WEBVTT 00:00:00.280 --> 00:00:01.290 Well, how are you doing this morning? 00:00:02.040 --> 00:00:02.240 Yeah. 00:00:02.360 --> 00:00:03.460 Welcome to church, everybody. 00:00:03.460 --> 00:00:04.680 It's good that you're here. 00:00:04.760 --> 00:00:05.680 I'm glad that you. 00:00:05.780 --> 00:00:06.340 You made it. 00:00:06.700 --> 00:00:06.960 Yeah. 00:00:06.960 --> 00:00:08.400 We can give a whoop or whatever. 00:00:08.800 --> 00:00:09.240 Yeah. 00:00:09.260 --> 00:00:10.300 That's wonderful. 00:00:10.300 --> 00:00:14.100 And we're on a series together called Live Free. 00:00:15.380 --> 00:00:17.390 Comes to us from the book of Galatians. 00:00:17.680 --> 00:00:23.310 It's the thought that Paul carries within the context of this portion of Scripture. 00:00:23.740 --> 00:00:28.880 And the idea from the theme of what this book is about comes from Galatians chapter five and verse one. 00:00:30.540 --> 00:00:33.240 Says this Christ has set us free. 00:00:34.600 --> 00:00:39.120 Stand firm then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. 00:00:40.900 --> 00:00:45.180 And the thought behind the book of Galatians goes this way when you read your New Testament. 00:00:45.560 --> 00:00:49.520 The first two books of the Bible written is James and Galatians. 00:00:50.120 --> 00:00:51.980 Some people debate over which book was first. 00:00:52.140 --> 00:00:56.420 Most people think it's the book of James, but the book of Galatians came shortly thereafter. 00:00:56.740 --> 00:00:59.600 And when Paul began to pin this book, you. 00:00:59.600 --> 00:01:02.060 We understand that based on that there is no New Testament. 00:01:03.420 --> 00:01:05.440 He walks into the region of Galatia. 00:01:05.480 --> 00:01:06.780 He preaches the gospel. 00:01:07.000 --> 00:01:08.690 People come to know Christ. 00:01:08.760 --> 00:01:15.500 And shortly after Paul preaches his message to this region, he finds that religious people enter into the church. 00:01:17.460 --> 00:01:22.420 And they bring with their religious thinking religion, of which they propagate up on people. 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:24.990 They say it like this Jesus is good. 00:01:26.900 --> 00:01:27.700 Really is not good enough. 00:01:29.480 --> 00:01:32.530 Jesus is what you need, but you need to go with this plus one thought. 00:01:34.380 --> 00:01:34.880 The debate. 00:01:34.880 --> 00:01:40.120 It tells us in Galatians chapter five and verse two and three centers around the thought of circumcision. 00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:43.860 That's good that you've accepted Jesus. 00:01:44.280 --> 00:01:49.660 But in order to be with us and for Jesus really to like you, you've got to add these rules onto it. 00:01:49.740 --> 00:01:50.940 And one of those things is circumcision. 00:01:51.680 --> 00:01:57.920 You got to start obeying these laws and following this religion, then God would be satisfied with you. 00:01:58.880 --> 00:02:02.640 Paul began to notice this teaching creeping into the church. 00:02:02.640 --> 00:02:06.980 This what he calls in chapter one false gospel that is anathema or it's unredeemable. 00:02:09.139 --> 00:02:16.360 And he writes this letter to the Galatians, and he just says to them, listen, religion, this religion is robbing you of your joy in Christ. 00:02:17.880 --> 00:02:21.600 Jesus has created you to be set free. 00:02:22.720 --> 00:02:28.370 And so the encouragement throughout the theme of this book is to live free in Christ. 00:02:29.600 --> 00:02:36.720 You know, the tendency is, when I read the life of the Apostle Paul, sometimes I build them up to this super human being that has these super 00:02:36.720 --> 00:02:40.320 spiritual experiences that I can't relate to in life. 00:02:41.680 --> 00:02:49.020 We're going to find out as we study the Scripture that Lord does appear and do some things in Paul's life that seem a little, a little different 00:02:49.020 --> 00:02:51.280 than what might happen in most people's lives. 00:02:51.380 --> 00:02:58.450 But, as we look at the story and scenarios of what happens in our lives as Christ enters into our world, 00:02:58.480 --> 00:03:02.990 the scenarios are often times a little different, but the stories tend to be the same. 00:03:04.060 --> 00:03:04.510 What it means. 00:03:04.920 --> 00:03:05.200 This. 00:03:06.000 --> 00:03:06.740 We'll start the story. 00:03:07.380 --> 00:03:08.530 You know, I used to live this way. 00:03:09.880 --> 00:03:11.840 But Jesus came in and he changed me. 00:03:12.840 --> 00:03:18.930 And now I'm pursuing him, and my relationship with him for the first time isn't about religion, but it feels free. 00:03:19.060 --> 00:03:19.680 For the first time. 00:03:19.920 --> 00:03:22.980 I don't feel dead, but I feel alive, I love Christ. 00:03:26.360 --> 00:03:30.970 Scenarios may be different, but the stories are the same in him. 00:03:32.580 --> 00:03:39.580 And Paul gets to this passage of Scripture and he's written for us, chapter one, this gospel that they're calling a gospel that isn't a gospel at 00:03:39.580 --> 00:03:39.860 all. 00:03:39.880 --> 00:03:42.500 It's robbing them of their joy in Jesus. 00:03:42.540 --> 00:03:45.810 And he gets to verse ten, and he really just starts to share about his own experience. 