January 16, 2022 - Why Listen to The Gospel?
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What is the Gospel?
It’s the question we STARTED with last week...
It’s the question that Paul - HAD TO ADDRESS - in writing to the Galatian churches...
WHY?
Because false teachers had come INTO the churches - in order to DISTORT the Gospel of Christ…!
THE ONE and ONLY - Gospel of Christ
And we can TELL - early on in this book of Galatians - that Paul is PASSIONATE -
ABOUT the people...
[BECAUSE] he’s passionate about the Gospel!
How did Paul FEEL about the Galatians - TURNING to the FALSE Gospel being preached by the Judaizers?
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6 I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel—
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And we were confronted last week - with the reality that Paul HERE - equates ...
embracing a false gospel - WITH - WALKING AWAY - from God.
Paul KNOWS the importance of this - couldn’t BE - any higher!
And SO - Paul knows - that for SOME in the Galatian church - THIS MAY be their LAST chance to hear - God’s TRUTH!
Paul knows that they’ve EMBRACED - a LIE...
A LIE that leads to Eternal Destruction...
And so - After EXPLAINING to the churches that there is - ONE GOSPEL…!
Only ONE WAY to get to God...
How?
By Faith ALONE - in CHRIST ALONE!!
And now - after explaining this to the churches - he now WANTS to VALIDATE his message...
He wants to PROVIDE the Galatians with the REASONS they NEED / MUST - believe and embrace what he’s saying!!
What he’s calling them BACK to…!
And the great thing for US today - is that if you’re a BELIEVER in here today...
These truths will HELP YOU - do the very same thing in your life...
So let’s get to our passage for today...
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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.
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Here we see Paul - ARGUING for WHY the Galatian people should LISTEN to him...
As we know - Paul has ALREADY preached the Gospel to these people...
in establishing the churches...
And yet - here we are!
SO QUICKLY - they have WALKED away and embraced a false gospel!
And so today - Paul is going to PROVIDE EVIDENCE - to COMBAT the false claims COMING AT him....and the gospel itself!
The first piece of evidence that Paul is going to put forth is this:
SLIDE: Validating the Gospel: God’s Message, Not Our Own
Validating the Gospel
Validating the Gospel
Let’s circle back to see this…
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.
· If you remember from 2 weeks ago – The apostle Paul started out this book by DEFENDING his apostleship.
· And his FIRST point – was that he was sent BY GOD…and not by MAN
· This is a way that Paul VALIDATES his message…
· He doesn’t want his HEARERS to believe that his message originated with him OR with MAN.
· And he EXPLAINS that as him having RECEIVED this message – as opposed to having been taught this message by man.
…”I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ”
· And it’s this point that I feel like – most of the world – either doesn’t understand – or willingly chooses to ignore…
o It seems to me that – the world – at EVERY TURN – is always surprised that Christians believe – basic Christian beliefs.
o *How many times has the world been – UTTERLY SHOCKED – that Christians speak out against same sex marriage….or abortion?
o ALL the TIME - - EVERY TIME!!
o And it’s like – Have you not figured out yet that – WE BELIEVE in God…
o And we believe this is THE WORD of GOD – and so we believe that GOD has DECLARED that same sex marriage is no marriage at all!
§ Why is this SHOCKING – this ISN’T OUR message!
o Why is it ALWAYS SHOCKING – when Christians speak out against abortion??
o This ISN’T OUR message! This is GOD’s MESSAGE!!
We BELIEVE – God!
· AND YET – the world wakes up every morning – believing that this message of ours AS believers – is OUR message!!
· NOW – apply this to people IN THE CHURCH…
· What happens when people IN THE CHURCH – people even SEEKING for truth – BELIEVE that what they’re hearing – originated with man?
· Well – we’re taught to – REJECT it.
· Ignore it! - - God even tells us to DO SO…
20 But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’
22 when a prophet speaks in the name of the Lord, if the word does not come to pass or come true, that is a word that the Lord has not spoken; the prophet has spoken it presumptuously. You need not be afraid of him.
· We are to REJECT the message of the world…ACCORDING to God…
· And that makes sense when you consider the – Message of the world…
16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.
