God’s Direct Revelation to Paul

Transcript

GR1142
01/31/1999
God's Direct Revelation to Paul
Galatians 1:1824
Gil Rugh


We are in the book of Galatians and chapter 1 in our study together. Paul's letter to the Galatians and the first chapter. I've been reading a book that was recently published. It's entitled The Jesus Crisis: The Inroads of Historical Criticism into Evangelical Scholarship edited by two professors at Masters Seminary, Robert Thomas and David Farnell. And the book is about how evangelicals, particularly talking about evangelical scholars, professors and so on, have accepted the idea of historical criticism in their handling of the synoptic gospels. Remember the synoptic gospels are Matthew, Mark and Luke. And basically what has become accepted in the evangelical scholarship is that Matthew, Mark and Luke did not immediately under the direction of the Holy Spirit write their gospels, but rather Mark wrote his gospel first and then there was another writing out there. We've never seen it. We've never directly heard of it, but we are sure it was there and they call it Que. And so you have Mark's gospel and you have this other material we'll call Que that they really just made up in their mind. So when Matthew sat down to write his gospel he just took Mark's gospel and the material in Que and then decided how he would put it together. Luke did the same thing. So for example, you have Matthew talking about the Sermon on the Mount and when you read that in Matthew's gospel, he's really saying that Jesus went on a mountain, sat down with his disciples and then gave them this extended discourse that we have in Matthew 5, 6 and 7. But that's not really what happened. Jesus wasn't on a mountain when he gave that. Matthew just did that for a little bit of color, you know. And this wasn't an extended discourse that Jesus gave. Matthew just picked up bits and pieces of what Jesus had said from a variety of ways and put it together so it would sound like a discourse.

Now this is repeated time and time again in their evaluation of the gospels, and you see what happened. We attack the historical accuracy of the gospels when do that. Does it matter whether Jesus went to a mountain and sat down and gave the discourse of Matthew 5, 6 and 7? Well, it does if you believe in the inspiration of Scripture does it not. Because what these men have to do because of their scholarly insight is help the rest of us know when Matthew is really being historically correct and when he is not. Or another way of saying this, when he's telling the truth and when he's not. And you really undermine the reliability of his message because you have said he didn't get it directly from God.

Now I mention that not because we're studying the Gospels but the study we are doing in Galatians we find that almost 2000 years ago Satan was using basically the same tactic to undermine confidence in the Apostle Paul's message. The false teachers at Galatia were saying that Paul did not get his message from Christ but he got it from other men, probably the other apostles at Jerusalem. And not only did Paul not get it directly from God he got it from other men, but there are some errors and some changes that he made that make it unreliable. And we are here to set the record straight.
And I have to say as I happen to be reading this book while we are studying Galatians, I was reminded that the tactics of the Devil just don't change. And the issues that were crucial 2000 years ago when Paul was writing to the Galatians are the issues that are crucial for us. Did God speak to the apostle Paul? Did he get a message from God that is true and accurate and reliable? Or did he misled us and why? And so others will have to come and sort it out and tell us where he's right and where he's wrong.

Paul realized that this was a very crucial issue and so he is spending much time in a personal account of his own life, not to give us all the details but to give enough of an overview to demonstrate that he received his gospel in direct revelation from Christ Himself, not through any human instrument. And that is of utmost importance to you and I today. Is this letter to the Galatians a word from God or is it not? And that's where the Devil is always working to undermine confidence in the authority of God's Word and thus our confidence is shifted from God and what He has said to man and what he thinks.

