Galatians 1:11-24 New International Version (NIV)
Paul Called by God
11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.
13 For you have heard of my previous way of life in Judaism, how intensely I persecuted the church of God and tried to destroy it. 14 I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people and was extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother¡¦s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.
18 Then after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas[a] and stayed with him fifteen days. 19 I saw none of the other apostles only James, the Lords brother. 20 I assure you before God that what I am writing you is no lie.
21 Then I went to Syria and Cilicia. 22 I was personally unknown to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only heard the report: The man who formerly persecuted us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy. 24 And they praised God because of me.
Building well = Cladding establishing your Christian identity.
In this series of building well we have looked at excavating and buiding great foundations for our Christian lives and last weekwe looked at building an Industrial strength framework for pour christian lives.
You know sometimes we go through times of pain and feel that God is allowing our foundation to be dug really deep but I was listening to Joel Osteen this week and he said the deeper God has dug into your live indicates the higher he wants to build in your lives. If you have been through hard times. Difficultys temptations, setbacks God is excavating deep so he can build high in your life. I found this a really helpful insight.
But today I want to suggest to you your cladding is both personal and important How you wrap your Christian life is wrapped around the framework of the gospel will reveal the identity of your christian ministry. Paul said 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me.
It is Christ in you who should establish your identity.
Recently I was doing DTS in Tonga and a couple of things that happened really made me think about my Christian identity.
1. I had to communicate the gospel in word pictures and examples because I don't speak the language. I learned that my identity in Christ can't be restricted by my culture or what I think I know.
2. We were in Patangata and probably the least attractive area and I was encouraged to share my lunch with those around me to the point where I had no pie left for myself. I learned that my identiy can¡¦t be created or governed by my appetites.
3. I was pretty busy and didn't get any spare time to buy essentials so was delighted when I found a plastic comb lying on the airport floor. I learned that my identity can¡¦t be determined by social mores of my peers. I picked up the comb - Charles Colson writes in his book, How Shall We Live, the solution to the modern day identity crisis of the American Christian. "How do we redeem a culture? How do we rise to the opportunity before us at the start of a new millennium? The answer is simple: from the inside out. From the individual to the family to the community, and then outward in ever widening ripples. We must begin by understanding what it means to live by Christian worldview principles in our own behavior and choices. Unless we do, we will interpret the biblical commands according to the spirit of the age and will therefore be conformed to the world rather than to God's Word" (307).
John Piper has this story to share:-
Doug Nichols, the International Director of Action International Ministries, made the excellencies of God known in a tuberculosis sanitarium in India in 1967 he was a missionary with Operation Mobilization and got TB. He was in the sanitarium for several months. He tried to give tracts and copies of the gospel of John away, but no one would take them. They didn't like him and assumed he was a rich American.
At one point for several nights he would wake up coughing at 2 AM. He noticed a little old emaciated man trying to get out of bed. The man couldn't stand up, and began to whimper. He lay back into bed. In the morning the stench in the ward was terrible and everyone was angry at the old man for not containing himself. The nurse who cleaned up even smacked the old man for making such a mess.
The next night the very same thing happened. Doug woke up coughing with his own terrible sickness and weakness. He saw the old man try again to get out of bed. Again he couldn't stand, and began to cry softly. Doug got out of bed went over to the old man. The man cowered with fear. But Doug picked him up with both arms and carried him to the bathroom which was just a hole in the floor, and then brought him back. The man kissed him on the cheek as he put him down in bed.
At 4 AM another patient woke Doug with a steaming cup of tea and made motions that said he wanted a copy of the booklet the gospel of John. Through that whole day people kept coming to him and asking for his booklets even though he could not speak their language.
The exterior cladding of our lives if Christ is in it will encourage and draw others to Jesus.This week I want to encourage you about cladding your Christian life That is establishing the identity of your Christian life.
In Galations chapter 2 verse 20 we read 20 I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Paul in the book of Galtions in the first two chapters discusses the identity his ministry takes and in some respects puts his life alongside that of Peter. Paul describes himself as the Apostle to the Gentiles He looms as a giant in Christianity and is hugely influential Jesse Lyman Hurlbut described Paul as a tireless traveller ,indomitable worker church founder (i.e., many local congregations], and theologians¨ (1954, 35). He was all that and more.