00:03:48.000 --> 00:03:55.130 You know, one of the things that Paul shares with us this morning is that he discovers that his relationship with the Lord, the thing that is just robbed it. 00:03:56.160 --> 00:03:57.390 It's been listening to men. 00:03:59.380 --> 00:04:01.660 He's come in for particular worship and his assembly. 00:04:01.940 --> 00:04:07.340 And as he's gathered from worship, he's listening to the rules of men and the laws of men. 00:04:07.380 --> 00:04:10.640 And he's allowed men to stand before him instead of God. 00:04:10.720 --> 00:04:12.450 And he's just he's tired of it. 00:04:14.180 --> 00:04:15.580 Paul's tired of men. 00:04:15.720 --> 00:04:15.940 He didn't. 00:04:16.320 --> 00:04:19.860 He doesn't any longer want to rely upon them for his spiritual growth. 00:04:19.980 --> 00:04:21.600 But instead he looks to the Lord. 00:04:21.760 --> 00:04:27.500 And in verse ten he begins this experience for us this morning, describing his life. 00:04:28.680 --> 00:04:30.710 This is what happened to me in Jesus. 00:04:31.900 --> 00:04:39.020 And the reality is, even though Paul's story looks a little different because it's got different scenarios, the same thing that happens in Paul's life is the same thing that happens in 00:04:39.020 --> 00:04:40.770 the life of the believer as they come to Jesus. 00:04:41.000 --> 00:04:48.020 And so as we see Paul's experience, we can add empathy from our own lives and relating to Paul and what happens in 00:04:48.060 --> 00:04:52.860 his world as he sees Christ and lets go of the doctrine of men. 00:04:53.640 --> 00:04:54.440 It begins in verse ten. 00:04:55.620 --> 00:04:56.130 He says this. 00:04:58.220 --> 00:04:58.340 For? 00:04:58.340 --> 00:05:03.220 Am I now seeking the favour of men or of God, or am I striving to please men? 00:05:03.220 --> 00:05:08.870 If I were striving still trying to please men, I would not be a bond servant of Christ. 00:05:10.460 --> 00:05:16.580 Starts off very simply in his life and he says, listen, I came to this moral dilemma, this decision, the spiritual opportunity for me. 00:05:17.440 --> 00:05:18.320 And I realized something. 00:05:19.580 --> 00:05:23.900 My spiritual life had been dependent upon other people rather than upon Jesus. 00:05:27.060 --> 00:05:30.790 It's interesting that Paul would say that because when you study the Apostle Paul's life. 00:05:32.420 --> 00:05:36.130 The tendency of the Apostle Paul is we would look at him on the outside and say, he's a pretty good person. 00:05:37.860 --> 00:05:44.860 But the thought that Paul is caring for us this morning is he's saying to us, we all know that we can run from God by 00:05:44.860 --> 00:05:45.280 being immoral. 00:05:47.920 --> 00:05:48.560 But did you know? 00:05:50.100 --> 00:05:52.460 You can also run from God by being moral. 00:05:55.920 --> 00:05:58.650 We said last week God didn't come to make bad people good. 00:06:00.560 --> 00:06:02.610 God came to bring dead people to life. 00:06:05.520 --> 00:06:08.700 Morality doesn't mean your relationship with God is good. 00:06:10.520 --> 00:06:14.060 Doesn't even mean you have a relationship with God. 00:06:14.140 --> 00:06:15.780 But Paul's looking at verse ten and he's saying that. 00:06:17.880 --> 00:06:19.140 The to do list was before me. 00:06:20.460 --> 00:06:24.800 The rules are needed to obey was right in front of me in the life I needed to live. 00:06:24.800 --> 00:06:25.080 Was there. 00:06:27.260 --> 00:06:28.010 But it was without Christ. 00:06:31.700 --> 00:06:35.760 Well, I choose to obey men or God. 00:06:36.280 --> 00:06:39.960 Well, I follow my spiritual life based on what people say or what Jesus says. 00:06:42.860 --> 00:06:48.000 Tell you, the fear of letting go of men and follow Jesus keeps many people from turning to Christ. 00:06:50.700 --> 00:06:54.410 Paul had this experience happen to him, and he shares his testimony with us in acts chapter nine. 00:06:55.440 --> 00:06:55.810 In verse three. 00:06:56.040 --> 00:06:57.240 This is a small portion of his testimony. 00:06:57.480 --> 00:06:59.070 He shares it a few times with in Scripture. 00:06:59.380 --> 00:07:02.440 But the story goes like this Paul is on his way to Damascus to kill Christians. 00:07:03.480 --> 00:07:05.650 He's following the rules of men. 00:07:06.900 --> 00:07:14.000 It says as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around me, and he fell to the ground and heard 00:07:14.000 --> 00:07:18.310 a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? 00:07:18.720 --> 00:07:22.860 Saul, I'm bringing you to this place in your life where you have the opportunity to choose. 00:07:23.280 --> 00:07:24.900 Is it me or is it men? 00:07:24.960 --> 00:07:29.520 Is my death sufficient, or is it the law of circumcision that you must follow? 00:07:31.540 --> 00:07:33.280 Paul's warning to us. 00:07:33.940 --> 00:07:37.800 Is that law of morality robs you of your joy in Jesus. 00:07:40.660 --> 00:07:43.960 Superficial living of morality isn't how we find Christ. 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:48.080 We come to Christ, and Christ brings that change within us. 00:07:51.760 --> 00:07:59.220 And Paul comes to a place where he dictates to us in this passage of Scripture, guys, I was faced with a decision, and it's the same decision 00:07:59.220 --> 00:08:01.720 that you're facing today, Galatia. 00:08:02.280 --> 00:08:07.510 You have these people entering into your church telling you this is what God is about, and that is anathema. 