Paul established the foundation for what he is talking about in verses 11 and 13. Where in the last part of verse 11, Galatians 1:11, "The gospel which was preached by me is not according to man." I didn't get it from men. The end of verse 12, "I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ." And really down through chapter 2 Paul will be making this point, demonstrating I didn't get my gospel from other men. I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. He showed in verses 13 and 14 how he could not have received it before his conversion. In verses 15 to 17 he shows that he didn't have any contact with apostles and those who could have taught him what he knew after his conversion. Verse 16 after his conversion he didn't consult with other people. He didn't go up to Jerusalem in verse 17 to those who were apostles before me. "But I went away to Arabia, and returned to Damascus." So he spent some time in Arabia evidently where he received additional revelation and information from Christ and then he returned to Damascus. And that brings us to where we are with verse 18, "Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem." So three years past from the time that God saved him on the Damascus road until he went up to Jerusalem, till he had any contact of any kind with other apostles. That demonstrates that those apostles couldn't have taught him the Gospel that he knew because by that time he was himself already a strong preacher of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

So in verses 18 to 24 Paul continues that personal narrative of his life and he's going to show what kind of contact he did have with other apostles and with the church at Jerusalem and really in verses 18 to 24 he summarizes about 11 years of his life. So you get the idea he's just giving you an overview to demonstrate his point. I did not receive my gospel from men. I received it by direct revelation from Christ.

Note verse 18 begins with the word "then." Verse 21 begins with the word "then." Chapter 2 verse 1 begins with the word "then." He is unfolding the chronological sequence of his contact with other apostles in the church at Jerusalem. Then after three years then I went in to the region of Syria and Cilicia verse 21. Then after an interval of 14 years I went up to Jerusalem. So just the highlights of where my life and ministry have been focused over the years. And what opportunity would that have given me to learn my message from other apostles.

Verse 18, "Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas." And I take it the three year period here connects to his conversion because that's the point he's unfolding. From my conversion on what is happened to me? Well, after three years I went up to Jerusalem. So that time in Arabia and Damascus covered a period of three years and during that time I take it he received additional revelations from Christ and he also was a strong preacher in the city of Damascus. And we'll see that when we go back and look at the historical account of the book of Acts a little bit later in our time.

After three years I went up to Jerusalem. Why did he go up to Jerusalem? To learn all I could from the other apostles. No, I went up to become acquainted with Cephas. And we'll out he went up motivated by the fact that they were trying to arrest him because he was preaching the Gospel in Damascus. So he had to leave the city secretly and under the direction of the Holy Spirit he decided this would be a good time to go up and visit Peter in Jerusalem become acquainted with him.

Cephas is another name for Peter. We often pronounce it Cephas. A little better with a K sound on that C. Back up to John chapter 1 verse 42. In John chapter 1 we have Simon brother of Andrew, Simon the son of John brought to Christ. Verse 42 of John 1, "He," referring to Simon Peter's brother Andrew, "brought him to Jesus. Jesus looked at him and said, 'You are Simon the son of John.'" Sometimes we know him as Simon Bar-Jonas. Simon son of John. "You shall be called Cephas (which being translated means Peter)." Cephas is Aramaic for rock or stone. Peter is Greek for rock or stone. So you just have two different languages. I'm going to call Cephas in Aramaic which means rock. Or you could translate that into Greek as Peter. Now through the rest of the New Testament we know him as Peter. Except Paul's favorite name for him is Cephas. In fact, Paul is the only one in the rest of the New Testament who refers to him as Cephas. The rest of the writers refer to him as Peter. Paul refers to him four times in the letter to the Corinthians as Cephas and then he will refer to him several times in this letter to the Galatians as Cephas but he will also call him Peter a couple of times in Galatians chapter 2. And the way it will go in Galatians chapter 2 you get the idea you just go back and forth. One verse he calls him Cephas, the next verse he calls him Peter. But the names were interchangeable. That's how he came to be Cephas. The man we more popularly know as Peter by his Greek name.

