Galatians 1:17-24 "Apostleship"

These little ones learning all that. Again, it takes just a

Sunday of having somebody gone and realizing how I appreciate what they do for us.

So I was trying to fix your mic for some reason up here, Rick. It was not on. And then

I didn't hit the power slides, though, for why I was trying to fix that. So that's why in that first song, or the second song, it didn't sound like anyone was singing.

It was because I was not moving the slides. So I apologize for that. Today, we're going to be in Galatians chapter 1.

So please start making your way there for this morning. Galatians chapter 1.

Galatians chapter 1. We're going to be in Galatians 1, verse 17 to 24 for this morning.

As you're making your way there, let's go ahead and begin with the word prayer. Lord, I do thank you, again, just for the opportunity to be able to come here and to worship you, to read of your miraculous works, the ways that you are involved in our lives,

Lord, especially here in the first century and what the apostle Paul is doing with these churches of Galatia.

Lord, I would ask that today we would be instilled with a holy fear of you, that we would be reverent towards the words of the apostles, and that we would take their instructions into our lives and apply them in a way that glorifies you and is according and adequate to what the word of God has to say about things.

Lord, we would just ask that today, right now, we would just be shaped unto that which you desire for us to be shaped unto,

Lord. Let your word revive our souls today. And God, I ask this in the man of sorrow,

Jesus Christ's name, amen. Let's go ahead and read.

We're gonna, let's, we're just gonna read the end of verse 16, and it kinda leads into verse 17 for us, where we're gonna be at today.

So just back your eyes up just a little bit. In verse 16, it says this. I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood.

Now, verse 17 to 24, our text that we are in right now. Nor did

I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia and returned once more to Damascus.

Then three years later, I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him about 15 days.

But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the

Lord's brother. Now, in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.

Then I went into the regions of Syria and Sicilia, and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea, which are in Christ, but only they kept hearing he who once persecuted us now is proclaiming the good news of the faith, which he once tried to destroy.

And they were glorifying God because of me.

So again, this text is being written to these churches of Galatia that have been swayed, have been influenced by the

Judaizers to think circumcision is a needed, required work in order to obtain salvation.

And Paul's being very quick in this whole entire book as we're gonna see in coming weeks and what we've already seen in the prior texts.

Paul's very quick to say, no, the gospel does not have anything to do with your obedience.

It has nothing to do with your own action. It has completely all to do with what Christ has done for us.

And last week we discussed how we are called, when we are called, how we are called, how our eyes are open and how we are given a new heart that produces repentance and grants us faith.

And it is because of that supernatural, miraculous event of God intervening in our lives that we now, each of us bear a testimony.

And I want us to recall from last week how I asked ourselves to put ourselves in the shoes of the first century

Jew who knew of the stories of Saul, the zeal of Judaism that Saul had, the

Hebrew persecutor of the church. If we were of those first century

Jews, we would be celebrating the persecution and the war that Saul was leading the charge in.

And think to yourselves as these first century Jews, what hearing of the report of Saul departing from Judaism and joining himself to the church, what it would do to your false hopes.

Saul has joined himself with those whom he sought to kill. You would ask why, why, why?

And assuredly, when Saul would go to the synagogues and the public places to bear his testimony and to tell the people of the gospel, guess what you would want to do?

I want to go hear what Paul, Saul has to say. Why is Saul, the one that I know used to persecute these people, why is he now a part of them?

Why is he a part of what I believe in as a first century Jew and Judaism, and now he's a part of the church?

You would go and you would listen and you would want to, you would be desiring to know why Saul has done this.

Why now Paul is going about telling people that what you currently believe in is false.

And this would be a powerful tool. This is very purposeful, I believe in God's plan.

This would have been a very powerful tool in calling the Jews of that day to repentance and faith in the

Messiah that they rejected, the Christ in whom they hated. Now, I asked that question last week, put yourself in the shoes of that first century

Jew. I want to ask us now to do this, put yourself in the first century believers, the very first century church.

Days after the conversion of Saul, Saul who days prior was calling for your blood, wanting and pleading for your death.

