“For do I now
persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I
should not be the servant of Christ. But I certify you, brethren, that the
gospel which was preached of me is not after man. For I neither received it of
man, neither was I taught it, but by the revelation of Jesus Christ. For ye
have heard of my conversation in time past in the Jews' religion, how that
beyond measure I persecuted the church of God, and wasted it: And profited in
the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation, being more
exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers. But when it pleased God,
who separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal
his Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I
conferred not with flesh and blood: Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them
which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again unto
Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and abode
with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James the
Lord's brother. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God, I
lie not. Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria and Cilicia; And was
unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in Christ: But they had
heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now preacheth the faith
which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me.” (Gal. 1:10-24)
Notice Paul’s
words in verse 10, where he differentiates between pleasing man and pleasing
God.
Paul understood,
first and foremost, that he served at the pleasure of an audience of One – the
audience of the Master. He knew his responsibility. He did not take a
survey or put stock in the whims of the day. He was not trying to figure out
what the crowd was in favor of so he could make everyone happy. In fact, he
didn’t even worry too much about what the people in the church cared the most
about. His mission was to please God.
We need to get it
seared in our minds that, while we may do things publicly or participate in
exercises that are seen by others, our only audience that matters as far as
eternity is concerned is an Almighty God. We have far too many preachers and
populists who are too concerned about what the crowd wants, and that is why
they are hesitant to pull the trigger on solid Bible preaching. They are afraid
of offending someone, but in their attempts to please men they are displeasing
God.
By the grace of
God and to His glory, I have never stopped to consider that I should not say
something because of whom it might offend. To be honest, there are many things
I could have said better or more wisely, but I have never sought to please
anyone or been afraid to displease anyone through preaching. If it is in the
Bible, I am responsible to tell people what it is. After that it is between
them and God to handle the fallout. We cannot compromise the message based on
the feelings of a few.
In verse 11 Paul
explained the authority of the message. “But I certify you, brethren,
that the gospel which was preached of me is not after man.” When something
is certified, like a letter, it carries with it an exceptional level of
importance. The apostle stressed in this passage that men had no right to
change the message of the gospel because they did not invent it, as verse 12
illustrates. “For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it, but
by the revelation of Jesus Christ.”
The gospel is the
main message of the scriptures, from Genesis to Revelation. The Old Testament
shows us our need for a redeemer and a substitute, and the New Testament
reveals to us that Jesus Christ is that substitute. Many people believe that
one can sincerely trust in another way to Heaven, but that is impossible
because man did not determine how one gets to Heaven. God did it. As Jesus said
in Matt. 14:6, “No man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
You say, “Brother
Stancil, is everyone who does not trust Christ going to Hell?” That is the
truth, on the authority of God’s Word. In my flesh I would probably change it
if I could because I feel bad for people whose loved ones have died without
Christ, but I cannot do anything about it. There is no way I can change it
because it is not my message to begin with. I am just the messenger. That is why
Paul spoke so strongly here about the authority of the message.
We have a problem with authority in America,
especially the younger generations. I am in my early forties as I write this,
which is not very old, but I am even concerned with the way younger adults and
their children conduct themselves. When I see a small child misbehave in a
restaurant, I want to take that little one aside and correct him or her so that
the parents can see how their authority should be respected. That could never
happen in today’s society because if you dare to say something to another
person’s child, that parent will get mad at you and tell you to mind your own
business. That attitude spills over into other areas of society, which is why
there is no respect for law enforcement, the judicial system, teachers in the
classroom, or anyone else.
This has even come
into the church. An “authoritarian” preacher who stands up and proclaims, “Thus
saith the Lord,” is looked upon with disdain. I do not necessarily command
respect because of anything I am or have done, but I represent the King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. I would rather preach the rest of my life without
wearing a tie, but I stand in the pulpit with a suit and tie because of whom I
represent. That is the kind of respect for authority I am talking about – it is
not about me, but the message. The older I get, the more bothered I am by the
way so many people do not respect the holy things of God.
In the next
several verses, Paul gives an accounting of his ministry. This begins in
verses 13-14 with his RELIGION. “For ye have heard of my conversation
in time past in the Jews' religion, how that beyond measure I persecuted the
church of God, and wasted it: And profited in the Jews' religion above many my
equals in mine own nation, being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of
my fathers.”