Now back in Galatians chapter 1 Paul said he went up to become acquainted with Cephas. He didn't go up to get to learn from him. He didn't say I went up to be taught by him to be instructed by him. I went up to be acquainted with him, to get to know him, to have personal contact with him. It was a personal visit. It wasn't an official visit to get apostolic sanction or support for his ministry or to learn new truth. Now I'm sure when he talked to Peter they talked about the Lord. Peter certainly could have talked about his personal experience with Christ during His earthly ministry and so on. But basically this wasn't a trip to gain information. It was a trip to establish personal contact with another apostle. And Paul gives and interesting detail here. I was stayed with him fifteen days. Now when you look at verses 18 to 24 and you say Paul has summarizes 11 years of ministry here and a lot of preaching as we'll see when we get to the first part of chapter 2. It's amazing that he includes this little detail. I mean I don't really care whether he stayed with Peter for four days, fifteen days or three months. But the Spirit directs Paul to record it here for a purpose. It was not until three years after my conversion to Christ that I went up to Jerusalem. When I went up I went up to get to know Peter. I stayed with him about two weeks, 15 days. The contrast there, 15 days with the three years before he went up, draws attention I was only there for a short time with Peter. And lest you think he maybe went up and closed himself in and said now Peter you teach me everything you know for these next two weeks. When we look into the book of Acts we'll find out that wasn't the case because Paul spent a good bit of this two weeks preaching the Gospel in Jerusalem. In fact, within two weeks he had preached so much of the Gospel he had to leave Jerusalem because they were out to kill him.

So all of this to say when up to Jerusalem it wasn't until it was after three years and then he just went up to get to know Peter and he only stayed for about two weeks. And then we find out during that two week period he was busy preaching the Gospel. What are we saying? There was not opportunity for Paul to learn the truth that he was preaching from another apostle like Peter during this time of his life.

Look at verse 19, "But I did not see any of the other apostles." So during that time in Jerusalem he did not visit with the other apostles. Again, we are going to Acts in a little bit. They may have been out of town. You know, Jerusalem was, if you will, the center. That's where the apostles were located but they traveled out from there to other places carrying the Gospel. So it could of been most of those weren't there or there were other reasons why during this relatively brief stay there was no contact with them. But Paul wants to make clear. I didn't have contact with the other apostles during that time.

Except for James the Lord's brother. There was an exception here. The exception is James the Lord's brother. You know, James becomes a very prominent person in the early church. He becomes a leader of the church at Jerusalem. In Acts chapter 12 verse 17 he is referred to in such a way that would indicate he's the prominent figure in the church there. When we come to the Jerusalem conference in Acts chapter 15 James is presiding at the conference. So he's a very prominent figure and Paul did have contact with James when he traveled to Jerusalem. Now this James is the brother of the Lord. James is a name of several men in the New Testament so they have to be separated out for us. In Matthew chapter 10 verses 2 and 3 we find that there were two of Jesus disciples named James. There was James the brother of John and there was James the son of Alpheus. They didn't have last names in those days so they had to be distinguished. James the brother of Son, that's the James I'm talking about. Or James the Son Alpheus. Here you have James the brother of the Lord.

Turn back to the Gospel of John chapter 7. John chapter 7. You know when you get to John 7 put a marker there. I want to take you back further first. So leave your finger or marker in John and back up the Gospel of Mark chapter 6. Mark chapter 6. In Mark chapter 6 verse 3 concerning Christ they asked, "Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon? Are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense of Him." They knew the family. So they are offended at Jesus' authoritative teaching and the miracles he's doing. I want you to pick up here. James is mentioned as the first of four brothers of Christ. And then there were at least two sisters. His sisters are named but it says, "Are not his sisters," plural, "here with us?" There were at least six in addition to Christ in the family. And James is the first of the brothers. Evidently the oldest after Christ. And the picture here is clear that Jesus is virgin born. While Joseph will be his legal father, he is not His physical father. The Bible tells us that Mary and Joseph did not have physical relations until after the birth of Christ. The implication would be after the birth of Christ when there would be no question about the parentage of Christ, they established a normal sexual relationship as husband and wife. And to that married relationship were born four sons and several daughters. The first of these sons after Christ was James, the brother of the Lord. I think all the ideas to try to make these children of Joseph's prior marriage or cousins are all attempts to avoid what the Scripture clearly says and to establish some kind of unscriptural doctrine like the perpetual virginity of Mary which has no biblical support and no theological purpose except to elevate Mary to a position that she is not given in Scripture. So we find here James.