00:08:08.060 --> 00:08:08.640 It is unredeemable. 00:08:09.180 --> 00:08:11.040 There is no freedom and no freedom. 00:08:11.040 --> 00:08:12.100 There is no joy. 00:08:12.100 --> 00:08:14.460 But Christ has come to set you free. 00:08:14.520 --> 00:08:18.200 Do you see how important this decision is in Christ for you? 00:08:21.020 --> 00:08:21.410 You know, one of the. 00:08:22.720 --> 00:08:23.930 Now, I shouldn't say one. 00:08:24.440 --> 00:08:25.530 You know the thing that keeps us. 00:08:26.840 --> 00:08:33.549 From coming to Jesus and growing in Jesus is that we don't see a need for Jesus. 00:08:35.480 --> 00:08:41.120 There's a saying that goes, I have a big need for God, and I have a big God for my need. 00:08:42.580 --> 00:08:50.410 The reality is, if I knew I needed Jesus the way that Jesus communicates my need for him, then I would come to Jesus. 00:08:52.340 --> 00:08:53.250 I need him. 00:08:54.450 --> 00:08:59.420 Morality doesn't get me to the place of my relationship with God that I need to be Christ alone. 00:08:59.960 --> 00:09:03.060 Does that Christ alone paid for it all. 00:09:03.060 --> 00:09:07.820 I need him when I see that need, I come to him without seeing that need. 00:09:07.820 --> 00:09:12.220 I find no need for Jesus in my life, and I treat him just like I don't know the iPhone. 00:09:14.780 --> 00:09:16.340 And my game looks fun right now. 00:09:17.100 --> 00:09:20.420 Maybe the Bible right now are the television looks great. 00:09:21.440 --> 00:09:23.420 Whatever. 00:09:23.860 --> 00:09:30.200 But it's in the dependency of your need that you have the craving for Christ in your life. 00:09:32.020 --> 00:09:32.620 Can I tell you this? 00:09:35.980 --> 00:09:43.080 One of the reasons I think America spiritually is declining based on statistics. 00:09:43.820 --> 00:09:47.860 Is that were the most affluent, wealthiest people group in the world. 00:09:48.620 --> 00:09:51.630 We have the tendency to mistake physical need for spiritual need. 00:09:52.780 --> 00:09:56.560 I think the physical and the spiritual is connected, but we tend to disconnect those things. 00:09:56.560 --> 00:09:59.850 And when we're filled physically, we're satisfied spiritually. 00:10:01.240 --> 00:10:06.770 And when you are a country that becomes great wealth and you have everything you need, you see no need for Jesus. 00:10:08.440 --> 00:10:11.640 I mean, you look at third world countries, you gather for their services on Sunday morning. 00:10:11.640 --> 00:10:15.550 If I go past 1040 this morning, I will see someone looking at their watch today. 00:10:16.660 --> 00:10:18.860 Now Jesus is good, but can you get him in an hour, please? 00:10:19.120 --> 00:10:20.260 I gotta get my I gotta go. 00:10:21.580 --> 00:10:22.300 You go to a third world country. 00:10:24.400 --> 00:10:25.220 Physical needs aren't there. 00:10:27.300 --> 00:10:28.770 Reminds them of their spiritual need of Christ. 00:10:29.940 --> 00:10:31.900 You gather for service, 3 p.m. 00:10:31.980 --> 00:10:32.880 and you're just getting going. 00:10:35.560 --> 00:10:37.120 We don't see a need. 00:10:38.420 --> 00:10:41.420 Do you know, in the world today, the average person lives on $2. 00:10:43.840 --> 00:10:44.800 $2 a day. 00:10:46.200 --> 00:10:49.760 You know, America today, the average person makes $200 on a workday. 00:10:51.440 --> 00:10:56.000 100 times more than everywhere on the in the world. 00:10:57.980 --> 00:10:58.660 You don't have a need. 00:11:00.800 --> 00:11:01.680 We don't see a need. 00:11:01.820 --> 00:11:04.960 I think that's exactly why Jesus said in Matthew 19. 00:11:04.980 --> 00:11:12.040 He said in Mark ten and Luke 11, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man 00:11:12.040 --> 00:11:12.560 to get to heaven. 00:11:14.780 --> 00:11:16.300 I'm not going to end this by telling you I want your money. 00:11:16.300 --> 00:11:16.720 I don't even care. 00:11:18.820 --> 00:11:21.120 What I'm saying is Jesus is connecting the dots for us. 00:11:21.200 --> 00:11:22.640 I don't think he's even talking about money. 00:11:22.860 --> 00:11:23.940 What he's saying to us. 00:11:24.020 --> 00:11:27.100 If you don't see your need for Jesus, then you're not going to come to Jesus. 00:11:29.140 --> 00:11:31.320 I mean, you'll be satisfied with the doctrine of men. 00:11:33.300 --> 00:11:36.320 You'll come in and depend on other people for your spiritual life. 00:11:37.560 --> 00:11:43.520 And Paul gets this place in verse ten and he says, I think I've driven the point home, but there is this need for Christ in our lives. 00:11:43.540 --> 00:11:49.820 I was faced with this decision and finally in my life I saw it and I made the right decision. 00:11:51.440 --> 00:11:52.800 When Paul gives this example. 00:11:54.920 --> 00:12:01.020 This is one of those verses that give, I say, give me the heebie jeebies because he says this. 00:12:01.140 --> 00:12:06.320 I would have, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to men. 00:12:08.120 --> 00:12:08.660 for I would have. 00:12:08.900 --> 00:12:09.480 Let's see. 00:12:09.680 --> 00:12:09.680 Sorry. 00:12:09.680 --> 00:12:13.040 According to man for I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it. 00:12:13.320 --> 00:12:16.340 But I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 00:12:18.620 --> 00:12:25.700 The part of this that scares me is I see a lot of people, sometimes even on TV, say Jesus tells them things that I don't think 00:12:25.700 --> 00:12:26.880 Jesus really tells them. 00:12:27.620 --> 00:12:28.480 It scares me. 00:12:28.560 --> 00:12:30.320 He tells someone, comes to me and says, Jesus says this. 00:12:30.640 --> 00:12:32.040 I'm like, hold it on, Clinton. 