How would you react if Saul came into our church today, just after supposedly professing to be converted?

How would you react? Saul was at the city council meeting this Monday. He was in there and he asked the mayor to sign a document that would permit him to kill us, to come in here and to cut off our heads.

Would we readily accept him into our fellowship? I would hope in some way we would say, yes, we would accept him because we understand how

God's grace works, but it would come with hesitation and known reservation.

If he came in here with a sword, we would probably say, not today, Saul. But the point of this is, if we had someone come into our church who we knew was a part of,

I want to give us just some examples. If we were to have somebody that was a part of the Branch Davidians, anybody have ever heard that before?

It's a cult. Many, many years ago, it's the cult that was known for the Waco incident in Texas. Let's say we had somebody from that cult come into our church and we would undoubtedly celebrate and praise the

Lord if they professed faith in Jesus. We would celebrate what God is doing in them, right? But let's say one week goes by and they profess salvation through Christ alone, but the next week, two weeks go on, and they now say

David Koresh, the supposed prophet of the Branch of Davidians, that he is a true prophet, that they actually believe in everything that David Koresh was teaching them there in Waco, Texas.

Would we then accept them? No, we wouldn't. We would tell them, repent and believe in the gospel.

You were never saved in the first place, or you have something that needs to be corrected in your life. The point of that is that time and consistency would reveal the truth of their profession.

Another example of this would be, okay, so if we've heard of the Branch Davidians, have any of us heard of the

People's Temple cult? Many, many years ago, this is the cult that is known for the mass suicide incident where 909 people died, and it's where the saying, drink the

Kool -Aid came from. Very, very bad incident, right? Let's just say somebody from that cult came to our church.

They say, I have faith in Jesus Christ. Again, we would celebrate that profession, that supposed testimony that they have, right?

But imagine if this person from the cult went into our church and they said,

I wanna be in charge of refreshments. Would we be wise in letting them do that?

Probably not. There might be some alternative motive to their desire and wanting that.

So this text in here, in Galatians 1, 17 through 24, is teaching us something, because there's a reason why

Paul is talking about this in the letter to the churches of Galatia. There's a reason why he's recalling these events post his conversion as a validation, a reason why he needs the church to listen to these things.

And what is it that Paul is trying to get at with this? Is that time and consistency is a witness to his ministry.

Time and consistency is a witness to his ministry.

There's a reason that in 1 Timothy 3, in the qualifications of both overseers and deacons, pastors and deacons, that Paul tells us, you cannot ordain someone into that office if they are a new convert.

And why would it be that you can't ordain a new convert into that office? Because they might be, guess what?

Unfortunately, they might be a false convert, somebody who is not really the faith or somebody that is not trained to be in that position.

There has been enough time, there hasn't been enough time to demonstrate the truth of their profession.

If Saul came into our church a day after his supposed conversion, as we asked earlier, would we have some hesitation towards him?

Yes, we would. But days, weeks, months, and years go by, and guess what

Saul, now Paul, is still doing? He's still teaching the same message over and over and over again.

He's never gone back on the gospel. Would we then accept him? Three years have gone by, would we then readily accept

Saul, now Paul? Absolutely. Time and consistency has been a witness to Saul.

It has proven his character, it's proven his profession. And that's exactly why

Paul is now telling the churches of Galatia to listen to him because of his history of being a believer actually validates his message here in this letter.

And it's also these events that take place in these three years that he refers to in here that also validates, guess what?

His apostleship. And so again, we think about why this letter is penned.

These churches have gone back on the gospel, which is undermined, but the apostles have first told them to believe.

They have elevated the position of the Judaizer above that of the position of the apostle.

They said the Judaizer, they have truth and it contradicts the truth that the apostles were teaching and they've clung onto that, which is the

Judaizers. And Paul is telling them, you have gone in error because of this.

Look at my history, church. Look at what I've been teaching the entirety of my conversion church.

It's never changed. I've never once a week gone by and told someone, you must be circumcised in order to be saved.

