What’s Your Story?
Galatians—The Heart of the Gospel—Series
A Sermon By Jim Hammond from Galatians 1:10-24
Glory in the Cracked Pot
The picture you see on the screen is a graphic
representation of a church service. I know it looks like a bunch of old
cracked or broken ceramic pots, but isn’t that what we are, a bunch of
crack-pots gathered to have our lives filled with meaning and glory.
Seriously, the longer I’m in ministry the more I believe this to be true.
Every one of us is broken somewhere.
But this doesn’t tell the whole story. Now look at
the screen (the picture changes and from the cracks and dark holes light
illuminates). God is able to cover over the dark spots, and fill the
holes, with the light of his grace. What used to be to our shame, after
grace fills and touches it, can be a powerful tool to bring glory to God
and help others find the grace for their cracks. The grace and light
shines right through the cracks once grace fills our lives.
2 Corinthians 4:6-7
For God, who said, "Let light shine out of darkness," made his light
shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of
God in the face of Christ.
7But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this
all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.
Focus: When
Christians tell the story of how God has changed their lives, they
discover the joy of being able to say “And they praised God because of
me.” (Galatians 1:24)
See if you hear the accusations against
Paul Mirrored In Paul’s Rebuttal
This is Paul’s rebuttal:
Galatians 1:11-24 I want you to
know, brothers, that the gospel I preached is not something that man made
up.
12I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I
received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
13For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how
intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it.
14I was advancing in Judaism beyond many Jews of my own age and was
extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers.
15But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his
grace, was pleased
16to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the
Gentiles, I did not consult any man,
17nor 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.
18Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted
with Peter and stayed with him fifteen days.
19I saw none of the other apostles--only James, the Lord's brother.
20I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
21Later I went to Syria and Cilicia.
22I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in
Christ.
23They only heard the report: "The man who formerly persecuted us
is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy."
24And they praised God because of me.
Did you hear some of the accusations? Paul has been accused of…
·
Receiving the gospel from
men in Judea and therefore having no independent authority.
·
Giving a reader’s digest
condensed version of the True Gospel, watering down Jewish elements in
order to make it more attractive to Gentiles.
·
Teaching a lesser Gospel
when changing the True Gospel received and taught in Judea
I. The Gospel Has Power
We don’t have the time to read the story today, but
Paul makes mention of the life changing event he experienced that he has
already told the Galatians all about. You can read about Paul’s
conversion experience in Acts 9 and Acts 26.
The point Paul makes here is that the power of the
Gospel is…
A. not from Tradition, Innovation, or Invention,
but Revelation (1:10-12)
Paul’s message or authority is not from Men in Jerusalem. He did not get
the Gospel by tradition passed down to him through the Apostles, and he
did not get it by Invention, but by Revelation.
II. Look At My Life If You Need Proof (1:13-
Proof of what?
·
That Paul’s Gospel was by direct Revelation, and
·
That the Gospel is Powerfully True
Paul says in effect, The Very Thing “They” Advocate,
I was Delivered From
·
Zealousness for the traditions of my Fathers (14)
1.
I was more Zealous for the Law than anyone (14)
2.
I was so zealous I was a persecutor of the Gospel of Grace till
Christ Himself confronted me that I was wrong! (13)
But then I met Jesus face to face. That’s Paul’s
testimony, and it was a powerful one.
Charles Colson, convicted for his involvement in the Watergate scandal as
an assistant to President Richard Nixon, writes:
When I
am challenged on the resurrection, my answer is always that the disciples
and 500 others gave eyewitness accounts of seeing Jesus risen from the
tomb. But then I'm asked, "How do you know they were telling the truth?
Maybe they were perpetrating a hoax." My answer to that comes from an
unlikely source: Watergate.
Watergate involved a conspiracy perpetuated by the closest aides to the
president of the United States—the most powerful men in
America,
who were intensely loyal to their president. But one of them, John Dean,
turned state's evidence, that is, testified against Nixon, as he put it,
"to save his own skin"—and he did so only two weeks after informing the
president about what was really going on—two weeks! The cover-up, the lie,
could only be held together for two weeks, and then everybody else jumped
ship in order to save themselves. Now, the fact is that all those around
the president were facing was embarrassment, maybe prison. Nobody's life
was at stake.