Now come over to John's Gospel chapter 7. And we find that these brothers of the Lord were not believers in Christ during His earthly ministry. In John chapter 7 verse 5, "For not even His brothers were believing in Him." And if you read the context about going up to the feast and what his brother said to Him. But it was an evidence that His brothers were not believing in Him.

Now come over to Acts chapter 1. In the upper room following the death and resurrection of Christ and then His ascension into heaven in Acts chapter 1, the disciples are gathered together in the upper room for prayer. And note verse 14, "These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers." So here now we find the brothers joined with their mother Mary and the other disciples in prayer. So somewhere, sometime, they have become believers in Christ.

Turn over to 1 Corinthians. Stop at chapter 9. We are going to chapter 15 but 1 Corinthians chapter 9. Verse 5 Paul is writing and he says, "Do we not have a right to take along a believing wife, even as the rest of the apostles, and the brothers of the Lord, and Cephas?" Another indication the brothers have become believers. They are used as an example. All the leaders in the church who have believing wives. And Paul said we have a right to be married. It's a right that he did not exercise. But he uses the brothers of the Lord as an example of his right. It would indicate that they have a position of some prominence. That this argument and illustration would have weight.

Come over to 1 Corinthians 15. As Paul unfolds his Gospel, he comes down to verse 5 about the post resurrection appearances of Christ, the appearances of Christ after He was raised from the dead. And verse 5, "and that He appeared to Cephas [Peter], then to the twelve." You note the twelve maintained that identity. Judas dropped out and was replaced by Mathias in Acts chapter 1 but the twelve are a unique group of apostles and they maintained that identity with the title the twelve. Paul is not one of the twelve. He appeared to Cephas and then he appeared to the twelve together. After that he appeared to more than 500 brethren at one time. Verse 7, "Then He appeared to James." And that would be the brother of the Lord. And then we believe that it was in this context of the post resurrection appearances of Christ that the brothers of the Lord were converted to Him. There is no clear statement of that happening but we know they weren't believers in John chapter 7 but they had become believers by Acts chapter 1. We do know from
1 Corinthians 15 that Christ appeared to James, the brother of the Lord, in particular. He may have appeared to the other brothers. They may have been included in the 500 brethren of the previous verse. But just some information on James, his background and his prominence. We'll see him when we look into the Jerusalem council in Acts 15 at a future study.

While you are in 1 Corinthians 15, in Galatians Paul said that I did not see any of the other apostles except James the brother of the Lord. And this would seem to indicate that he considered James an apostle. Not one of the twelve apostles but the broader circle of apostles. And that would still seem to be supported if you're still in 1 Corinthians 15 by verse 7. In verse 5 he appeared to Peter, Cephas, and then to the twelve. Down in verse 7 he appeared to James then to all the apostles which seems to distinguish them from the twelve. And that would fit in the book of Acts. Others are identified as apostles such as Barnabas and Silas. So I understand that there were probably others who were apostles even though they weren't part of the twelve. And they were specially gifted by God as apostles. They had the post resurrection appearance of Christ to them. So they could be a witness of the resurrection and so on. And it would seem James was one of those.