00:12:32.300 --> 00:12:33.680 What's it gonna be? 00:12:33.680 --> 00:12:37.280 Oh Lord, and here's the here's the catch for that. 00:12:38.460 --> 00:12:43.910 If it's not found in Scripture, probability is Jesus didn't tell you, okay, it's got to line up with what God's Word says. 00:12:45.400 --> 00:12:47.420 God's not going to reveal something he hasn't already revealed. 00:12:48.900 --> 00:12:50.090 But here's the point what Paul is saying. 00:12:51.860 --> 00:12:54.290 Because I went to from the physical to the spiritual for me. 00:12:56.060 --> 00:12:57.220 Salvation is a supernatural thing. 00:12:59.300 --> 00:13:04.120 In order for you to come to Christ, something supernatural must take place within your life. 00:13:04.820 --> 00:13:08.260 Something outside of yourself occurs within you. 00:13:09.920 --> 00:13:12.880 Because salvation doesn't belong to you. 00:13:13.820 --> 00:13:15.140 Jesus is the one who saves. 00:13:16.520 --> 00:13:22.540 And so when you come to the place of salvation and freedom in Christ in your life, it doesn't matter about you. 00:13:24.140 --> 00:13:26.160 It's him. 00:13:26.440 --> 00:13:29.740 And Paul, for the first time in his life, recognized that. 00:13:30.300 --> 00:13:33.720 I thought circumcision was this way to prove God my worthiness. 00:13:33.860 --> 00:13:41.120 But now I realize he's going to tell us in Galatians three that none of that law proved anything to God other than I couldn't 00:13:41.120 --> 00:13:44.060 deserve the sacrifice that he's given to me. 00:13:45.520 --> 00:13:46.890 And that's why I trust in him. 00:13:48.240 --> 00:13:55.630 It went from physically depending on my ability to spiritually depending on Christ for everything. 00:13:57.620 --> 00:13:59.960 Jesus doesn't just save you and then it's up to you. 00:14:00.200 --> 00:14:07.220 Jesus is the one that continues to grow you, so your dependency on him is your growth in him and 00:14:07.300 --> 00:14:09.040 your joy through him. 00:14:11.050 --> 00:14:18.300 And so Paul tells us in this passage that it's important in your life that you accept the King and that it goes from this physical 00:14:18.300 --> 00:14:19.200 to the spiritual. 00:14:19.220 --> 00:14:21.160 And then I love what he does in this passage. 00:14:21.380 --> 00:14:27.480 He then goes back to his former way of life, and he describes for us the challenges that he faced before he came to know Jesus. 00:14:29.460 --> 00:14:30.570 I'm going to read verse 14 first. 00:14:32.580 --> 00:14:34.240 Says this. 00:14:34.240 --> 00:14:41.800 Now was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries, among my countrymen, being more extremely zealous for my ancestral traditions. 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:47.080 Paul says, do you know what my salvation was in previous to this? 00:14:48.380 --> 00:14:48.960 These rules. 00:14:49.800 --> 00:14:51.750 Do you know who I listened to previous to this? 00:14:52.720 --> 00:14:54.840 My ancestors, their traditions. 00:14:54.940 --> 00:14:56.900 I grew up in a home just like you. 00:14:57.100 --> 00:14:59.080 I was taught rules just like you. 00:14:59.140 --> 00:15:00.740 I thought those rules were important. 00:15:01.200 --> 00:15:02.260 Just like you. 00:15:04.900 --> 00:15:05.640 And what I found out. 00:15:07.460 --> 00:15:09.840 As though they were teaching morality, which is fine. 00:15:11.960 --> 00:15:14.200 They were robbing me of what Jesus brought to my life. 00:15:16.300 --> 00:15:18.100 Jesus sets me free. 00:15:19.480 --> 00:15:19.800 Yeah. 00:15:20.040 --> 00:15:24.920 I think if you were to hang out with Paul, you would look at him and say, man, what a super follower of God. 00:15:24.960 --> 00:15:25.760 He's so devout. 00:15:26.000 --> 00:15:26.760 What a holy man. 00:15:28.040 --> 00:15:32.120 But if you were to get near Paul in his personal life, you would also say, I cannot stand the dude. 00:15:32.540 --> 00:15:33.920 He follows me around everywhere. 00:15:34.140 --> 00:15:35.120 He shows me these verses. 00:15:35.200 --> 00:15:38.620 He's telling me all the time what I'm doing wrong, how I can't live up to the standard. 00:15:38.700 --> 00:15:40.340 I want to punch him more than I want to love him. 00:15:40.340 --> 00:15:42.760 But man, you gotta appreciate his love for the Lord. 00:15:44.800 --> 00:15:49.620 His religion became obnoxious. 00:15:50.860 --> 00:15:58.120 He was the dude telling corny Jesus jokes and he wouldn't be telling Jesus jokes, corny godly 00:15:58.120 --> 00:16:01.000 jokes, and wearing funeral clothes, right? 00:16:03.000 --> 00:16:08.240 He didn't see the joy of knowing Christ apart from the rules of religion. 00:16:10.200 --> 00:16:12.200 Notice what he talks about in verse 14. 00:16:13.600 --> 00:16:14.100 A lot of eyes. 00:16:16.480 --> 00:16:19.730 When you live in the form of religion, that's really what you become about. 00:16:20.280 --> 00:16:20.420 I. 00:16:21.760 --> 00:16:23.220 I did this, I did that. 00:16:24.480 --> 00:16:25.110 I went here. 00:16:26.160 --> 00:16:29.560 I accomplished this, but I love this about Paul. 00:16:30.040 --> 00:16:34.740 If you've got your Bible open, you look at verse 15 when Paul goes from religion to relationship in Jesus. 