But
what about the disciples? Twelve powerless men, peasants really, were
facing not just embarrassment or political disgrace, but beatings,
stonings, execution. Every single one of the disciples insisted, to their
dying breaths, that they had physically seen Jesus bodily raised from the
dead. Don't you think that one of those apostles would have cracked before
being beheaded or stoned? That one of them would have made a deal with the
authorities? None did. Men will give their lives for something they
believe to be true; they will never give their lives for something they
know to be false.
The
Watergate cover-up reveals the true nature of humanity. Even political
zealots at the pinnacle of power will, in the crunch, save their own
necks, even at the expense of the ones they profess to serve so loyally.
But the apostles could not deny Jesus, because they had seen him face to
face, and they knew he had risen from the dead.
No,
you can take it from an expert in cover-ups—I've lived through
Watergate—that nothing less than a resurrected Christ could have caused
those men to maintain to their dying whispers that Jesus is alive and is
Lord. Two thousand years later, nothing less than the power of the risen
Christ could inspire Christians around the world to remain
faithful—despite prison, torture, and death. Jesus is Lord: That's the
thrilling message of Easter. It's a historic fact, one convincingly
established by the evidence—and one you can bet your life upon.[1]
Paul was one of those who
came to a breaking point because he saw Jesus face to face. He was one of
those who gave his life for the truth He discovered.
A.
Paul Was Knocked off a horse named Moralism and began
walking on the Path of Grace
Okay, so maybe that wasn’t the horse’s name. In
fact, Paul probably didn’t have a horse at all since in Act 26 it mentions
that those with him led him by the hand after he was blinded. The point
is, the event changed his whole approach. Once he went the way of
moralism. Christ confronted him and showed him the only way that works.
Moralism, Grace, and Transformation
Salvation by moralism would be like trying to swim
across the ocean. You can try, but good luck. You will never get to the
other side before you drown. Salvation by Grace is like being rescued
from that futile effort in the ocean after you realize you are not going
to survive and being lifted onto the deck of a rescue boat. Grace is not
simply finding a floating raft, hanging on, and waiting for God to do the
rest. Grace is discovering that the rescue ship is a sailboat that is
heading somewhere. Transformation is the process of moving from point A,
on the wrong side of the ocean, to point B, to the right side of the
ocean. The way this happens, you discover, is that the rescue boat is a
sailing craft, and you have to cooperate with the wind, God’s saving work,
in order to move in the right direction.
1. Does Your Life Prove the Reality of the Gospel of Grace?
Author, pastor, and onetime atheist Lee Strobel says in one sermon:
How
can I tell you the difference God has made in my life? My daughter Allison
was 5 years old when I became a follower of Jesus, and all she had known
in those five years was a dad who was profane and angry. I remember I came
home one night and kicked a hole in the living room wall just out of anger
with life. I am ashamed to think of the times Allison hid in her room to
get away from me.
Five
months after I gave my life to Jesus Christ, that little girl went to my
wife and said, "Mommy, I want God to do for me what he's done for Daddy."
At age 5! What was she saying? She'd never studied the archeological
evidence [regarding the truth of the Bible]. All she knew was her dad used
to be this way: hard to live with. But more and more her dad is becoming
this way. And if that is what God does to people, then sign her up. At age
5 she gave her life to Jesus.
God
changed my family. He changed my world. He changed my eternity.[2]
Hug a Porcupine
Teen Challenge taught us last week that the
Gospel of Grace is about how God hugged a porcupine like me helping me to
remove by grace the barbed quills of sin in my life. He then calls me to
love porcupines like you, helping you to learn to apply the power of grace
to remove your barbed quills of sin.
Both the removal of the barbed quills in our lives,
and the willingness on our part to hug another porcupine prove the Gospel
of Grace has touched our lives. You cannot remove the barbed quills in an
effort to be saved, that doesn’t work, but when by grace you are saved a
wondrous transformation begins.
When Christ hugged us porcupines, he absorbed the
pain into himself. He calls us to take up our cross and follow him. Now
we learn to do the same as we hug other porcupines. How many of you have
been hurt by the porcupines you try to hug? We need God’s grace through
the cross to be able to forgive and pull those barbed quills.
Though your calling may not have been the same kind
of blinding, sense shattering experience as Paul’s, nevertheless, you were
loved before you could pull your own quills. Some of your quills may even
have been the idea that says, “I can take care of my own barbed quills,
thank you!” But this is precisely what we cannot do. And this was the
pressure of the false teaching, to turn people back toward this kind of
moralism.