All right come back to Galatians. Paul particularly mentions then Peter and James as those that he had contact with at Jerusalem. Then he says in verse 20, "Now what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying." This is a very serious matter. Paul takes an oath before God. I testify in the sight of God that this is truth and I'm not lying. This clearly indicates that the false teachers were declaring something else of Paul that he did not receive his message directly from God. That in reality he had gotten it from the leaders of the church of Jerusalem. And furthermore, he did not have it right. We think well, why didn't Paul just say I'll have Peter come up here and vouch for what I'm saying? Well, you know, one of the things a false teacher will do is undermine the confidence, and if they can undermine confidence in Paul's position as an apostle and the authority of his message, then they will be able to short circuit his ministry. What's he going to do? Drag Peter with him everywhere he goes? And besides the churches of Galatia you know, that is a little ways removed from Jerusalem. That's not an easy trip. And every way Paul goes he's going to have to have other apostles come to say what he is saying is true, Paul's ministry then becomes ineffective because he wouldn't be able to go anywhere and preach unless he had the other apostles from Jerusalem with him to say he's telling the truth. And yet God is going to intend to use Paul in a totally unique way from Peter. He's going to send Paul to Gentiles and Peter to Jews. So Paul has to establish firmly here that his message is a direct revelation from God and that is of utmost importance to us today.

You know what people do? When you study the writings of Paul in commentaries and writings, the writers will say we are going to study the Pauline epistles, the writings of Paul. And you'll look and sometimes certain ones are missing. They won't have 1 Timothy or 2 Timothy, Titus. And you have a note that they don't believe that those are written by Paul. And then of course as they tell you these were written in the second century then they'll also have to help you to understand what is true in these letters and what is not. Same tactic. So Paul firmly establishes here that his message is from God. So has the full authority of God behind it.

What I'm writing I am not lying. I assure you before God. Is intensely persecuting Christians, overseeing the execution of believers, coming to Damascus to spread out his outreach to arrest believers. He's dramatically, instantly transformed and within days he's in the synagogue preaching the very message that he had been persecuted. You think people would be in awe and just you know lining up to get saved but you get to verse 23 the Jews are trying to kill Him.

Second Corinthians chapter 11 Paul gives his testimony and in verse 32 he says, "In Damascus the ethnarch under Aretas the king was guarding the city of the Damascenes in order to seize me." Now Aretas as the king of the Navateans. Kingdom of Navatea encompass that region what would include what we know as Jordan. Then it came up and bent over and included part of the region that we know of as Assyria. Aretas was the king of the Navateans. And he had an ethnarch or a governor overseeing the city of Damascus. And evidently the Jews had won over the governor of Damascus. So that they had convinced him to have Paul arrested. So they are guarding the city so Paul didn't get out of Damascus so they could arrest him. Then verse 33, "I was let down in a basket through a window in the wall, and so escaped his hands." So back in chapter 9 of Acts you get a little added detail that the Jews had been successful in including the political authorities to join in this plot against Paul and to arrest him.

You know we think of the highlights of Paul's life but I got to say as I was working on this this week and I sat there, you have to smile. The Lord didn't see fit to bring this in in a humorous way but you know I got to think here's the apostle Paul. What it looked like that night as they opened the window and he climbs in a basket and they are lowering the rope down. It's just amazing how God works, isn't it? Here he is fleeing for his life, the man who not too long ago had been heartily persecuting the Church.

Now it's there . . . after verse 25 as we come to verse 26. When he came to Jerusalem Galatians tells us then after three years I went up to Jerusalem. That's how he came to Damascus and go to Jerusalem and he was trying to associate with the Disciples but they were all afraid of him not believing that he was a disciple. This tells you something of the veracity of the persecution that Paul had led. Three years have gone by. They had heard rumors down in Jerusalem of Paul's conversion but even after three years they remember what he was like. And the disciples are afraid because they think it's a trick. Paul's come back now under the guise of being a believer and then we come to meet him we'll be arrested. So they hadn't forgotten. But Barnabas . . . And Barnabas was introduced in Acts chapter 4 verse 26 and there he was told to be the son of encouragement. He gets a hold of Paul and brought him to the apostles and described to them how he had seen the Lord. On the road he had talked to Him. How at Damascus he had spoken out boldly in the name of Jesus. So he tells them. In Damascus he's already been a preacher and proclaiming the Gospel.