00:16:34.900 --> 00:16:36.200 What's the first three words he says? 00:16:37.240 --> 00:16:37.360 But when? 00:16:37.680 --> 00:16:38.540 What? 00:16:38.760 --> 00:16:39.120 God. 00:16:40.840 --> 00:16:41.500 The eye dies. 00:16:43.220 --> 00:16:44.330 It's not about me. 00:16:45.620 --> 00:16:46.460 It's about him. 00:16:48.800 --> 00:16:49.400 Verse 13. 00:16:49.480 --> 00:16:50.440 Paul says it this way. 00:16:51.240 --> 00:16:57.200 Not only was I living these rules as religion to please the traditions of father using the excuse, it was just the way I was brought up. 00:16:59.380 --> 00:17:06.380 Verse 13 he says, for you have heard of my former manner of life in Judaism, how I used to persecute the church of God beyond measure, 00:17:06.760 --> 00:17:08.220 and tried to destroy it. 00:17:11.390 --> 00:17:14.150 Can I tell you the two biggest religions that keep us from Jesus? 00:17:15.560 --> 00:17:19.599 But I think keep us from Jesus, I should say pride. 00:17:20.859 --> 00:17:22.540 And guilt. 00:17:23.000 --> 00:17:24.210 You look in verse 14 and 13? 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:25.579 That's exactly what Paul says. 00:17:25.640 --> 00:17:25.740 Verse 14. 00:17:26.560 --> 00:17:28.540 The thing that kept me from Jesus was pride. 00:17:28.760 --> 00:17:32.060 It was all about me and my rules, of the traditions of my fathers. 00:17:32.680 --> 00:17:37.000 And verse 13, and I have this unrelenting form of guilt. 00:17:39.500 --> 00:17:40.620 I mean, look at what Paul did. 00:17:42.440 --> 00:17:49.500 You look at his relationship with Christ, you think coming to Jesus and he's on his road, this road 00:17:49.500 --> 00:17:52.240 to Damascus, he's been killing Christians. 00:17:52.260 --> 00:17:56.320 And now this Jesus of his followers, he's been killing once him. 00:17:58.900 --> 00:17:59.340 And what? 00:17:59.340 --> 00:18:00.340 Guilt. 00:18:01.820 --> 00:18:05.000 What guilt he carried in that moment. 00:18:07.680 --> 00:18:08.360 As a pastor. 00:18:10.500 --> 00:18:11.550 Can I tell you? 00:18:12.920 --> 00:18:17.730 My tendency is to find people who rest in a tremendous amount of guilt. 00:18:20.780 --> 00:18:23.100 Everyone I speak to in the privacy of their home. 00:18:23.120 --> 00:18:24.530 I shouldn't say everyone, but almost everyone. 00:18:26.480 --> 00:18:27.870 Has something they just want to hide. 00:18:29.860 --> 00:18:36.150 Something they think about that brings guilt to their life that they look at and they think, Does Jesus really love me beyond that? 00:18:37.620 --> 00:18:39.920 Does Jesus really love me through this? 00:18:39.920 --> 00:18:43.980 Everyone has said at some point I just must be the worst at this. 00:18:45.880 --> 00:18:46.640 And Paul. 00:18:46.640 --> 00:18:53.890 And both of these examples is struggling with this nature of guilt, in this sense of pride, 00:18:54.080 --> 00:18:56.940 and proving his worthiness before the Lord. 00:18:59.040 --> 00:19:01.690 Paul's listening to the old man. 00:19:02.440 --> 00:19:03.860 Who he was apart from Christ. 00:19:05.340 --> 00:19:11.280 But the reminder to us is that Jesus, when he died, he paid for it all. 00:19:11.620 --> 00:19:18.660 Jesus, despite your sin, demonstrates his love to you that whatever guilt you're carrying, it doesn't 00:19:18.660 --> 00:19:25.720 need to be carried anymore because Christ loves you even in the guilt and the sin and the shame. 00:19:25.820 --> 00:19:27.420 He knew you would do it before you did it. 00:19:27.460 --> 00:19:31.270 He died for it anyway because he loves you. 00:19:35.080 --> 00:19:36.800 And so Paul gets to a place where he says this. 00:19:39.340 --> 00:19:39.700 In knowing this. 00:19:41.800 --> 00:19:49.160 And knowing enough to be guilty over and knowing I had this pride and proving my worth, but knowing I couldn't and I'd been following these traditions 00:19:49.160 --> 00:19:50.680 of men in my life. 00:19:51.320 --> 00:19:54.530 All I want, all I want is Jesus. 00:19:55.840 --> 00:20:02.960 And so he says in verse 15, but when God, who had set me apart from my mother's womb, it wasn't Paul, its God whom, and called 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:08.180 me through his grace, was pleased to reveal his son in me, so that I might preach him among the Gentiles. 00:20:08.260 --> 00:20:13.520 I did not immediately consult with flesh and blood, nor did I go up to Jerusalem, to those who were apostles before me. 00:20:13.840 --> 00:20:16.580 But I went away to Arabia and returned once more to Damascus. 00:20:18.820 --> 00:20:25.860 Finally in my life when I got it, I stopped looking to people and finally in my life. 00:20:25.980 --> 00:20:33.030 When I understood it, I turned it over to Christ and I was just hungry for him. 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:35.570 Paul laid down the traditions of men. 00:20:37.400 --> 00:20:41.790 I wish I had a magic button as a pastor when people come to worship with us. 00:20:42.820 --> 00:20:45.120 I wish I had a magic button I could just push and it would just reset us. 00:20:45.240 --> 00:20:48.140 And we had this ability to look new and fresh at Jesus. 00:20:50.140 --> 00:20:51.070 Not bring our baggage. 00:20:53.680 --> 00:20:55.580 Not bring our religious thinking. 