· The world – LIVES FOR…
o The lust of the flesh
o The lust of the eyes
o The pride of life
· THIS is the message of the world – of man
· And clearly Paul’s message warred against this message of the world…
· BUT – Did Paul’s message ALIGN with Christ’s message?
RIGHT?
If Paul’s message was NOT HIS OWN - but was FROM God...
…then Paul’s message would ALIGN/AGREE with Christ’s message...
Let’s look at Scripture to find out...
SLIDE: The Message of Repentance: Paul vs. Christ
The Message of Repentance
The Message of Repentance
JESUS:
17 From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
PAUL:
24 And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,
25 correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth,
SLIDE: The Message of Justification by Faith Alone
The Message of Justification
The Message of Justification
JESUS:
28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”
29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”
PAUL:
28 For we hold that one is justified by faith apart from works of the law.
SLIDE: The Message of Suffering: Paul vs. Christ
The Message of Suffering
The Message of Suffering
JESUS:
12 But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.
PAUL:
4 Therefore we ourselves boast about you in the churches of God for your steadfastness and faith in all your persecutions and in the afflictions that you are enduring.
SLIDE: The Message of Eternal Life: Paul vs Christ
The Message of Eternal Life
The Message of Eternal Life
JESUS:
40 For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.”
PAUL:
23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
We could go on and on…WE SEE
· The message of Paul – WAS the message of Christ!
But this wasn’t ALL the evidence that Paul had - TO VALIDATE his Gospel Message...
We’ll see that...
SLIDE: Validating the Gospel: God’s Agenda, Not Our Own
Validating the Gospel
Validating the Gospel
Paul’s going to reveal for us - in our passage - what life looked like according to HIS OWN agenda...
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;
See - when left to HIMSELF - Paul was all about - DESTROYING the church of God...
Paul’s looking at these Galatians - who are now CONTEMPLATING whether the apostle Paul is just SPOUTING HIS OWN ideas...
And he’s saying - LISTEN - NOT ONLY is this message of mine - STRAIGHT from GOD...
BUT this whole AGENDA/MISSION I’m on now - is STRAIGHT FROM GOD!!
And you KNOW THIS!!
Paul is admitting here - that he USED to be a RELIGIOUS TERRORIST!!
He said - I VIOLENTLY persecuted the church...
and v14 said...
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 says - I was ADVANCING NICELY - in MY OWN agenda!
Advancing HIGHER than the rest...
FASTER than the rest!!
THIS WAS MY agenda!!
3 But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.
This was PAUL’s agenda - AND ALL the Jews - including the false teachers - KNEW IT...
4 “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews.
They knew!
WHICH MEANS - they ALSO knew and could CONTEMPLATE Paul’s life being TURNED upside down!
And in reality - they were all SEEING - IN PAUL - how God works...
IN THAT - The Work of God - Validates the TRUTH of God...
SLIDE:
The work of God validates the truth of God
Do you guys remember these verses?
26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth.
27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong;
28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,
29 so that no human being might boast in the presence of God.
God chooses what’s FOOLISH (in the world’s eyes) - to shame the wise
God chooses what is weak (in the world) to SHAME the strong
God chooses what is low and despised (in the world) to shame what is VALUED (in the world)
God chooses things that are NOT - to bring to NOTHING things that are (in the world)
God’s economy - in the world’s eyes - is an UPSIDE DOWN economy!
God is the GREAT - script - flipper
And we all have experienced this in some form or fashion!!
*Have you heard of Lee Strobel?
Lee Strobel was a journalist for fourteen years at The Chicago Tribune and other newspapers, winning Illinois’ highest honors for both investigative reporting and public service journalism from United Press International.
Lee was an atheist when he married his wife 48 years ago…and early on in their marriage, his wife Leslie got saved!
Leslie began talking to Lee about God and Christ, and Lee wasn’t having any of it.
So - BEING an investigative journalist - with the Chicago Tribune...
And having ALL the connections that he had - he decided that he was going to INVESTIGATE Christianity - to prove it WRONG!
For almost 2 years he investigated the EVIDENCE!
His conclusion?
Jesus LIVED, DIED, was BURIED, and ROSE AGAIN!
