Submitting

Often the very word "submit" causes us to bristle. We simply have this aversion to submitting. Today we see this idea express by Paul when he heads off to Jerusalem to submit the gospel that he was preaching. His fear was that somewhere in his presentation that he might be doing something in vain.

Have you ever done something the wrong way? Wouldn’t it have been nice if somewhere along the way someone would have come along and stop you before you spent time doing the work. I can think of times during my years of construction when I gladly would have appreciated if someone would have come and showed me I was doing something wrong (and there were times they did). So let me ask you, if you had to submit to that person wouldn’t that be better than spending days (or weeks) doing something that you have to redo? Paul wasn’t worried about simply "redoing" something, he was worried that it was wrong and he was leading people astray. What a joy to learn that everything that Paul had been preaching was truth.

Gal 2:1-5
2 Then after an interval of fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along also. 2 1 It was because of a revelation that I went up; and I submitted to them the gospel which I preach among the Gentiles, but I did so in private to those who were of reputation, for fear that I might be running, or had run, in vain. 3 But not even Titus, who was with me, though he was a Greek, was compelled to be circumcised. 4 But it was because of the false brethren secretly brought in, who had sneaked in to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus, in order to bring us into bondage. 5 But we did not yield in subjection to them for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you. NASU

As you read this today I want to encourage you to look at the Scriptures. The Bible can handle you looking at it to learn the truth, and be full of hope.

Explore for yourself.
1. What did Paul submit to the apostles in Jerusalem?
2. How did he do this and why?
3. What "proof" of the effect of the gospel did he take?
4. Why did this trip become necessary?
5. Was Paul just being "selfish" for his own "style" or the liberty He had there?
6. Why did Paul and the other not yield to those who came?
7. Why was Paul so adamant concerning these changes?

John 5:39-40 39 " You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that testify about Me; 40 and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life. NASU

Go ahead and search, do not let Jesus say this about you!

Testimony!

Do you have a changed life? Are you in the habit of telling others about that changed life and why it is changed? Here we see Paul telling a little of what he was like and what brought the change to his life.

Gal 1:13-24
13 For you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it; 14 and I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. 15 But when God, who had set me apart even from my mother's womb and called me through His grace, was pleased 16 to reveal His Son in me so that I might preach Him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, 17 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. 18 Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 But I did not see any other of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother. 20 (Now in what I am writing to you, I assure you before God that I am not lying.) 21 Then I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; 23 but only, they kept hearing, "He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy." 24 And they were glorifying God because of me. NASU


When God calls, God equips. Being a Jew Paul and the wealth of knowledge of the Old Testament. He spent time going back over those Scriptures reading them again in the light of the truth that Jesus is the Messiah.


Explore for yourself.

1. What proof does Paul provide concerning the gospels power?
2. At what point in Paul’s life did God begin to work?
3. What was the purpose of God’s calling?
4. Why did Paul avoid contact with men?
5. How long till Paul returned to Jerusalem? Why?
6. What was being said concerning Paul in Jerusalem?
7. Who was being praised?

Do you have a testimony? Have to told anyone recently? Why not tell someone today? If you are looking at hwhat it takes for you to have a testimony Click Here and learn God’s truth for you.

Who is preaching?

When (or if) you go to church who do you hear? That is a question that I often asked of myself before I begin to preach/speak. It is always my prayer that those who are there on any day would not be coming to hear me but that they would come to hear God speak to them. Paul shows where that all has to begin, we have to recognize that what must be preached must be the revelation of Jesus Christ. Paul had a little more difficulty then we do today. He did not have the New Testament or the completed Bible. But the danger today is no less real.

Gal 1:11-12 For I would have you know, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. 12 For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. NASU

There are many today who get up to speak and never once open the Scripture or open them a little and then go off and say whatever they want giving no value to the importance of the Word of God.

But you are saying, this doesn’t apply to me because I am not the one speaking. Well Paul explains how this truth applies to us in 2 Tim 4:3. "For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, 4 and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths." NASU

When we as listeners come to church expecting to hear what "we want" we really are looking for things according to "man" and not God.

