June 13/14, 2010 sermon by Pastor Paul Eckert

June 13/14, 2010, Pentecost 3
Sermon by Pastor Paul G. Eckert
Sermon text - Galatians 1:11-24
11 I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.
12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased
16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man,
17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days.
19 I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother.
20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
21 Later I went to Syria and Cilicia.
22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ.
23 They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
24 And they praised God because of me.
CAN WE SAY OF OURSELVES WHAT PAUL SAID?
I ABOUT THE SOURCE OF OUR FAITH
II ABOUT WHAT OUR PAST HAS BEEN
III ABOUT WHAT OUR FUTURE WILL BE
Next Sunday is Father’s Day. Thinking of fathers, I am quite sure we are all familiar with the expression about being "a chip off of the old block." Are you, or do you want to be, a chip off of the old block?
I guess that depends upon what the old block was or is like, doesn’t it.
A good block from which to be a chip is the author by the Spirit’s inspiration of today’s sermon text, a man named Paul, a man who was not a father but an apostle. Yet, thinking of the people who came to faith through the Word of God which he proclaimed to them, he did speak of himself as a spiritual father. And he showed himself to be a very concerned father for his spiritual children. Listen to these words that are in the 4th chapter of this letter from which our text is taken, "My dear children, for whom I am again in the pains of childbirth until Christ is formed in you." Paul was concerned about the spiritual life and welfare of the people to whom he had preached. He did not want them to fall away from saving faith in their Savior.
Thinking now of Paul as a good block from which to become chips, let’s get into our text and ask:
CAN WE SAY OF OURSELVES WHAT PAUL SAID?
I ABOUT THE SOURCE OF OUR FAITH (11-12,15-20)
1. That faith is in the Gospel (11,16a)
--- the gospel I preached --- to reveal his Son in me ---
a) that Gospel was in the Old Testament Scriptures; but Paul had
not learned the full truth of it from the church leaders of his day
b) the true Gospel was what Paul now was talking about, God’s
eternal good news revealed in His Son, the Gospel about which
Paul could say, "I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes."
2. This Gospel came not from man (11-12a,16b,17a,18-20)
I want you to know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made up.
a) there are many man-made religions, from Islam to Hinduism to
Unitarianism to Mormonism, and so on, but Paul said:
I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; --- I did not consult any man, --- nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, --- Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days. I saw none of the other apostles—only James, the Lord’s brother. I assure you before God that what I am writing
you is no lie.
b) Paul went to the church leaders in Jerusalem to become
acquainted; he did not go to them as the source of truth, as
sad to say many today go to the pope in Rome for that
3. Gospel truth came from God’s revelation (12,15,16,17)
I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ. --- [God] was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not consult any man, --- nor did I go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went immediately into Arabia and later returned to Damascus.
a) in Paul’s case he was given a special revelation of Jesus
b) but what he received was nothing different from what God’s
Old Testament Scriptures had proclaimed: the Gospel or good
news of salvation through God’s Son, Jesus, who had come in
fulfillment of God’s promise of a Savior, who then fulfilled
that promise by His perfect life and innocent death in our place,
and a victorious resurrection to be our resurrection and our life
4. Can we say what Paul said?
a) do you believe what you believe just because your church or
your teacher or your parents tell you what to believe? - don’t
forget that there can be bad pastors, teachers, parents out there,
just as Paul had bad church leaders who had mistaught him!
b) Paul made sure by going back to Scripture; and I am sure he
was happy when the people to whom he preached likewise
searched the Scriptures to see if what he, Paul, said was true
c) the source of Paul’s faith was no longer what the church or its
leaders said, but the Gospel message of God’s revealed Word;
and let us say the same thing, responding to what Jesus said: "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
II ABOUT WHAT OUR PAST HAS BEEN (13-16a)
1. Paul may have looked great to some (14)
I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age
and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
a) he was zealous, dotting every i and crossing every t of the law
b) but he had been mistaught; he saw the law for earning God’s
favor instead of for showing our sin and need of a Savior
2. What he now saw was a bad past (13)
For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
a) doesn’t Paul sound like a good terrorist prospect, convinced he
was serving God by persecuting believers in Jesus?
b) listen also to what he said about himself in Acts 26:9-11: "I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them."
3. What can we say of our past?
a) hopefully there are no misguided terrorists here; but surely we
all have plenty lurking in our pasts that we are not proud of and
would rather not be reminded of, even by a sermon like this
b) and what about things we didn’t even think were sins but were?
who here doesn’t have to say what the Psalmist said, "Who can discern his errors? Forgive my hidden faults."?
4. But look at what we also can say (15-16a)
But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me ---
a) like Paul who finally recognized his sin, we also confess our
sins when we learn to know God’s will
b) we too rejoice that God has revealed His Son and revealed
everything He did for us and means to us: forgiveness and life
c) and we also can say of our past and present sins what Paul and
a hymn writer said, "Chief of sinners though I be, Jesus shed
His blood for me."
III ABOUT WHAT OUR FUTURE WILL BE (15-16a,21-24)
1. What Paul preached was a future (15-16a)
But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me ---
a) the Law revealed his sin; the Gospel revealed his Savior
b) what a revelation that is: sins forgiven now and a glorious
future - listen to some of what Paul preached: "I consider that
our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory
that will be revealed in us. -- Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. -- By the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, [Jesus] will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body." (Rom. 8:18; 1 Cor. 15:57; Phil. 3:21)
2. What Paul believed he also lived and preached (21-23)
I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
a) Paul had tried to destroy anything connected with Jesus
b) as his past life had made what he believed evident, now his
present life also made what he believed evident by serving the
true God whose grace in Christ was for him and is for all
3. We too believe the faith Paul preached (23b)
" --- is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
a) this Gospel faith can be rejected but not destroyed
b) it is a faith that permits us to say what Paul preached and said: "Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day - and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing." (1 Tim. 4:8)
4. For all of this let us praise God (24)
And they praised God because of me.
a) praise God for the source of our faith, His revealed Word
b) praise Him for giving His Son and, because of His atoning
work, giving us His forgiveness which covers our past, our
present, our continuing days on earth
c) and praise Him for the glorious future that will be
Can we say of ourselves what Paul said? Certainly not everything, just as children today can’t say everything their parents have said. But we can say the important things that Paul said. We have God’s revealed Word as the source of what we believe. We have His forgiving love in Christ for the sins in our lives. And we have a future glory that cannot be compared with anything here. When we, like Paul, can say these things, then we are good chips from a good block.