Peter is described as an Apostle to the Jews.
Someone summed them both up as Paul had a Roman father, Peter a Jewish one. Paul grew up in Tarsus (pagan territory) and Peter in Judea. Peter walked with the human Jesus for 3 years literally, witnessing his hands on ministry and miracles, Paul's experience with Jesus personally was as the glorious Living Word of God in power and light. Peter knew this too but in many other ways too. Paul was trained as a speaker, Peter was not. Paul was a specialist in Torah and the Prophets which is saying "the Bible" as it was up to then (and still is in Judaism today). Peter knew the ways of working as a laborer for a living.
Peter was specifially told to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to bestow power on him (and the others there). Paul got his outside of Israel completely.
Both were passionate men. One married (Peter) and one celibate (Paul). Paul's ministry was extremely outreach and evangelistic. Peter's was to the Jewish nation IN Judea (there was no "Palestine" yet then).
We are all different But God has plans for each one of us as we fulfil his plans our identity becomes distinctively us.
In Galations chapter 1 Paul says:- 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother's womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.
You have a common inheritance along with other born again Christians. You are alive in Christ.
Or in Ephesians 1- created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them. We discover that we are created for a purpose.
We discover that purpose by God's revelation and fulfil it by doing it.
Our identity is revealed as we fulfil God's call but we do not do it on our own. God supports us
But also understand that you are different you have a unique identity and calling from God on your life.
What we discover from Paul is some common experiences for all Christians and some that lead to a distinctive and fruitful Christian life.
:- 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother¡¦s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate
If you are a Christian then you have this common experience with Paul ¡V You have been set apart from your Mother¡¦s womb and you are called by his grace.
What I am saying is we read in Jeremiah chapter 1 verse 5 "I knew you before I formed you in your mother's womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations."
Ephesians chapter 2 says Alive with Christ
9not as a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them.
So there are these two parts: 1. We are God's workmanship has called us, that is all about his knowing us in our Mother's womb and saving us by Grace. In some ways we can not change that God has loved us into the Kingdom it is fixed, a done deal between us and God. But as we have industrial strength framing in our lives then we move on to the second point of both Ephesians chapter 1 verse 10 and in fact what Paul is saying in Galations 1 and that is, that we need to identify and begin the work that God created us for.
So when Paul says in Galations chapter 1 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother¡¦s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles,
4. When we understand God's call For our life and begin to live it we do not do it on our own.
5. God will help you
The prayer of the writer of Psalm 139, King David, showed that he obviously wanted to be in the centre of the will of God. In the Psalm he recalls the attributes of the God to whom he prays. He describes God as:-
„X Omniscient. He is the One who knows all things. Nothing past, present or future is hidden from Him.
„X Omnipresent. He can be experienced in any place by those who want to know Him.
„X Omnipotent. He is the God who can do all things that are in accord with His purpose.
For us it means we have an Omnisccient, Omnipresent and Omnipotent God on our side. When we realise this it means that we can very easily pursue the course that God has plotted for our lives. in Ephesians 1- created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them So we begin to walk in the ways and the plans that God has for us.
Many people only have a vague understanding of what God has called them to be doing but the general direction is often clear.
I think the key for most of us in discovering the identity of our ministry is to begin doing what God has laid on our hearts.
An example would be in the life of William Booth a young teenager in London
Here is his story and observe the progression from taking tentative steps to becoming a great evangelist and reformer
William BoothAt thirteen was apprenticed to a pawnbroker, limiting his education to that of a private tutor from the Methodist Connexion Church His work day was long, sometimes running sixteen hours a day, with very little pay
One night at 11 p.m. on a street coming home from one of the services, he was saved. He was fifteen years of age.
James Caughey, a spirit-filled American evangelist, preached and made a great impression on young Booth and kindled in his own heart a great desire to win souls for Christ. Timid for a while, he finally ventured to read the Bible and deliver some comments on the local street corners. Although he was jeered and scorned and bricks were thrown at him, young Booth did not get discouraged...this was just a foretaste of the battle ahead of him. At 17 he preached his first sermon and was licensed by the New Wesleyan Connexion.