Explore it for yourself.
1. From where does the gospel come?
2. Why does Paul want the Galatians to know from where the comes?

I want to encourage you to listen for God speaking to you and not some person

Thankful!

Today is a day that we express our Thankfulness but I want to ask a question. Why do you express thanks? I fear there are to many times when we are thankful for "things." We are thankful for health, work, family, food, and many things that have been provided for us (and we should be thankful). But can we still be happy is we don’t have these things? Notice what the Psalmist wrote:

Ps 118:1-4
Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
2 Oh let Israel say,
"His lovingkindness is everlasting."
3 Oh let the house of Aaron say,
"His lovingkindness is everlasting."
4 Oh let those who fear the Lord say,
"His lovingkindness is everlasting." NASU


Here we are challenged to give thanks to the Lord because He is good not because of the good things we have or the good things He has done for us. God is good because His lovingkindness is everlasting. There is no end to God or to His lovingkindness that is why we are told to give thanks!

Did you take time to give thanks today? Did you give thanks because God is good, because His lovingkindness does not end.

Thank you God for your loving kindness is everlasting!

What is your Motivation?

Paul gives to the Galatians a warning and explanation. First he warns them that NO ONE, not even himself, is to be changing the gospel. God’s word does not change. God does not need to provide us with "new insights". What God gave to the writers of old is still valid even to day and we should be greatly warned by those who would propose those changes. Second, Paul tells them that he is not motivated by what men think.

Gal 1:8-10 8 But even if we, or an angel from heaven, should preach to you a gospel contrary to what we have preached to you, he is to be accursed! 9 As we have said before, so I say again now, if any man is preaching to you a gospel contrary to what you received, he is to be accursed!
10 For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ. NASU

The question for us is two fold. Do I go searching for those who will give me answers that I want to hear? Do they "change" scripture to suit the explanation that they spoke? The second consideration is "Why do I do what I do?" No matter what you do in life; plumbers, chef, photographer, Pastor, who are you serving. If all you do is serve your "customer" and not Christ you will be driven exclusively by what man wants and not by what bring God’s glory.


Search for yourself.

1. What was being distorted?
2.Why does Paul have such harsh words for those who turn people away?
3. What claim does Paul make concerning his motivation?

Turned to Nothing

Often when we think about changes in our lives we are thinking (or at least hoping) of make a change for the good. Paul is writing here and he is talking about a change among the Galatians. But that change was not good. They were turning away from the Good News of Christ.

Notice a couple of things.

They turned away quickly
They had been called by the grace of Christ
What they turned to was not even a another gospel but a distortion.

Gal 1:6-7 I am amazed that you are so quickly deserting Him who called you by the grace of Christ, for a different gospel; 7 which is really not another; only there are some who are disturbing you and want to distort the gospel of Christ. NASU

Romans 8:28 tells us that it is God who as called us to His purpose. Notice too that what they thought was something worth while was really distorted. I enjoy walking through some Antique stores from time to time but I purchase very little. Why? Because I don’t know what is a true antique and what is a good fake.

Paul is telling the Galatians that what they were turning to is a fake.... and not a very good fake.
Here are some questions to ponder from this text.

1. From Whom were the people turning?
2 What were the people turning towards?
3. What was being distorted?
4.Why does Paul have such harsh words for those who turn people away?

For The Glory of the Lord

Gal 1:3-5 3 Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins so that He might rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be the glory forevermore. Amen. NASU

1. Why did Jesus Christ give himself ?
2. Who was Christ obeying?
Jesus came to serve and not be served but we aren’t told that here, what we see here is the reality of His service. From the beginning of His life on earth Jesus had a purpose, the purpose was to pay for our sins. Romans 3:23 says, all (of us) has sinned and come short of the Glory of God.
We can see in the second part of verse for what Jesus did He did so that the glory goes to God. Being obedient to the will of God results in the glory going to God.

Does it for you?
1 Cor 10:31 Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1 Peter 4:11 Whoever speaks, is to do so as one who is speaking the utterances of God; whoever serves is to do so as one who is serving 2 C by the strength which God supplies; so that in all things God may be glorified through Jesus Christ, to whom belongs the glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. NASU

Why do you get up in the morning?
Why do you go to work?
Why would you want to be obedient to God’s call on your life?
In everything you do, it should be done to bring glory to God.

