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“Where Are You Going? Galatians 1:13–17
I. Intro
A. Sometimes our lives feel like they’re on spin cycle.
1. We get up in the morning.
2. We go to work.
3. We go home.
4. We go to bed.
5. We get up in the morning.
6. We go to work.
7. ... and so on and so on.
8. We’re making the same turns we’ve been making all our lives.
9. We may feel like we have no true direction and no true purpose in life. 10. Its like we’re just killing time until it’s time to go home our eternal home.
B. If that describes your Christian life this Scripture may help you today.
1. Read Galatians 1:13–17.
Galatians 1 : 13-17
13 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:
14 And profited in the Jews' religion above many my equals in mine own nation being more exceedingly zealous of the traditions of my fathers.
15 But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called [me] by his grace
16 To reveal his Son in me that I might preach him among the heathen immediately I conferred not with flesh and blood:
17 Neither went I up to Jerusalem to them which were apostles before me but I went into Arabia and returned again unto Damascus.
II. Paul’s Story
A.Paul shares about His Former Way of Life.
1. Paul was a dyed–in–the–wool Jew.
2. He had advanced farther in his education than most people his own age.
3. He was zealous on fire for the Jewish way of life.
4. He could not stand the church or what it taught.
5. Acts 7:58 tells us he was present at the stoning of Stephen a leader in the first church.
6. Here in this Galatians passage he says that he persecuted the church (v.13).
7. Acts 8:3 says “But Saul was ravaging the church and entering house after house he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison.” (Acts 8:3)
8. Here he says he tried to destroy the church (v.13).
9. He went into Christian’s houses dragging them off to prison.
B. Paul was no friend of the church.
1. And he was no Christian.
2. He hated everything Christianity stood for.
3. He tried to wipe Christianity off the face of the earth.
C. Then Jesus was Revealed to Him.
1. In verse 16 Paul simply says Jesus was revealed to him and in him.
2. Acts 9 gives us more detail into the conversion experience of Paul.
3. We all know the Damascus Road experience that Paul had.
4. Jesus revealed Himself to Paul and Paul was never the same again.
5. He came to know who Jesus really was.
6. Jesus became Paul’s Savior and Lord.
D. He Began Preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
1. He says Jesus was revealed in Him so that he could preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.
2. Talk about a drastic change.
3. One day he’s going to Damascus to persecute Christians.
4. One day he’s going to break up the church.
5. A few days later he’s out on the street preaching about the One he had tried to destroy.
6. But God had a purpose for Paul before he was ever born
**to be a preacher and a missionary.
7. And that’s what Paul did for the rest of his life through good times and bad.
8.When things got tough and his life was hanging in the balance Paul never returned to who he used to be.
9. Paul died preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
E. All Christians have had a similar experience.
1. Most of us weren’t as bad as Paul before we were saved.
2. But all of us lived contrary to the ways of God.
3. All Christians had a life–altering experience when they met Jesus Christ.
4. We met Him and things haven’t been the same since.
5. And all of us have a purpose in life to serve God.
F. What can we learn about our own lives from this testimony of Paul?
1. We learn there are 3 THINGS WE NEED TO THINK ABOUT.
III. You Need to Think About Where You’ve Come From.
A. One of the old sayings we’re all familiar with is “Don’t Forget Where You’ve Come From.”
1. This is a saying people repeat to others who might be on the road to bigger things.
2. When someone finds success people will tell them “Don’t forget where you’ve come from.”
3. They say this to make sure they remember who they were before they moved on.
4. They know it’s not good to forget who you were.
B. Christians Don’t Forget Where You’ve Come From.
1. We’re so blessed to now have Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
2. But it hasn’t always been that way.
3. We were once lost and didn’t even know it.
4. We were once under the wrath of God and didn’t even know it.
5. We were once ready to bust hell wide open and didn’t even realize it.
6. If it weren’t for the grace of God we’d still be where we were before.
C. The World is Full of People who are Where You Once Were.
1. They ain’t pretty and they ain’t clean.
2. They live life contrary to the ways of God and they don’t seem to care.
3. They want nothing to do with Jesus and they want nothing to do with His church.
4.But don’t forget where you came from.
5. The only thing that makes you different from them is Jesus Christ.
6. You used to be just like them.
7. And somebody thought enough of you to tell you the Good News.
8. Remember where you used to be and look at these people with the eyes of Jesus.
9. Just like He looked at you.
10. Think about where you’ve come from.
IV. You Need to Think About What God Has Done for You.
A. You’re not who you used to be.
1. You’re a blood–bought born–again Holy Spirit–filled child of the Living God.
2. God saved you from the way you were living.
3. No matter what you used to be or who you used to be you’re now a saved Christian.
B. God set you apart
1. He selected you to share in His grace of forgiveness and eternal life.
2. God wanted you to be saved and now you sit here today SAVED.
C. Let that soak in for a minute.
1. You were lost and dying in your sin.
2. But God already had a plan.
3. When you were born He set that plan in motion to bring you to Him.
4. All of your life’s circumstances all of the turns you’ve made you were walking the wrong road God had a plan
5. God led you right to where you are today a saved person forgiven and headed to heaven.
6. You need to think about what God has done for you.
V. You Need to Think About Where You’re Going.
A. If God did all of that to bring you to Him He must have some purpose for you now.
1. If all He wanted to do was get you saved He could have just called you home right then.
2. But He left you here.
3. So there must be more to God’s plan for you than just getting you saved and into heaven.
B. This is where we get back to what I shared with you earlier.
1. So many Christians are in the spin cycle of life.
2. You’re making the same turns you’ve been making all your lives.
3. You have no real direction and no real purpose in life.
4. You’re just killing time until it’s time to go home.
C. What are you here for?
1. Does that question ever cross your mind?
2. If God has a purpose for you and you don’t know it what could be more important?
3. If God had plans for you since you were born don’t you want to know what those plans are?
D. Paul says His purpose was to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles.
1. What’s His purpose for you?
E. How do you find out?
1. You immerse yourself in His Word.
2. You find time to pray about something other than what you want.
3. You pray for what God wants.
4. You put yourself in a position so that God can use you.
5. You quit thinking materially and start think spiritually.
F. You can start today.
1. You can settle it with God today that you want His will to be done in your life not your own will.
2. You can commit yourself today to His plans and His ways for your life.