I can recall two pastors, two false pastors in my time as a Christian who were inwardly ravenous wolves.

One of these false pastors had a new church plant in Boise and he had a meaningful message.

He had a very meaningful testimony, something that would convince people when they listened to him. But as time went on over just a few months, guess what he did in his time of being a pastor?

He divorced his wife and abandoned his children. He had a consistent message, but did time reveal his fruit as that which is good and whole?

It didn't. Anathema, time revealed that his intentions were actually wrong and evil.

And he ended up departing from the faith shortly after that, renouncing everything that he supposedly believed in.

Another man had several, had time and hours of service under his belt years upon years.

However, his message was inconsistent among himself. And according to Orthodox, it was heresy that he was teaching.

So both of these men, both of these men, the one that had a church plant in Boise and this other man that had a message that was inconsistent, guess what they lacked?

Time and consistency. Both of these things proved them to be what? Wolves. Proved them to be what

Paul says in this text, anathema. They should be cut off. They shouldn't be considered brothers in the faith.

Paul's arguing here in this letter that both time and consistency, again, has been that witness to himself and his ministry, particularly his ministry of being an apostle, someone who has authority over the church.

Let's look back here at verse 16, just that part right there at the end, and verse 17 as we look at this.

It says, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did

I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away to Arabia and returned once more to Damascus.

Paul gives us context here. Context, a history lesson of himself, his post -conversion story.

And this is according to Acts chapter nine. We aren't gonna read that right now. We're gonna turn to that here in a moment and look at some different stuff that Saul is recorded of doing in his travels.

But Saul was traveling in Acts chapter nine. Acts chapter nine, of course, comes out after Acts chapter eight when the stoning of Stephen occurs.

But Acts chapter nine, it says that Saul, he's traveling from Jerusalem to Damascus to guess what he's trying to receive?

Letter that permits him to kill Christians, to bound them and to take them, to persecute the church is essentially what he's trying to do.

And Saul, on this journey to Damascus to receive this letter, it says that he's converted, but guess what he still does?

And this is according to what God commands him, what the Lord commands him to do. He still enters

Damascus. He still goes into the city. And that's according to what the Lord told him to do.

He says, go in, enter the city. Saul then meets Ananias, his eyes are open, and then he's baptized.

While in Damascus, Saul then begins to preach the gospel relentlessly.

He goes into the synagogues and tells people about Jesus in such a powerful and fearless way.

Guess what his Jews, his fellow countrymen try to do to him? They try to kill him after that. I would just pause there and say, if you are not preaching a gospel message that's offensive enough that the world would wanna kill you, you're probably not preaching the gospel correctly.

Paul preaches it in such a way that his people that a week prior would have been celebrating what he was doing are now trying to kill him.

They're seeking his life is what Acts chapter nine says. So Saul escapes this persecution in Acts chapter nine.

And then according here in verse 17, he then goes on a run for his life for three years between Arabia and Damascus.

Again, if you had a map open before you you'd be able to see this route that he would take. Let's actually go ahead and turn to Acts nine right now.

We're gonna look at verse 20 to 25 for this. But please turn with me to Acts chapter nine, verse 20 through 25.

It says here in verse 20, it says, and immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogue saying, he is the son of God.

And all who hear 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 down before the chief priests?

But Saul increased all the more in strength and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the

Christ. When many days had passed, the Jews plotted to kill him. But their plot became known to Saul and they were watching the gates day and night in order to kill him.

But his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.

That very well known story in many of our Christian walks that we've heard. Let's turn back here to Galatians one as we think about this.

So again, Paul is converted. He goes back into the city of Damascus.

He starts beginning to preach the gospel for some time there. And Jews knowing this then try to kill him.

And again, according to this text here, Paul's on the run for three years after this incident. And why, the question needs to be asked, why does

Paul here in the book of Galatia, why does he refer to this incident when he's writing to the churches of Galatia?

Why does Paul say that he did not immediately consult with other apostles?

Why did he not immediately consult with others about this, other apostles?