You note in verse 27 Barnabas took hold of him and brought him to the apostles. Now in reading the Acts 9 account you might think well, boy he met all twelve apostles on this occasion. But Galatians 1 tells us he only met Peter and James on this occasion and they were the two apostles that he met. Again Luke doesn't bring in every detail because the account would get humongously large. If you are going to talk about the timing of every event, how long he was, every single person who was there, what he had for dinner, what he wore to bed at night. I mean, you know, our Bible would be 500 volumes and still wouldn't include it all. So we ought not be surprised certain details are summarized.

He brought him to the apostles. Which apostles I wonder? Well read Galatians 1. It was Peter and James. Verse 28 he was with them moving about freely in Jerusalem. Now we know from Galatians 1 he was with them. He was staying at Peter's house. And he was there 15 days moving about freely in Jerusalem speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord and he was talking and arguing with the Hellenistic Jews. These were the Jews born outside of Palestine. They were Greek speaking Jews. They were attempting to put him to death. You know Paul had the same impact on everyone, didn't he? They didn't go away saying you know you just can't help but love that guy. Boy, you know I don't argue with him but I just want to put my arm around him and let him know we are friends. You know he had to leave Damascus in a basket because they want to kill him. He's only in Jerusalem for 2 weeks and they already have got the plans underway for his execution. And when the brethren learned of it they brought him down to Caesarea, the seaport Caesarea, and sent him away to Tarsus. That's where we are in Acts. We will pick it up with the next event.

But come over to Acts 22. There are just pieces of this puzzle read in a variety of places. Acts 22. Paul is giving his testimony at a later date when he'll be back at Jerusalem years later and be arrested and taken to Rome. But in Acts chapter 22 as he gives his testimony, down in verse 17, "And it happened when I returned to Jerusalem." That's what we just read about. He left Damascus, went to Jerusalem three years after his conversion. "When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, that I fell into a trance, and I saw Him [referring to Christ] saying to me, 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about Me.' And I said, 'Lord, they themselves understand that in one synagogue after another I used to imprison and beat those who believed in You. And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.' And He said to me, 'Go! For I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'"

So it wasn't just the persecution at Jerusalem that caused Paul to leave but he had direct revelation from God. When he was praying in the temple, he was put into a trance and Christ appeared to him and gave him the information here. So you see, you can see other parts of the story we have summarized in one place or another. It's remarkable. You know, Paul thought where else could he be more effective. He was well known. He had been a Pharisee of the Pharisees. He had been a leader in the persecution at Jerusalem. What an impact of such a life. So dramatically saved who could not stand at Jerusalem and be a living testimony to the Gospel. I mean, we would have had this guy at every synagogue in Jerusalem if we were doing it today. It's not God's way. You know, I scratch my head when I read verse 21 and his commission is reemphasized as it was on the Damascus road in verse 9. I will you far away to the Gentiles. That's not the way we do things, Lord. You get somebody well known saved then you put him on the circuit and you use his celebrity. You are going to send him far away from Jerusalem to the Gentiles. Gentiles won't be impressed. And it will be far away from Jerusalem. They won't know. Well, that's not the way to get the most effective mileage out of Paul. If we are going to win this world, Lord, there are things that we have to agree on. Celebrities are important. It's just not the way God does it, is it?

Has him in Jerusalem long enough, what? It just takes a couple of weeks and they are ready to kill him. Can you imagine what it would be like in Lincoln if Paul came for two weeks? You and I would be hiding. We'd be saying he is really an anachronism. He might have been all right in the first century, but he doesn't know how to do the job in the 20th century. He has offended everybody in the city. And furthermore everybody in the city is ready to kill the Christians.

But that's what happened at Damascus. That's what happened at Jerusalem. And it's going to be pattern of Paul's life. You know why? He preached a message that was tremendously offensive. That we are sinners lost and under condemnation and there is no hope apart from faith in the death and resurrection of the Son of God. People hate that. You and I should be surprised that friends and family and fellow workers become very antagonistic and irate when you share your testimony and the truth of the Gospel with them. That's its impact unless by the grace of God they two come to believe.