Paul’s Story, What’s Your Story?
·
Though your conversion may
not have been the same kind of blinding, sense shattering experience as
Paul’s, nevertheless, you were loved before you could pull your own
quills.
·
The Quill of Pride says:
“I can take care of my own barbed quills, thank you!” But this is
precisely what we cannot do. And this was the pressure of the false
teaching, to turn people back toward this kind of moralism.
·
Your story is worth
sharing.
·
What we have in common
with Paul.
·
What used to matter most to
us no longer matters as much.
·
What used to not matter much
is now central to us.
·
Christ became central.
·
If Christ is not the center
of your life, He needs to be, for your sake.
·
Receiving grace is how your
heart is centered on God through Christ. There is no other way. Moralism
just will not do this. It turns out your own achievements, pride, and
living for self, end up taking the throne instead of Christ when the
Gospel is twisted in this way.
Would you do me a
favor? Would you each write
down your testimony and mail it or email it to me. Your story needs
to be told,
Keep it simple.
Write down 1) Your previous way of life. What was important to you
before. What did you live for. 2) Your conversion. How did you come to
know that Jesus is who he claims to be, and 3) What has changed. How is
your life different now.
My Testimony
It wasn’t until
college and studying Paul, that I discovered Paul’s former righteousness
and mine were running on the wrong track, I call that track moralism. It
is kind of a competitive track that says I’m better than others. I’m
okay. That’s why I’m going to heaven. I learned that isn’t so. The
righteousness I had to offer was no way to get there. The only way was
through Christ. A passage in Philippians hits home for me,
READ
Philippians 3:2-11
I had to come to the place where I saw my
own achievements, or knowledge, or even obedience from a different
perspective. There was no way to earn God’s approval, I could only
receive it through Christ.
·
I learned that it is not
enough to know about God. I needed to know him and depend on him.
·
My life now is a living
demonstration for good or for bad that reflects my condition of faith.
·
When I depend on him I
demonstrate a life of wholeness. When for any length of time I leave God
out of my life I see how quickly selfishness makes a mess of things in my
life.
·
When I lean on the grace of
Christ fully and understand that’s where real living is found, everything
else is rubbish.
·
My salvation is not
dependent on how strong I am but how strong He is. It is because I am
weak that I depend. It is because he is strong and I am weak that I
depend on him.
Christ In Me
Here’s another way of describing the centrality of Christ in our lives.
Paul used the phrase in verse 16. He says, God was pleased to …
“reveal his Son in me…” You
would expect it to say “revealed his Son to me” rather than
“in me”. Christ was revealed to Paul on the Damascus road. But,
here he talks about something more than that. Christ was revealed IN
him.
Focus again on the image of a broken pot, and light filling IN the
pot, and coming out of the cracks. Christ is Revealed IN YOUR STORY… IN
YOUR LIFE. When you tell YOUR STORY you can say along with Paul, “And
they praised God because of me.” (Galatians 1:24)
2. Have You Made A Connection?
Philip. 3:12-14 Not that I
have already obtained all this, or have already been made perfect, but I
press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. [13]
Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one
thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,
[14] I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called
me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Do
you need to repent this morning and renew your commitment? Make sure you
lay hold of the one who has laid hold of you. This is far more than
simply knowing about Christ, this means making a relational connection
that implies a covenant commitment both ways.
3. Paul Knew His Specific Calling—Do you?
If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.
Are you drifting aimlessly as a Christian, bobbing about in a vast ocean
of darkness like a little corked bottle, accomplishing nothing, and just
waiting to be discovered? If so, you need to discern who you are? How
has God made you? Why has he put you where you are? Discover your shape
and purpose. CLASS 301 and soon CLASS 401 is designed to help you do
this.
It is important that we don’t do every good thing, or
good things will compete for the best thing. Sometimes we have to guard
ourselves that we don’t get entangled in every good thing that comes our
way, but choose to involve ourselves in those things for which God has
made us. There is a balance here. Some people are doing so much that
their effectiveness in the areas of their strength is being compromised,
but then there are others who have yet to explore serving needs outside of
their own at all.
[1]
Charles Colson, BreakPoint Online Commentaries (4-29-02)
[2]
Lee Strobel, author and teaching pastor at Saddleback Church, Lake
Forest, California, from sermon "The Case for Christ"
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