00:20:57.880 --> 00:21:04.920 But just to hear for the first time with clarity what Jesus says about you and how Jesus looks over you, 00:21:05.340 --> 00:21:09.740 and the freedom that Paul talks about being experienced in your own life. 00:21:12.460 --> 00:21:17.600 If you want to look fresh at your relationship with Christ here, here's a couple of thoughts. 00:21:17.620 --> 00:21:18.380 Here's what we don't do. 00:21:18.580 --> 00:21:21.420 We don't use God to improve your life. 00:21:21.720 --> 00:21:26.840 And what I mean is this don't start your journey with God by bringing your agenda to God. 00:21:26.940 --> 00:21:28.510 Don't say to God, God, here's my plan. 00:21:28.700 --> 00:21:29.220 I'm doing this now. 00:21:29.640 --> 00:21:30.900 You figure out how you need to bless that. 00:21:32.920 --> 00:21:33.420 Instead do this. 00:21:35.300 --> 00:21:35.640 God. 00:21:35.640 --> 00:21:36.750 What's your plan? 00:21:38.720 --> 00:21:40.160 What's your plan for me, Lord? 00:21:40.260 --> 00:21:41.350 Can I join in? 00:21:43.400 --> 00:21:44.700 Can I tell you? 00:21:46.000 --> 00:21:47.780 Be patient. 00:21:49.740 --> 00:21:51.580 Don't move until God directs you. 00:21:54.400 --> 00:22:00.190 So many of us in our lives have come to believe the doctrine of men rather than of Christ. 00:22:01.740 --> 00:22:04.140 And there is a period in our lives where we need to Sabbath. 00:22:04.220 --> 00:22:06.840 There's a reason God says that within the Bible's rest. 00:22:08.920 --> 00:22:13.800 We need to recognize our need and sit with him and just let him pour into our lives. 00:22:15.680 --> 00:22:16.480 The Apostle Paul. 00:22:16.560 --> 00:22:19.010 When he came to know Christ, he was absent. 00:22:20.340 --> 00:22:22.700 The Bible tells us for about 2 to 3 years there's this. 00:22:22.780 --> 00:22:24.000 They call it the silent years of Paul. 00:22:25.480 --> 00:22:28.040 Paul, they say to this point in his life before he came to know Christ. 00:22:28.620 --> 00:22:32.280 I've heard some people say that he has the equivalent of about seven doctorate in theology. 00:22:34.040 --> 00:22:36.080 He's so smart, no one can understand him. 00:22:37.380 --> 00:22:39.800 And even seven doctorate in understanding the Old Testament. 00:22:40.160 --> 00:22:40.820 For three years. 00:22:41.200 --> 00:22:48.480 He goes to the region of Arabia and he just spends time with Jesus, allowing the Lord to pour into his life before he does anything 00:22:48.480 --> 00:22:49.120 for Christ. 00:22:51.920 --> 00:22:53.980 The story of Paul tells us. 00:22:54.100 --> 00:23:01.280 It tells us in the following verses that then, three years later, I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas and stayed with 00:23:01.280 --> 00:23:02.200 him 15 days. 00:23:02.300 --> 00:23:05.380 But I did not see any of the apostles except James, the Lord's brother. 00:23:05.760 --> 00:23:10.080 Now what I am writing to you, I'm sure I assure you before the Lord that I am not lying. 00:23:11.260 --> 00:23:18.360 If you read the story of the life of Paul in the book of acts, at this point he goes back to Jerusalem, and he spent so much time with Jesus that Paul has all this passion for the Lord. 00:23:19.120 --> 00:23:22.820 It takes him about 15 days before the city revolts and he has to escape for his life. 00:23:23.100 --> 00:23:23.740 That's really what happens. 00:23:24.860 --> 00:23:31.960 He spent time with God, and he's just on fire for what the Lord is doing within his life to be on fire for 00:23:31.960 --> 00:23:35.720 the Lord and we just encourage you takes time in the Lord. 00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:38.740 And Paul. 00:23:40.040 --> 00:23:42.120 Saw Christ revealed in him. 00:23:43.100 --> 00:23:50.260 When I first moved to Utah, I had this thought about God, if I if I come 00:23:50.260 --> 00:23:53.920 to you and you don't know him, all I've got to do is just convince you. 00:23:55.080 --> 00:23:57.460 I'll be your Holy Spirit and I'll let you know where you're wrong. 00:23:58.020 --> 00:23:58.780 I'll tell you about that. 00:23:59.000 --> 00:23:59.200 And you'll. 00:23:59.360 --> 00:24:00.240 You'll just agree with me. 00:24:00.300 --> 00:24:03.280 By the time conversation is done right, it will be wonderful. 00:24:03.740 --> 00:24:04.970 And then we'll walk away hand in hand. 00:24:05.680 --> 00:24:07.320 I don't want to do that, but we'll walk away, okay? 00:24:07.900 --> 00:24:08.580 And we'll be. 00:24:08.740 --> 00:24:11.780 We'll be happy about what the Lord has done through us because of me. 00:24:13.080 --> 00:24:15.000 Then I got to this place where I realized, man, that ain't working. 00:24:15.660 --> 00:24:15.960 That is. 00:24:16.280 --> 00:24:16.760 That is not. 00:24:16.920 --> 00:24:18.200 People don't like it when you do that. 00:24:18.940 --> 00:24:23.520 So I got this new thought, and I'm tired of just telling people what it is that I think. 00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:26.670 I'm just going to open up my Bible. 00:24:27.720 --> 00:24:28.490 I'm going to point to a verse. 00:24:29.800 --> 00:24:31.440 I'm just going to slide it across the table. 