In his early work,
before he met the Lord on the road to Damascus, he was very fervent. You
know from reading his epistles that he excelled in study and was a very learned
man. He was not just a casual Pharisee or religious person, but he sat at the
feet of the greatest religious teachers of that time.
You could go a
step further and say that he was fierce. Many people in today’s society
would describe him as a zealot or a far right-wing radical.
Someone in my
church recently told me, “My friends are starting to think I’m taking this
church thing a little too far.”
“When you become a
follower of Jesus, all of your old friends will think that way,” I replied.
People don’t mind if you are a follower of religion, but they hate it when you
are a follower of Jesus because that requires a totally different level of
commitment.
Paul had been so
intense in his persecution of Christians that he became famous for his
hatred of them. We know from the scriptures that when Paul initially wanted to
join the church, other Christians were afraid and skeptical of him because his
reputation preceded him. Knowing how he had imprisoned so many and had others
put to death, and so shortly after he sat at stoning of Stephen, they wanted to
take it slowly and see if he was for real.
But for all of his
fervor and fierceness, the religion espoused by the man known as Saul was false.
Our world today has gorged itself on religion, and millions of people around
the globe have allowed themselves to become indoctrinated and controlled by a
church that does preach the true gospel. Those who sincerely put their trust in
religion alone will die and enter into eternity lost.
Religion is the
great numbing tool of Satan, who loves nothing more than for people to sit back
and rest on the false security that they are all right because they go to
church. It is possible that more people enter Hell through the doors of the
church and than any other way, because they believe that church attendance is
enough. When a lost person hears, “You must be born again,” that sedative we
call religion is activates and soothes the soul into thinking, “I’m OK.”
I am so thankful
that I will not have to take part in the Great White Throne judgment of God,
but I am afraid that we who stand there witnessing that event with Him will see
many people we knew as active members of churches just like ours, but they
never individually confessed their own need for Christ because they bought into
the idea that religion by itself was enough.
You can go to
church from the time you are born until the time you die and not become a
Christian – just like living in a garage does not make you a car, as the old
saying goes. You listen to preaching week after week and Satan slips in
spiritual Novocain to make you relaxed and comfortable in your condition. That
is not of God, and any religion not of God is false religion.
In verses 15-16
Paul talked about his CONVERSION. “But when it pleased God, who
separated me from my mother's womb, and called me by his grace, To reveal his
Son in me, that I might preach him among the heathen; immediately I conferred
not with flesh and blood.”
Notice how he
referred to God’s movement in life in verse 15. Do you realize that, in order
for you to be saved, it must be God moving toward you and not you moving toward
God? I hope you don’t take that statement the wrong way, because I do not have
a Calvinist bone in my body, but you had better respond when the Spirit of God
quickens you. People who talk about how they will get saved “some day” are
playing a dangerous game, because the Lord said in Gen. 6:3, “My spirit
shall not always strive with man.”
There is a time in every person’s life when the Holy
Spirit moves as if to say, “Today is the day. The time is now.” The Spirit of
God makes alive that which is dead so that a lost person can respond to the
gospel. If you do not respond, the Holy Spirit might leave you alone. After
that you might search for a place of repentance but never find one.
Paul’s conversion required
separation. God wants everyone to be saved but also knows who will
eventually accept Him and who will not. When Paul mentioned that the Lord “separated
me from my mother's womb,” he did not mean that he was predestined. God
knew Paul would one day trust Him on the road to Damascus, and He had a plan
for his life all along. We do not know who will eventually be saved, so it is
our responsibility to tell as many as we can and let them have that
opportunity.
His conversion resulted
in service. He immediately attempted to join himself to other
believers, and he repeatedly wanted to know what the next step in his Christian
life should be. A good sign of genuine conversion is a desire to be obedient in
baptism and church attendance, along with a yearning to know Him better and
live for Him.
I believe Paul’s
attitude could be expressed this way: “I gave fervent service to ‘religion,’ so
now that I am born again I can do nothing less than give fervent service to
Jesus Christ.”