Why do you do it?

I would like to begin a slow journey through the book of Galatians. The journey will require you to read and think on what God has recorded for us in the Scriptures. Let’s begin by reading the scripture.
Gal 1:1-2
1 Paul, an apostle (not sent from men nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead), 2 and all the brethren who are with me,
To the churches of Galatia: NASU
1. Who does Paul say sent him?
2. Why would it matter who sent Paul as an apostle?
3. How was Jesus Christ raised from the dead?

Notice that Paul tells us that he was sent by Jesus Christ and God.... this is important in all we do. Even as we go off to work, if we are to be where God wants us we need to see that it is Christ who has placed us there. Perhaps there is a co-worker, customer or client who God wants to provide a witness. If we are doing our own thing (working were we want to) we fail to acknowledge God’s sovereign authority over our lives.
It is important to see that even Jesus submitted to God’s authority. God is the one who raised Christ from the dead. It was this same God who sent Paul to do the ministry. We too, when we are obedient, are sent by the same God.
If we work for a large corporation we may never to the CEO, even though we actually work for him. If we received a personal call from the CEO we would be much more motivated to excel in our work. Guess what, if you have trusted Christ as your personal Savior (Click Here) then you had that personal message from the Sovereign God. God and excel in all He has called you to do.

Ah gee, must I Wait Longer?

How often do we think that God has not acted fast enough? This is not anything new, Moses too thought that God was not acting quick enough. He had already met with Pharaoh once and assumed God would work to release the children of Israel. However, God reveals to Moses that this was not the way it was going to work (see verses below). God shows that there were lessons to learn. "You" are to see what I will do to Pharaoh. Also, that Pharaoh would release them under compulsion. Sometimes we are called upon to watch and wait. Jesus in John 13:7 says to Peter "What I do you do not realize now, but you will understand hereafter." NASU Is he saying that to you today? What is happening today may not be understood by us today, perhaps tomorrow . . . perhaps in eternity.

Ex 5:22-6:1 23 "Ever since I (Moses) came to Pharaoh to speak in Your name, he has done harm to this people, and You have not delivered Your people at all."6:1 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Now you shall see what I will do to Pharaoh; for under compulsion he will let them go, and under compulsion he will drive them out of his land." NASU

Are you "IN" or "OF" the world?

What does it mean for us to be “in” the world but not “of” the world? This thought has been bouncing around in my mind the past couple of weeks. But really how can we be “in” but not “of”?

Let’s start with Jesus’ words from John 17 :14-19
14 "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 15 "I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one. 16 "They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. 17 " Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth. 18 "As You sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world. NASU
There are a couple of things we should notice from Jesus. First, He mentioned that He has given us God’s Word. Clearly this is for our use. We can never know what we are to do if we never read God’s Word.
Second, Jesus shows us that we are hated by the world, because we are not “of the world.” We are just like Jesus. But, Jesus reminds us that He does not want us removed, in fact He states that we are to be “kept” from the evil one.
Third, we are sanctified by the truth of the Word of God. This goes back to the first statement he made, He has given us God’s Word. My youngest son is a auto technician and he has a huge cabinet of tools. How foolish if we attempted to do his job without touching those tools. Yet, sadly as Christian’s we often attempt to go through life without using all the “tools”.
Lastly, Jesus tells us that we are sent into the world. Sent with a purpose! What we need to do to understand our purpose we need to think of the things that Jesus did. Talking with an unmarried woman by the well, eating with tax collectors, simply stated Jesus talked and walked among sinners. In Mark 2:17b Jesus said “I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners." NASU Jesus’ ministry was to be for the sinners and that is what we need to be doing as well. I asked what does it mean to be “in” the world but not “of” the world. Now is the time when you have to answer that question. Do I go into the world or do I avoid being around those “sinner?” But you might be in a more difficult spot, you could simply be “hanging up” your faith when you go out into the world. The people you are with might not even know that you trusted Christ as Savior.

Christ tells us that He sent us, now the choice is up to us, will we really go “into the world?”