00:24:32.500 --> 00:24:33.420 And I want you to read it. 00:24:34.420 --> 00:24:35.590 And I want you to tell me what it says. 00:24:37.480 --> 00:24:38.170 You know, I found out. 00:24:39.700 --> 00:24:43.140 People take the time to open God's Word and really find out what God's Word says. 00:24:44.000 --> 00:24:45.320 God uses that to change them. 00:24:46.360 --> 00:24:48.040 His word has power, not mine. 00:24:49.220 --> 00:24:52.540 His word changes lives, not mine. 00:24:52.700 --> 00:24:53.740 God never called me to be a Holy Spirit. 00:24:55.200 --> 00:24:56.760 God only called me to point people to him. 00:24:59.340 --> 00:25:00.240 When you read God's Word. 00:25:01.960 --> 00:25:02.500 Changes your life. 00:25:04.380 --> 00:25:06.620 Whether you don't know them or you do know them. 00:25:12.760 --> 00:25:12.760 God uses His Word powerfully in your life to transform your life. 00:25:12.760 --> 00:25:14.590 Can I hear more than anything living here? 00:25:15.780 --> 00:25:16.780 Of people who come to know Jesus. 00:25:18.240 --> 00:25:19.000 I open up my Bible. 00:25:20.140 --> 00:25:22.630 That is profound, isn't it? 00:25:22.700 --> 00:25:25.810 I open up God's Word for the first time in my life. 00:25:26.160 --> 00:25:28.880 I saw this need and I knew I had this need. 00:25:28.880 --> 00:25:34.000 I quit mistaking this physical, man made stuff for my spiritual need in Jesus, and I pursued that. 00:25:35.880 --> 00:25:42.980 And Paul is saying in this passage, I spent three years with Christ just allowing the Lord to pour into me before I did 00:25:42.980 --> 00:25:44.510 anything for him. 00:25:46.320 --> 00:25:50.600 We need spiritual surgery in our lives. 00:25:51.880 --> 00:25:53.060 Huh? 00:25:53.120 --> 00:25:58.180 I was watching a story this week of Pastor Rick Warren. 00:25:58.460 --> 00:26:03.090 He was on a television show doing a conversation about his son. 00:26:03.420 --> 00:26:07.280 And if you don't know anything about Rick Warren, he's this pastor of a larger church in California. 00:26:07.980 --> 00:26:12.780 And his son committed suicide just about five months ago. 00:26:13.100 --> 00:26:15.180 He's in his early or mid 20s. 00:26:15.860 --> 00:26:22.400 It's interesting because I was reading there's a statistic that said, in America last year, 38,000 people took their lives, 30,000 of those were guys. 00:26:24.120 --> 00:26:29.740 And they were talking about just the problem with understanding, having a biblical perspective as us, as men. 00:26:29.780 --> 00:26:32.280 We've really emasculated our men and our culture today. 00:26:33.600 --> 00:26:35.300 And I think men have a hard time. 00:26:36.680 --> 00:26:40.440 Seeing their place in the world because of the way our American society is going. 00:26:41.240 --> 00:26:46.280 But anyway, nonetheless, five months they've been they've not been in public. 00:26:46.280 --> 00:26:48.000 No one could see him as the pastor of this large church. 00:26:48.240 --> 00:26:49.770 And he's just been he's just been recovering. 00:26:51.040 --> 00:26:58.120 And finally he comes on TV to talk about the experience that he's going through recently and the challenges he's 00:26:58.120 --> 00:26:59.320 been facing. 00:27:00.060 --> 00:27:02.800 And they ask him about his faith in the Lord and what's happened. 00:27:02.940 --> 00:27:06.580 And he said this I never questioned my faith in God. 00:27:08.000 --> 00:27:09.660 But I did question God's plan. 00:27:11.540 --> 00:27:13.340 They asked his wife about the same thing and this is what she said. 00:27:14.000 --> 00:27:16.740 She took comfort in this, she said. 00:27:18.060 --> 00:27:19.040 My son's body was broken. 00:27:21.580 --> 00:27:28.700 She said, for years they had been struggling with all, all sorts of ways to get them, him, the help that he needs, 00:27:29.700 --> 00:27:33.220 whether it be prayer, whether it be taken to doctors, whatever it took. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:37.280 And she even said at one point her son said to her, mom, will you help me? 00:27:37.760 --> 00:27:38.570 Will you help me die? 00:27:38.720 --> 00:27:42.070 And he she responded back to him, I don't want to help you die. 00:27:42.180 --> 00:27:43.130 I want to help you live. 00:27:44.660 --> 00:27:45.440 This is what she says. 00:27:46.800 --> 00:27:47.510 The Bible says. 00:27:48.920 --> 00:27:50.210 My son's body is broken. 00:27:52.060 --> 00:27:56.000 And it says our bodies are buried in brokenness. 00:27:57.560 --> 00:28:01.380 But it also says that Jesus will raise it in glory. 00:28:05.480 --> 00:28:09.000 Response of the Warren family and their time of need. 00:28:11.200 --> 00:28:12.270 Let's come to Christ. 00:28:14.180 --> 00:28:16.560 You may not understand what God's doing. 00:28:17.740 --> 00:28:18.710 And your faith may be shaken. 00:28:20.740 --> 00:28:25.360 What a wonderful opportunity it is just to question God and His plan for your life. 00:28:26.920 --> 00:28:31.840 To spend time with him, allowing him to pour into your spirit that is broken. 00:28:33.860 --> 00:28:35.020 Get alone with God. 00:28:36.980 --> 00:28:40.530 Something interesting about your relationship with the Lord when you get alone with him. 00:28:41.300 --> 00:28:42.970 The Bible says, be still, my soul. 00:28:43.600 --> 00:28:46.740 Right when you get along with God. 00:28:48.180 --> 00:28:53.120 And the quietness of your life, your relationship with Christ. 