Someone once said
that if you win a good Catholic person to Christ, you will produce a great
Christian. Such a person who has been indoctrinated for years in duty, religion
and methodology now has the grace of God shining in the heart and has the
opportunity to serve Him not out of obligation or to try to earn a ticket to
Heaven, but out of grace and love because Heaven is already assured.
Paul’s conversion
was reinforced by the Spirit. He knew that God had moved inside of him,
and as he wrote in II Cor. 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a
new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
When God moves in
and takes up residence in a person’s life, some things change immediately. I
cannot know another man’s heart, but at times I can determine his lost
condition by the evidence in his life, because “by their fruits ye shall
know them” (Matt. 7:20). If there has never been a desire for spiritual
things in someone’s life, that is a big problem.
Paul talked about
his EDUCATION in verses 17-20. “Neither went I up to Jerusalem to
them which were apostles before me; but I went into Arabia, and returned again
unto Damascus. Then after three years I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and
abode with him fifteen days. But other of the apostles saw I none, save James
the Lord's brother. Now the things which I write unto you, behold, before God,
I lie not.”
His teacher was
the Lord Jesus Christ. He didn’t seek out anyone else, as we see in verse 17,
but he spent three years on the backside of the desert studying one-on-one with
Jesus.
Paul was an
apostle, and the requirement for being an apostle is to have seen the risen
Lord in person. If you see a billboard or an advertisement about a revival
meeting with Apostle So-and-So, just disregard it. Unless he has seen Jesus, he
is just using a biblical term because it sounds cool.
Consider the time
involved in his education. We know that Paul already had an extensive knowledge
of the Old Testament, having learned at the feet of Gamaliel. Now think about
the three years he is talking about in this passage. That is the same length of
time Jesus spent in His earthly ministry training the disciples. That is
probably what Paul was learning during this time, and there could be no better
teacher.
There is no
shortcut to meaningful education and service. A lot of times we want the
abridged version when we just need to sit down and take the time to learn what
we need to know.
His testing
is noted in verses 18-19. He saw no one for three years but then visited Peter
and James. Why those two? Peter, as we all know, was the vocal leader of the
early church, while James became the senior pastor of the church at Jerusalem.
Those men were the authority figures of the early church movement, and Paul
visited them so they could prove him. He had learned enough to know that he
should not be sent out on their behalf without a proper vetting process, so
that Peter and James could put their stamp of approval on his ministry.
That is a
principle we should continue to apply in our churches today. Individuals do not
start churches; churches start churches. A situation arose in Texas where a man
began a ministry a few blocks away from our church, reaching out to the
homeless and people struggling with substance abuse. One day he announced that
it was a church, and it wasn’t long before the lawsuits and complaints began to
surface. I followed it in the local media, and when he was asked under what
authority he was established, he said, “None. I just started a church.” He got
himself into a mess because of the unscriptural way he started his church.
Notice in verse 20
Paul’s truth. He understood the importance of being true to the Word of
God. If I were to stand in the pulpit and say something contrary to the Bible,
the problem would be with me, not the Bible. The same goes for any other
preacher.
In verses 21-24 he
outlined his VOCATION. “Afterwards I came into the regions of Syria
and Cilicia; And was unknown by face unto the churches of Judaea which were in
Christ: But they had heard only, That he which persecuted us in times past now
preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. And they glorified God in me.”
We see in verse 21
that he went right to work. In the beginning he was unknown to the
churches. In fact, early passages in Acts refer to “Barnabas and Paul,” not
“Paul and Barnabas.” Make sure that your motive for service is not to be known
by others, because that is fleeting praise. I would rather be known by God and
not known by anyone else in the world. If you are known to God, you are in good
company.
He had unction
to preach. If God stirs you to do something, just go to it. If you wait
until you think you have everything ready, you will never do it. There is a
need for training and preparation, but there is a time when you have to step
out by faith and just do it. Where God leads, God provides.
A great truth in
verse 24 is the ultimate glory to God that was given in his life and
ministry. What will your epitaph be? For what will you be remembered? The best
thing that could be said about you is that God was glorified through your life.
Too many of us
live for ourselves or for the moment. Let’s live for what God can do through
us.
