The Real Deal

PJ Berner

Galatians: Life in Christ • Sermon • Submitted 4 years ago

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Paul holds out the gospel as unique becuase of its divine origin and the power displayed in its transformation of his life.

Notes

Transcript

Intro

Two things can look alike and promise the same results, but when you see them in action, they couldn’t be more different in their ability to follow-through.

Like Apple and Android

Like Apple and PC

Like Taylor and Martin

Paul’s been writing about the true gospel to a group of people who have been tempted by a “different” gospel.

Galatians 1:6–7 (ESV) — 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— 7 not that there is another one, but there are some who trouble you and want to distort the gospel of Christ.

Last week he made that strong argument for there only being ONE. TRUE. GOSPEL.

This week, he’s going to focus on backing that up through appealing to his testimony to show the power of this gospel.

Body

Galatians 1:11–12 (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.

Last time: the contrast between Paul’s gospel and “different” gospels

This time: Paul gives his testimony to prove why “His” gospel is worth following.

First, he focused on its origins.

It’s “not man’s gospel” (Contrast that with the false gospel of the Judaizers)

“I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ.”

The question isn’t “Is this the most reasonable explanation of things?”.

The question should be, “Is this God’s explanation of things?”.

When did Paul receive these things from Jesus?

Acts 9 from a 30,000 foot view

Here’s Paul’s giving his testimony to King Agrippa:

Acts 26:13–20 (ESV) — 13 At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. 14 And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ 15 And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. 16 But rise and stand upon your feet, for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to appoint you as a servant and witness to the things in which you have seen me and to those in which I will appear to you, 17 delivering you from your people and from the Gentiles—to whom I am sending you 18 to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’ 19 “Therefore, O King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision, 20 but declared first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all the region of Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that they should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.

Imagine what this must have been like, to be Paul, to have such an amazing encounter with JESUS. We often talk about how we wish we could hear from God, we wish we could have an experience like this. But that’s exactly what we have in the Bible! We have the same message, from the same God, delivered to us through the testimony of Paul, of Peter, of James, of John, etc.

Your faith in the gospel is faith in the same gospel Paul received from Jesus.

Trust the God Behind the Gospel (Gal 1:11-12)

Think about who Paul used to be. He was Saul, a young, hotshot Pharisee skyrocketing through the ranks on the shortlist to be the next big deal.

Don’t you think his fellow Pharisees would be tracking with him during his career?

If they could undermine and contradict Paul’s account of things don’t you think they would?

Instead what do they do? They threaten his life because they have no other option.

There had been other people claiming to be the “messiah”, but they had all come and gone and died and people could point to their graves.

Jesus was different because he was the real-deal. And even His worst enemies couldn’t defeat the gospel, they couldn’t point to His body in the tomb. All they could do was tell the guards to make up some story about how His followers came and stole the body.

Paul had an encounter with this resurrected JESUS and heard the gospel directly from Him. You and I had a different story, but still, we had an encounter with the same JESUS and the same GOSPEL.

When you put your faith in JESUS, you aren’t putting your faith in man’s message, you are putting your faith in God’s message.

But maybe you think that this isn’t enough, maybe the disciples really did steal the body.

Its Paul’s word versus the word of his opponents. What else do you have Paul? Paul turns next to his testimony to further his argument about the power of the gospel.

Galatians 1:13–14 (ESV) — 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’s story had gotten around. People knew who he was and what he had done.

Acts 9:13–14 (ESV) — 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”

Acts 9:21 (ESV) — 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, “Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?”

“…how I persecuted the church of God violently”

VIOLENTLY = beyond measure

“…and tried to destroy it.”

DESTROY = annihilate; wipe out; end

Used of armies burning villages after destroying them

Acts 22:3-5

Acts 22:19-20

Philippians 3:6

Acts 9:21

“…being extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.”

TRADITIONS are not equal to SCRIPTURE

Paul thought he was serving God by persecuting the Church, protecting the Jewish people from this threat.

Phineas from Numbers 25:11

Elijah and the prophets of Baal 1 Kings 19:10

Lost and blind to his need for deliverance!

“But when He...”

God intervened and forever changed the course of Paul’s life with the gospel.

Your testimony looks different from Paul’s, but the message that changed his life so dramatically is the same message that has hopefully changed yours as well.

Remember the Power Contained in the Gospel Message (Galatians 1:13-21)

Romans 5:6-11 always helps me to remember this.

The further away from our conversion we get the less powerful the gospel seems.

So we have to remember how powerful the gospel really is.

The best way to do that is to keep telling people the story of how you were saved.

Paul loved to do this. (PAUL’S TESTIMONIES)

Here in Galatians 1:11-24

1 Timothy 1:12-17

Acts 22:1-16 Paul addressing a group of Jewish rioters

Acts 26:13-20 Paul before King Agrippa

Why did Paul keep going back to his testimony?

He believed the bad news of the gospel.

He believed the good news of the gospel.

He couldn’t get over it.

He believed in its power.

If you’ve never given your testimony before, you’ll have an opportunity to do that tonight during small groups.

But this is something you should have down pat. When we look at all the times Paul gave his testimony, they’re all pretty uniform.

You should practice your testimony, write it down, rehearse it, so its always at the ready and on the tip of your tongue.

Keep your testimony on the tip of your tongue.

This is harder for you if you’ve grown up in the church, if your testimony is that you were a church rat, and God saved you after you had heard the gospel for the thousandth time. If God saved you while you were a “good kid”, you have an uphill battle in remembering the power of the gospel.

But here’s the thing, and I say this as a “good kid” who got saved, sometimes we’re the ones who need the power of the gospel the most.

Self-righteousness is sometimes harder to overcome than a lack of any righteousness at all.

Regardless, all of us need the power of the gospel, and keeping our testimonies on the tips of our tongues is a good way to make sure we’re remembering that power and how amazing God’s grace to us has truly been!

I love that Paul gives us an insight in our passage as to how people reacted to his salvation.

Galatians 1:22–23 (ESV) — 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.”

People were shocked and initially skeptical (Ananias) of Paul’s testimony. But then what happened? They witnessed Paul in action, they saw the fruit of his profession of faith, and they believed.

This is Paul’s whole point in this passage: If anything should convince you that Paul’s gospel is the real-deal its the crazy transformation that took place in his life!

Then the people did the only thing they could...

Galatians 1:24 (ESV) — 24 And they glorified God because of me.

This should be the outcome of our testimony every single time we give it. The believers who hear it should be moved to praise God for the powerful work He has done in our lives. That’s what happened with Paul, and that’s what should happen with us.

Give God Center Stage Every Time You Share Your Testimony (Galatians 1:22-24)

If someone walks away from hearing your testimony more impressed with you than with God, you’re not doing it right.

When we bear witness to what God has done for us through the gospel it should be clear that He’s the hero of the story.

A witness tells about the actions of another person. So when you and I testify, we are testifying about the actions of another, about the actions of God our Savior.

Conclusion

So here’s what we’re going to do tonight. We’re not going to have the usual 4-5 small group discussion questions. Instead, I want y’all to go around the group and share your testimony, telling us about the power of God’s message and how God has transformed your life.

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