These things testify to the truth that Paul was an apostle of Christ, that he was converted, and that he is no longer trying to hurt the church.

If you were Peter and John, or John in this day, and knew of Saul, knew of his persecution, knew of that letter that he was seeking to obtain from Damascus, and you heard that he was converted and wanted to meet with you immediately after his conversion, how would you react?

You would probably have your hand on your gun, right? Right here in the 21st century, you would probably be ready to pull up.

It's going down right here, right? It doesn't sound right to my ear. Saul, you're saying you were converted, you then went on into the city where you were trying to get the letter to kill us, and you just happened to be in the synagogues talking to Jews?

All that sounds a little fishy, does it not? That would be the case of how Peter and John would react if Saul came immediately after his conversion.

But Saul says in here, no, I spent three years not even meeting the other apostles.

I spent years away from the other apostles preaching, guess what? The exact same gospel that Peter and John and all the other apostles were preaching.

He claimed to be commissioned by Christ as an apostle. He claimed to have seen the

Lord and he proclaimed the same gospel as you and I believe in today. He was persecuted by his fellow countrymen, the

Jews, in this three -year period. The Jews tried to kill him, as we just read, and Ananias had to sneak him out of the city.

Three years in this time period where he is still believing and teaching the same gospel and he's never gone back.

His story has never changed during this whole time. And now after three years, how would you welcome

Saul if that was the case? Never changed. You would probably be a lot more likely to accept him into the faith, accept him into the church, accept him into fellowship with you.

Verse 18 says this. Let's go ahead and read this. It says, then three years later,

I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas and stayed with him 15 days.

Let's go ahead and turn back. I should have asked you to keep your finger in Acts 9. Turn back to Acts 9 with me.

We're gonna look at Acts 9, 26 to 31, just to read those texts, those verses after. Because this,

I think, is very important to how we handle and treat the words of Paul. Three years again, go by in this.

If you were just to read through the book of Acts, you might not notice that, right? Because when you read verse 25, it says that then he went away, and then in verse 26, then it says he had come to Jerusalem.

What is recorded here in Galatians for us is a three -year period between those two verses that you might not have noticed if Paul didn't write this in Galatians.

Here in 26, he says this. And when he had come to Jerusalem, he attempted to join the disciples.

So three years have gone by. He's been on the run. He's been preaching the gospel. He's had this miraculous experience of seeing

Jesus. And he says he attempted to join the disciples, and they were all afraid of him, for they did not believe that he was a disciple.

So three years have gone by, and they're still hesitant to accept him. But look what it says here.

But Barnabas took him and brought him to the apostles and declared to them how on the road he had seen the

Lord who spoke to him, and how at Damascus he had preached boldly in the name of Jesus.

So he went in and out of them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the

Lord. Let's pause here and think about this for a moment. So it would be one thing to claim this witnessed experience.

It would be one thing if you came to the apostles a day later. But no, a fellow individual,

Barnabas, is saying this really did happen to Saul three years ago. It's the exact same story.

It's not changed. It's the same story three years later. Paul goes out and preaches the gospel with the apostles, and guess what they see?

It's the same message that we're preaching. It's the same gospel. He's proclaiming the same

Jesus, the Christ, with us. These are all testimonies, so guess what? Saul, now

Paul, has an actual testimony, has an actual witness of Jesus Christ.

And he spoke, so it says this, so he went in and out with them at Jerusalem, preaching boldly in the name of the

Lord, and he spoke and disputed them against the Hellenists, but they were seeking to kill him.

And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off. So the brothers are speaking about the apostles here.

The apostles see this, they brought him down to Caesarea, and they sent him off to Tarsus.

So the church throughout all of Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up, and walking in the fear of the

Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied. So when we put all these pieces together,

Acts 9, Galatians 1, 16 through 18, we come to this conclusion. Though skeptical at first, the apostles of the

Lord recognized Paul as a fellow apostle in this. They recognized that he is a fellow apostle like themselves, and this was through the reports of Barnabas and of how

Paul had seen the Lord, proclaimed the gospel, and was persecuted for it. The apostles have essentially given

Saul, Paul, the right hand of fellowship. And guess what it says, they sent him off.