00:28:53.960 --> 00:28:55.480 It's real. 00:28:56.180 --> 00:29:03.380 When you give your spirit time to pause and reflect and just be silent before the Lord, rather than dictating to him what he 00:29:03.440 --> 00:29:10.560 needs to do, allowing him just to lavish himself in your life and the quietness of your soul, Christ 00:29:10.680 --> 00:29:13.220 gets real. 00:29:13.560 --> 00:29:14.820 And here's the result of all this. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:28.160 Paul spends time rather than with men, with Jesus. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:28.160 Paul sees this need with Jesus. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:28.160 Paul. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:28.160 Paul spends time with Jesus and he shares this at the end of this passage. 00:29:28.160 --> 00:29:33.080 Then I went into the region of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea, which were in Christ. 00:29:33.320 --> 00:29:34.400 And here's how this happens. 00:29:35.280 --> 00:29:35.380 Hey. 00:29:35.900 --> 00:29:36.240 Paul's coming. 00:29:36.480 --> 00:29:36.720 Wait a minute. 00:29:37.240 --> 00:29:37.700 The guy that killed people. 00:29:38.480 --> 00:29:38.740 Yeah. 00:29:38.800 --> 00:29:39.500 I ain't talking to him. 00:29:39.720 --> 00:29:41.400 That's all that happens. 00:29:41.680 --> 00:29:43.890 I don't care what God did in his life. 00:29:43.980 --> 00:29:45.840 You talk to him first, right? 00:29:46.740 --> 00:29:50.700 In verse 22, I was still unknown by sight to the church of Judea, which were in Christ. 00:29:51.240 --> 00:29:52.320 But only they kept hearing. 00:29:52.720 --> 00:29:57.720 He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy. 00:29:58.160 --> 00:30:01.330 And they were glorifying God because of me. 00:30:03.660 --> 00:30:05.070 Scenarios are different. 00:30:06.380 --> 00:30:07.730 But the story is always the same. 00:30:10.530 --> 00:30:11.570 Do you know what he was like? 00:30:13.780 --> 00:30:15.540 Do you know what they used to do? 00:30:17.400 --> 00:30:22.100 I mean, do you know what their life said about them in the path that they were following before this moment? 00:30:25.080 --> 00:30:28.050 Jesus has worked a miracle. 00:30:29.600 --> 00:30:30.780 The guy that was killing me. 00:30:30.780 --> 00:30:34.380 The guy that I was afraid when I tucked my kids in bed at night. 00:30:34.700 --> 00:30:37.260 Christ has transformed that heart. 00:30:39.740 --> 00:30:43.160 Praise God. 00:30:44.380 --> 00:30:46.720 Scenarios are different. 00:30:46.860 --> 00:30:47.690 The story is the same. 00:30:49.640 --> 00:30:50.760 What if we just opened? 00:30:51.720 --> 00:30:52.830 The closet of our past. 00:30:54.700 --> 00:30:55.920 Previous to Christ. 00:30:57.720 --> 00:30:59.090 What ugliness would be there. 00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:01.120 What? 00:31:01.180 --> 00:31:01.340 Brokenness. 00:31:01.760 --> 00:31:02.240 What do we find? 00:31:04.440 --> 00:31:06.650 Doesn't it just scream the beauty of Jesus? 00:31:08.940 --> 00:31:09.970 I mean, if you guys knew me. 00:31:11.420 --> 00:31:12.060 Before Christ. 00:31:13.660 --> 00:31:14.920 You would throw me out of here. 00:31:17.380 --> 00:31:18.400 The beauty of Jesus. 00:31:20.700 --> 00:31:24.510 You know, I look at the life of Paul, and I'll close with this thought. 00:31:25.760 --> 00:31:26.900 A look at the life of Paul. 00:31:27.060 --> 00:31:31.580 And I say to myself, that's great that Paul did that, but he was super Christian. 00:31:33.100 --> 00:31:33.730 That's not me. 00:31:35.720 --> 00:31:38.260 All he did, all he did was get alone with Jesus. 00:31:40.220 --> 00:31:43.220 So much so that I think God wanted to communicate that to you. 00:31:43.220 --> 00:31:44.600 But do you know what Paul's name means? 00:31:46.800 --> 00:31:48.960 Little. 00:31:49.300 --> 00:31:51.240 What God is saying to us in this man. 00:31:51.340 --> 00:31:57.180 If you saw him before, religiously obnoxious, noxious, and now he comes to Jesus and all he is just little. 00:31:59.140 --> 00:32:00.370 But man, look what God did. 00:32:02.900 --> 00:32:04.340 That's for us this morning. 00:32:06.340 --> 00:32:09.350 When you come before the Lord, let go of men. 00:32:10.540 --> 00:32:11.700 Just look at Jesus. 00:32:13.740 --> 00:32:15.300 Feel the need that you have. 00:32:15.360 --> 00:32:18.140 Take time just to think of the need that you have in Christ. 00:32:18.540 --> 00:32:18.880 What is it? 00:32:19.100 --> 00:32:20.200 What is it that pulls you apart? 00:32:20.480 --> 00:32:20.850 Is it pride? 00:32:21.300 --> 00:32:21.760 Is it guilt? 00:32:21.940 --> 00:32:23.480 What suffering is there? 00:32:23.760 --> 00:32:27.740 Take some time with Jesus in that need. 00:32:28.620 --> 00:32:29.440 Here's the result. 00:32:29.460 --> 00:32:31.920 You don't have to worry about being a super Christian God. 00:32:31.940 --> 00:32:32.860 God already knows you're little. 00:32:35.800 --> 00:32:37.500 God transforms you. 00:32:38.180 --> 00:32:41.910 God uses you and they see the closet of the past and the future. 00:32:41.960 --> 00:32:48.960 You're now living in Christ, and they say there is no result in that other than just to proclaim the name of 00:32:48.960 --> 00:32:49.220 God. 00:32:52.040 --> 00:32:54.230 So here's my prayer this morning for us as a church. 00:32:56.500 --> 00:32:57.890 That we live in this experience. 00:33:00.220 --> 00:33:06.590 Paul's giving you the scenario of his life, but it always produces the same in Jesus if we just come to him.