What Lee THOUGHT were going to be STRENGTHS to help him PROVE Christianity wrong...
WERE ACTUALLY weaknesses for his atheism!
God - TURNED it all - On it’s HEAD
This is HOW GOD WORKS!!!
And this WORK of God - will ALWAYS be EVIDENCE for the truthfulness of God...
BECAUSE - it removes MAN from the equation!!
And leaves only - God!
Paul’s point is that - the AGENDA he’s now living out - is ALL God’s AGENDA - not his own!
But what other evidence does Paul provide?
SLIDE: Validating the Gospel: God’s Love, Not Our Own
Validating the Gospel
Validating the Gospel
If we just gaze back at the verses we just looked at, we’ll see this again...
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;
Paul clearly HATED the church -
So if it was LEFT UP TO PAUL - the church would have been - DESTROYED!
Paul’s DESIRE that the church be destroyed - was GROWING - was ADVANCING...
But then SOMETHING HAPPENED....
And Paul DESCRIBES what happened using this small phrase...
“BUT WHEN HE”
v15
15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
Next verse...
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;
The LOVE that Paul NOW HAD for the church...
Was NOT DUE to Paul...
It was due to - BUT WHEN HE!
Paul’s explaining that the VERY REASON that he’s NOW bringing the GOOD NEWS of Jesus to the WORLD...
is because of GOD’s LOVE - Not Paul’s LOVE
And Paul AFFIRMED this VERY truth in Romans...
8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Paul is revealing the reality of God’s LOVE to the Galatians...
He’s revealing the POWER of God’s LOVE - FOR THEM - to the Galatians!!
Paul had been on a MISSION to DESTROY these people…!
And YET - the Script of FLIPPED!
BY GOD!!
back to v15
15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace,
God’s LOVE for the Galatians -
SET Paul apart
CALLED Paul to bring the message of LIFE ITSELF - TO the Galatians!
Paul’s pointing to the LOVE of God as - VALIDATION for his message to them!
*Whenever the church helps out someone in need…we ALWAYS want people to KNOW - that ANY love we show them - IS the love of Christ - FOR THEM!!
And we want to ALWAYS verbalize that...
SO THEY KNOW - this isn’t MERELY us - BEING NICE…!
We want them to FEEL and KNOW - GOD is LOVING THEM - THRU this act of love
And that’s what Paul’s doing here...
He’s simply POINTING to God - in defending his message!
Saying - this is ALL of God!
If we were still following MY AGENDA - you’d all be in jail right now - or worse!
But Paul’s not done yet...
Where does he go next?
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.”
Here again - Paul is pointing to the reality that this message - THE ONE and ONLY GOSPEL message is not CONTRIVED by man...
Paul had RECEIVED this TRUTH - FROM God Himself!
And what we see in our last verse for today - is what happens when we LIVE OUT our points for today...
What were our points for today…?
- What evidence has Paul provided?
Validating the Gospel:
God’s Message: Not Our Own
God’s Agenda: Not Our Own
God’s Love: Not Our Own
When we sacrifice OUR message for the message of God IN CHRIST
When we lay down our own AGENDAs - and LIVE for God’s AGENDA...
When we EXTEND God’s LOVE to the world - and NOT OUR OWN...
this last piece of EVIDENCE will be DISPLAYED in our lives...
SLIDE: Validating the Gospel: God’s Glory, Not Our Own
Validating the Gospel
Validating the Gospel
And we literally see this played out in the text...
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.
Why did these churches in Judea GLORIFY GOD?
BECAUSE...
PAUL had gone from...
Embracing HIS OWN message - to now embracing God’s MESSAGE
Living out HIS OWN agenda - to now LIVING out GOD’s agenda!!
LOVING to destroy the church - to now LOVING to DEFEND and ADVANCE the church!
And the PEOPLE KNEW - GOD was to thank for THIS!!
not Paul!
And so - they GLORIFIED - God!
SUMMARY:
Validating the Gospel:
God’s Message: Not Our Own
God’s Agenda: Not Our Own
God’s Love: Not Our Own
God’s Glory: Not Our Own
Let’s pray