Come back to Galatians chapter 1. See Paul doesn't in Galatians 1 go into the details of his preaching at Jerusalem of the persecution at Jerusalem, of the personal revelation at Jerusalem. Why? I just wanted you to know I wasn't there long enough and didn't have the kind of contact that I couldn't have learned my message at Jerusalem. That's the point he's making here. So verse 21, "Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia." Remember Acts? They took him down to the seaport of Caesarea and put him on a boat to Tarsus. Paul was from Tarsus. That's in Cilicia. So if you go up the Mediterranean and turn around the top and look as the Mediterranean goes up and turns over the top, right at the top there where it's turned over you see Seleucia and the city of Tarsus. Just around before you make the bend you are in Syria and Antioch of Syria is located there. And Antioch will become the focal point of Paul's missionary activities, far removed from Jerusalem. So he's going up to the northern region. Why is that mentioned? I want you to know I've left the region of Jerusalem. My ministry now is far away from Jerusalem. I'm up in Syria and Cilicia as well as other places.

"I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia." "I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ." In other words, he didn't have any personal contact during these years with these churches so they didn't get to know him. He couldn't have learned from them. We are covering a period here of about 11 years remember in the verses down through verse 24. "But only they kept hearing, 'He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tired to destroy.'" You know what? I wasn't learning from them but they were hearing about me. Cause word filtered back and you know what? Paul's life gave the evidence of genuineness because the time passed. Not only three years but four years and five years and seven years and ten years and fourteen years and he is still preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ and living for his Lord and Savior. And they were hearing of the reality of my transformed life and my preaching. But you note it wasn't I wasn't I was learning it from them, but they were hearing about it. So the point is clearly established.

"And they were glorifying God because of me." The impact of his life was great. I mean there was doubt after he went to Jerusalem after three years. The disciples were afraid to meet him. But with the passing of time God was exalted in praise for the mighty work of salvation He had done in the life of the apostle Paul. But isn't it amazing God choosing to use Paul's life the way He did.

Let me give you a few points to wrap up what we've talked about here. And the first one is the one I've just referred to. We should note the unique ways God does His work. He doesn't send Paul to Jerusalem where his celebrity, if you will, will enhance the ministry and the message where he could capitalize on his stature in Judaism and his reputation among the Jews. No. God gives Paul a couple of weeks in Jerusalem. Enough to stir up opposition and then He says I'm sending you far away to the Gentiles.

You know God's ways are not our ways. It's not many mighty, not many noble. And our celebrity Christianity creates a following. And you know we got everything from Tshirts to people who are fulltime going around being celebrity Christians. And we think oh boy, if people see so and so testify that they got saved, they'll want to get saved. But you know that's not the way God works. You know there are people who want to get saved because so and so who is so well known, such a good singer, such a great athlete is saved. I want to get saved. So he sends Paul off to a place where his fame will not be the issue. We find with Paul's life the issue is the Gospel. And when he is back among the Jews he'll give his testimony. But he cuts through to what the issue is and must be I think we need to be careful. Our call is to send forth the message. It would be like if the most prominent person in our city would get saved and then God said no, I'm going to send them to Africa to be my testimony. We say no, Lord, we need him here. This is where it will make an impact. This is where it will do the job. This is where people will really be impressed and be saved. Well, they'll hear about it. We need to remember God's ministry focuses in the message in His Son.