They said, yep, you're an apostle, go. We're gonna commission you to keep on going and serving the

Lord. Why is Paul using this example of his timeline here as being recognized as an apostle in the book of Galatians?

Well, he tells us the exact reason why in verse 19 and 20. Let's look at this now, it says here in Galatians 1.

But I did not see any other apostle except James, the Lord's brother.

Now, in what I'm writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.

I'm not lying. Paul says that he had minimal contact with the apostles after his conversion.

And because he had never changed the gospel message like the Judaizers had and have and are, and that he had been commissioned by Jesus himself as an apostle of the

Lord by the Lord, he says, I am not lying. Paul's story, his conversion, and the gospel has never changed.

And he is using that to call these churches to what? Repentance, to be restored back to the faith, to have faith in the finished work of Christ.

Why? Because they have gone back on the words in the teaching of the apostles themselves.

They have abandoned the teachings of the apostles for the treachery of the Judaizers. And in God's providence, in bringing about the story of Paul in such a way has proven it true that he was truly an apostle.

And consider, seriously, consider today all the false prophets, all the false apostles today.

Time and consistency always reveal them as liars and wolves.

I wanna cover two examples of men who have claimed to be prophets and apostles today and just show you how crazy their claims are and how counterintuitive it would take for someone to believe in these claims.

I mentioned earlier the Branch Davidians, and I would like to focus on their supposed prophet and apostle who, guess what?

He also claimed to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. Laughing, right?

That's how we should treat these kind of individuals. He claims to be Jesus Christ. His name is

David Koresh. David Koresh was not the first leader, and many don't know this. He was not the first leader of this cult in Waco, Texas.

But the way he became the leader is quite interesting. Rodan was the leader before him, and David and him both wanted to be the leaders of this cult.

So essentially what was done is they decided they were going to dig up a dead body on the property of their church, and church has quotations around it.

It's not a church, we know this, but their religious body, their religious building, their church, they're gonna dig up a dead body, and whichever man could resurrect the body was going to be the next cult leader.

That's what they agreed upon. Very weird, right? Very strange.

And so, guess what Rodan does? He goes, he digs up the body, and guess what it is, guess what's illegal to do in the state of Texas?

Dig up the body. To exhume a human body is illegal. David knows this.

So sneaky David Koresh, guess what? He agreed, let's do this resurrection showdown. Let's see who can raise this person up.

So Rodan does all the work. He digs up the grave, and guess what David Koresh does? David Koresh goes to the local authorities and tattles on them.

This all then comes about that, many don't also know this, but the Waco, Texas incident, that was not the first shootout that had taken place on that property.

There was a shootout that day, and Rodan, I believe, if I remember correctly, got hit, and he went to jail.

He lived on from that day. But guess who became the cult leader that day? David Koresh did.

Is that a legitimate way to validate one's apostleship, prophets, and claim as being the reincarnation of Jesus Christ?

No. No, that's trickery is what that is. Trickery.

No, of course not. We would not accept David Koresh. Let's look at a second example. So again, does

Paul come to be an apostle through trickery? No, he doesn't.

In fact, he has miraculous events after event after event that guess what do? Validate him.

He's able to speak in tongues. He's able to heal people. He does these things on the frequent basis that actually just witness to his apostleship.

The second example I would like us to think about will come up, and this, brothers and sisters, this comes up, will come up several times in this book because the book of Galatians very clearly identified these individuals as a false religion, but we're gonna look at Joseph Smith in the 1800s.

Joseph Smith in the 1800s claimed to have a multitude of visions, but the most noticeable one is called by the

LDS and is known as the first vision. How many accounts of the first vision do you think there are?

You think first vision, you think that there's one. How many accounts do you think there are? There's at least four, and there's sometimes people would put a very large number there, but at least four accounts of the first vision.

And guess what each first vision account does? It contradicts the other. It contradicts the other.

