You cannot be, a better Jew than me. You think being a Jew will save you? I would be saved long before you. And yet, I was not saved. You want to be Jewish. And yet, when it came to persecuting Christians for not being Jewish - I was the best. Nobody hunted down these 'faith alone' Christians and punished them like me. I was amazing. I could sniff them out. I received letters from the Sanhedrin authorizing me to travel the world, find snake nests of Christians, arrest them, bring them to Jerusalem, then sit and watch as they were executed. I was good at it, and I loved my job. You've been told you can't trust me because I was a persecutor. I say - that's why you can trust me more than anyone else. Why? Cause and effect.9 If being a Jew saves you, then I was completely saved. I was the greatest persecutor of the church. And yet, I gave up Judaism, and I have become a persecuted Christian. Why would I do that? What causes a man to make a change like that? What can possibly explain why I am the man I am today? As good as I was, I could not save myself. Then, I met Jesus. And, Jesus saved me. Through grace, I have been saved by my faith in Jesus. And, it's changed everything. In ten minutes you can see I am not the man I used to be. The saving grace of Jesus is the only thing that can explain my change. I was on the road to hell. Jesus said - believe in me, and only in me. And, I will do all the rest. Trying to get to Heaven is too much for you. Let me carry the load. I love you, and I gave up my life, for you. Paul says, that love, that grace, that mercy, is the only thing that explains me. Jesus is the cause. The life I live, and the faith I teach, are the effect. The reason you should believe me, is cause and effect, which reveals the truth. In 2000 years, churches have struggled to find the best way to do evangelism. We want people to be saved. What's the best way to get people to believe? We've tried everything. Set up food ministries, but they can't eat until they hear the message from the pastor. Set up a medical clinic, but don't give them the shot until they get baptized. Argue them into faith. If you can answer every objection they have, they must believe. After 2000 years, do you know the only method that works? The power of a changed life. This is my life before Jesus. This is my life after Jesus. Cause and effect. John Newton is the author of Amazing Grace. It is a song about cause and effect, and the power of a changed life. He was born in 1725. His mother died when he was 7. His father was uncomfortable raising children, so he sold him to the royal navy and sent him to sea when he was 11. In 1743 Newton was involved in a violent conflict with his Captain. The Captain sold him to the Pegasus - a slave ship. He spent the next 5 years capturing and transporting slaves. On a trip home from Africa the ship was caught in a severe storm. It looked as if all was lost. Newton, an atheist, began to pray to the Christian God. Against all odds, they survived. Newton made it his mission to read the New Testament before they returned to England. By the time the ship docked he was a devout evangelical Christian. He gave up drinking, gamboling, and profanity. He became an avid abolitionist. His family and friends were shocked at the changes in his life. What could possibly explain the new John Newton? Providence. The providence of a raging storm. Cause and effect. Amazing grace. He wrote the song to try and explain what Jesus had done for him. From Paul, to John Newton, to you and me. Why accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior? Why believe in faith alone? Cause and effect, which reveals the truth. 1 William Baird, "What is the Kerygma? A study of 1 Corinthians 5:3-8 and Galatians 1:11-17," The Journal of Biblical Literature, 76 no. 3 (September 1957), 181-191. 2 William Barclay, The Letters to the Galatians and Ephesians (Louisville: Westminster John Knox, 2002), 15. 3 R. C. Sproul, general editor. The New Geneva Study Bible (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1995), 1849. 4 NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2016), 2044. 5 H. Alan Brehm, "Paul's Relationship with the Jerusalem Apostles in Galatians 1 and 2," Southwestern Journal of Theology, 37 no. 1 (Fall 1994), 11-16. 6 Frank J. Matera, New Interpreter's Study Bible (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2003), 2081. 7 George W. E. Nickelsburg, "An Ektrōma, Though Appointed From the Womb: Paul's Apostolic Self-Description in 1 Corinthians 15 and Galatians 1," Harvard Theological Review, 79 no. 1 (January-July 1986), 198-205. 8 NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, 2043. 9 William Barclay, 15. --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ --------------- ------------------------------------------------------------ 2