Number two, we mentioned to begin with, the assurance that Paul's message is a revelation from God is of utmost importance and it is for us today. The fact that it was revealed by God to Paul is of utmost importance. Are we studying the Word of God today or are we studying a strange mixture of truth and error? I was visiting with a man who is not an evangelical. He's not a believer but he's a pastor of what would be considered a leading church in our city several years ago. And you know, I went through the Scripture with him and I couldn't find a place that he would agree that it was true. I go here. I don't believe that was from God. Oh, you don't believe that. That's in Paul. Well, what about Old Testament. No, I don't believe . . . What about the Gospels. Yeah, I believe the Gospels. OK, good. No, I don't believe that in the Gospels. I say, well, how pathetic. What do you have? I finally said . . . I looked him in the eye and I said why don't you tell me what in here you do believe and we can start from there. But you see what happens. We reject the revelation that God has given and Satan's way then to undermine the message of God. We stand firmly convinced God did speak to Paul and the other writers of Scripture and by His grace He has given this message and kept it for us so we might know God's will and God's Word.

Third, thing I want to remind you of out of this section is that our life and faith should be an ongoing testimony to the transforming power of the Gospel. Verse 23, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tired to destroy." Now not all of us have the same openly transforming experience as Paul did where we were vehement persecutors of the church and in an instant of time we have become fiery preachers of the Gospel. But if any man be in Christ he is a new creature, a new creation. Old things have passed away behold new things have come. Along with our celebrity Christianity and we think that's the way to win peoplepopularitywe have also come up with an idea of a Christianity that is not life transforming.

You know, we are going to start chapter 2. After an interval of fourteen years I went to Jerusalem again and there's no change. In the sense Paul's preaching the same Gospel committed to the same Lord. He was not like the shallow ground here that sprung up immediately and withered away just as quickly. We need to come to grips with what is true biblical salvation. There are a lot of things in the world that will brighten you up and spark you up and lift you up and give you a high but they don't last. And somehow we've identified Christianity with that. Oh yeah, I remember when they were doing so well. Now they are . . . But I'm sure they are saved because you remember . . . True salvation is a new birth, a new birth. The analogy ought to be clear shouldn't it? And when you are born into the human family you are not human for two or three weeks or two or three months or two or three years. That's what you are. And the children of God according to 1 John 3 have the seed of God dwelling in them. We've been born into God's family. That's why we do not live in sin. That's a lifechanging, lifetransforming work and if yours didn't last it's because it wasn't real.

You know it's like the tattoos. The grandkids, you know, they will come and they want to show me what they got to stick on. It's great. And you know, they don't have it next week when I see them. But some of you have the real thing. You know what? It lasts. You go get a shower and it's still there. Well, genuine Christianity is durable. We call it the perseverance of the saints.

I think Paul's testimony here should make an impact and they were glorifying God because of me. And that should be the ongoing impact of our new life in Christ. Believers give praise and honor to God because of who but a gracious and allpowerful God could so change the life of such a vile sinner. So they gave glory to God. And that ought to be an ongoing testimony. And that ought to be going on in our lives. We look around and often you've been with a believer and they may have been a believer for years but you go away praising God for His work in their life, how refreshing it is to be with them. And you hear the testimony of their life and you just praise God again. Not just oh, well, so and so placed their faith in Christ. We praise God for it and we go on. No, that's the beginning of an ongoing testimony of praise to God for that life. And God is glorified in it.

So did Paul get his message from men? No, he got it from God. The history of his life supports that fact and it confirms to us the truth of what we are studying together today. Let's pray together.

Thank you, Lord, for Your gracious work in the life of the apostle Paul. Lord, a dramatic change in so many ways that is so striking and yet we realize the transformation of heart is the same in everyone who is saved by your grace. We thank you for the truth that you revealed to this servant. That truth that has been graciously preserved and passed down to us even to this day. We thank you for the unique ways that you work. And Lord we have plans that are so conditioned by the world that we think will make us so effective, so influential, will result in so many conversions and yet Lord, we need to be reminded that only you can change a heart. And we are called to proclaim the Gospel so that the faith of men and women might be in the power of God and not in the wisdom of men. May we be encouraged as we may seem so small, so unknown, so insignificant and yet Lord you have placed us where you have so that we might represent You. May our lives be an ongoing testimony to the praise of Your glory and the greatness of Your salvation. We pray in Christ's name, amen.