From Joseph Smith being, the details change drastically, from Joseph Smith being 14 years old, 15 years old, or 16 years old, and to him seeing just angels, to him just seeing one singular spirit, to him just seeing

Jesus himself, or to him seeing Jesus and the Father, which we know doctrinally is impossible to see, because Jesus says no one has seen the

Father, no, not one. So to even that reason for why

Joseph Smith was talking to these entities, so one of the things that changes is the reason why

Joseph Smith is even talking and praying to these individuals, these beings, these angels, or Jesus, or whatever he says that he is.

The reason changes. This can actually be found readily on lds .org,

but they try to make excuses for them in one way or another, saying that over time we change our stories as well, they'll try to do that.

But you can go and read this from Joseph Smith's own handwriting, and I'm telling you, they have his journal.

You can go and read what he writes. And guess when he writes this journal? In 1832.

And guess what he says that he's recording and talking about? An incident that happened in 1820.

1820 and 1832, what's the year difference there? 12 years, right? There is no account in 12 years of Joseph Smith ever telling anybody this.

12 years! 12 years, that would be like me coming to you and saying, you know what, back when

I was 16 years old, I had never told anybody this, but I ran into a unicorn once, and it told me a new revelation of Jesus Christ.

Are you gonna believe me? No, he would not believe me.

It'd be silly to believe me. I have an incident in my life that cannot be validated by anybody else.

And it just took me 12 years to actually recall it. The most significant event in LDS history, the first vision, their golden idol, the most significant event in their whole religion, 12 years go by and no one knew about it.

That's ridiculous. Would we believe

Joseph Smith today? No, we wouldn't. No, we shouldn't. Meaning that Joseph Smith had an experience that no one had ever heard about supposedly for 12 years, and then he goes on to translate this supposed new testament, this

Book of Mormon. Imagine if Paul had tried to do this with his conversion. Paul sees the Lord, says nothing about it for 12 whole years.

And then every time he tells someone about this experience that nobody can validate after 12 years, he changes the details about it.

He says, in one, he says, I saw Jesus. And then another time he tells it, he says, I saw angels.

And then another time he tells it, he says, I saw the Father. Is this a credible story that anyone would likely believe?

No. If this had been the case, Saul would have been denied as an apostle and denied as a believer.

He wouldn't have been accepted. Guess what they would have told him? Anathema. Be cut off, Paul. Paul here in Galatians tells us a story that has never changed, that can be validated by witnesses, and has a story that he's never been ashamed of telling somebody about.

What happens to Saul days after his conversion? He goes to the synagogues and he starts telling people.

It doesn't take him 12 years to tell people. He tells people immediately what took place, the faith and the knowledge that he has in God.

Paul then says in here, he says, listen to this. He says, I am not lying. I promise you, church,

I am not lying. And I swear before God is what he says in here. I think it would be helpful in here to just notice about lawful oaths.

The 1689 confessions in general just say this. It says a lawful oath is an element of religious worship in which a person swearing in truth, righteousness, and judgment solemnly calls

God to witness what is sworn and to judge the one swearing according to the truth or falsity of it.

People should swear by the name of God alone and only with the utmost holy fear and reverence.

Therefore, to swear an empty or ill -advised oath by that glorious and awe -inspiring name or to swear at all by anything else is sinful and to be abhorred.

Yet in weighty and significant matters, an oath is authorized by the word of God to confirm the truth and end all conflict.

This is, again, according to the confessions of the 1600s.

Does Paul know, the reason I bring this up, does Paul know weightiness and the reverence that comes upon calling upon the name of God?

He does. He absolutely does. Paul has seen some miraculous things. Think about even

Ananias and Sapphira. Do you think Paul knows about that story? When somebody lies, they get struck down by God?

Do you think Paul knows about that? Absolutely. Do you think Paul should be taken at his word when he says,

I promise you and I swear before God, I am not lying? He's saying,

I'm taking an oath to you, church. These Judaizers, I promise you, they're after your soul.

They're hurting you. Paul has seen miraculous things, and this is a very credible source of information by Paul to call upon the name of God, to evoke

God's name and swearing to him that he is not lying. An individual can claim the title of apostle of the

Lord. It does not mean that they meet the requirements. However, Paul did, does, and that's why we should take his words here very, very seriously.

And we as a church, you as individuals, brothers and sisters, I need you to sincerely think about this because there's years that will come by and maybe a day that you won't know, we won't see each other on a regular basis, right?

I need you to not follow after false prophets and false apostles. Do not be swayed by men like David Koresh or Joseph Smith.

Do not be duped into hearing their, even though it might be convincing arguments that they make, do not be swayed away from the gospel.

They bring something that you should be considering anathema, to cut it off from you. Let's go ahead and read now verse 21 to 24.

And I sincerely mean that what I just said, brothers and sisters. I don't wanna see any of us be swayed away from the faith that we have in the gospel.

Take a surety in the work of what Christ has done for us. Let's look here and read verse 21 to 24.

It says this. Then I went into the regions of Syria and Sicilia, and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea, which are in Christ.

But only they kept hearing, he who wants persecuted us now is proclaiming the good news of faith, which he wants tried to destroy.

And they were glorifying God because of me. This comes, you don't need to turn here. This is just Acts 9 30.

It says this. And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Syria and sent him off to Tarsus.

This is a text that we already read now. So Paul says that he was sent.

Paul says that he was commissioned by Christ. Paul says that he was sent by the other apostles.

He had a multitude of witnesses and all that. That these people all knew of his conversion is what he argues here in this, that there's several people who know that he used to persecute the church.

Paul's arguing that the people of God at the beginning of his conversion, the beginning of his ministry, knew him to be a man who was converted and saved by grace alone, saved by the gospel itself, and was made to be an apostle of the

Lord. They glorified God because of what had taken place in the life of Paul.

Paul is using this story that he talks about here to show the contrast between the churches of Galatia and the churches of his early ministry.

Are churches of Galatia currently glorifying God because of the message of Paul? No, they're not.

No, they've departed from it. They're not glorifying God because of what

Paul has brought to them. They've gone after a lie rather than the gospel. And think of how you today have been lied to in this world, how the world tries to lie to us all the time.

The culture tells us you don't need to trust the word of God, a .k .a. don't trust the words of the apostles.

That's exactly what the Judaizers were doing. Don't trust the words of the apostles. The world is just like this today.

Don't trust the words of the apostles and the prophets is what the Judaizers are trying to argue for. The world tells you today, you don't need to go to church.

Religion is to be a private matter, a .k .a. you don't need to follow the instructions of the pastors and you don't need to be held accountable and you don't need discipleship and you don't need to worship

God in public is what the world tries to tell us today. The world tells you it's okay to talk about hunting hobbies and sports and games, but you cannot talk about Jesus in public.

A .k .a. I love my sin and I don't need the gospel. Are we to bow our knee to the message of the world today?

These Judaizers of the very first century exist in function and essence all around us today.

They try to take our eyes and our confidence in what the apostles taught, what the prophets told us in the

Old Testament. They try to undermine that authority and tell us turn to something else. That's exactly what the

Judaizers were doing. That's exactly what they were trying to do. We need to take this chapter here in Galatians very, very seriously, this entire chapter of chapter one of Galatians that Paul really is an apostle, someone who we are to receive instruction from, that there is only one gospel that saves us and that there's no other and that this gospel does not consist of our own works and that we are not to change the gospel to fit what the world is telling us around us.

We are not to change it. We're not to exchange it for something other than the gospel that we see in the word of God itself.

Brothers and sisters, this message here in Galatians one, you could read these verses here from 17 to 24 and think to yourself, is there really any pertinent information for me, the

Christian in the 21st century? I hope today you can say there is. There's meat here for us.

We take the word of God seriously. We take the gospel seriously. We take the sanctity, the holiness of the singular gospel and we hold to it and we should run away from anything else that tries to take us away from it.

Let's go ahead and pray as we make our hearts ready for communion this morning. Lord God, I thank you again just for the wonderfulness, the mercy.