The outcome of these tentative steps was expressed this way¡¨- "GO FOR SOULS, and go for the worst!"
His death 47 years later sharply contrasted as 40,000 attended his funeral service, including Queen Mary of England. His "Army" including 21,203 officers and 8,972 societies were working in 58 countries preaching the Gospel in 34 languages!
For Booth Timid for a while, he finally ventured to read the Bible and deliver some comments on the local street corners. Although he was jeered and scorned and bricks were thrown at him, young Booth did not get discouraged...
In the life of the Catholic Nun Mother Tereasa we find her beginnings almost diametrically opposed to the life she would later live. But again she moved in the general direction of following Christ. Here is a small part of her story:_ In 1928, the future Mother Teresa began her religious life in Ireland, During this period a sister novice remembered her as "very small, quiet and shy," and another member of the congregation described her as "ordinary
One year later, in 1929, Gonxha was sent to Darjeeling to the novitiate of the Sisters of Loreto..
Here she began a career teaching history and geography, which she reportedly did with dedication and enjoyment for the next 15 years. It was in the protected environment of this school for the daughters of the wealthy that Teresa's new "vocation" developed and grew.
During the next two years, Teresa pursued every avenue to follow what she "never doubted" was the direction God was pointing her. I heard the call to give up all and follow Christ into the slums to serve him among the poorest of the poor."
It might be that you would consider the teaching of the daughters of the wealthy in Calcutta was enough but you see it was the initial surrender to do this that led to the higher calling to the dying in Calcutta.
It seems to me that the call of Heidi and Roland Bakker was very different from the dramatic ministry we see today
Iris Global was founded as a dedicated Christian missions organization in 1980 by Rolland and Heidi Baker. At first based in the United States, it encompassed short-term evangelism trips to the Philippines, Taiwan, Indonesia, and Hong Kong, until in 1985 Rolland and Heidi moved to Indonesia. Eventually denied permanent missionary visas in Bali, Rolland and Heidi then moved to Hong Kong. There Iris¡¦s activities were focused on the care and evangelism of residents of the poorest and most crowded slums. After four years Rolland and Heidi left the church they had planted to enroll in graduate theological studies at the University of London. While in England they planted another church, Believer's Centre, and continued to work especially with homeless street-sleepers, along with university students, lawyers and businesspeople. It was a small but beautiful cross-section of the Body of Christ, and all worshiped together as close brothers and sisters in the Lord.
In 1995 Rolland and Heidi came to Mozambique, Africa, where they have concentrated their ministry ever since.
To establish your Christian identity to clad the building of your life you seem to need to do two things
1.Get started doing what God has called you to do.
Paul. 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother¡¦s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia. Later I returned to Damascus.
There is all sorts of speculation about what Paul did there but one writer said:-
This is not talking about where he learned about the gospel, or some mystical teaching he received in the desert, but the grammer points to him immediately following through on the direction given to him through the revelation - to go preach the gospel to the Gentiles.
If this is true and it makes the most sense to me ¡V Paul began doing immediately what Jesus had called him to do.
Long term it played out on the world stage and was a huge party of the spread of the gospel world wide.
In both Paul¡¦s and Peters ministry we see them gradually working out their God given call.
But the key to cladding your life is an Immediate response. In Peters life it shows in Acts chapter 2 In Pauls it was in Arabia.
God is looking to your life for an immediate response. What general area is God calling you to ? Then move in that direction immediately!!!!
The word immediately in the gospels is used to describe Jesus ministry
A characteristic term which occurs with great frequency in Mark's Gospel is the Greek word Eutheos," which is variously translated "straight away, immediately" etc. Notice a few of the occurrences of this word in the first chapter alone: "And straight away coming up out of the water, He saw the heavens opened, and the Spirit like a dove descending upon Him" (v. 10). "And immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness" (v. 12). "And when He had gone a little further, He saw James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother, who also were in the ship mending their nets, And straight away He called them" (vv. 19,20). "And they went into Capernaum; and straight away on the sabbath day He entered into the synagogue, and taught" (v. 21). "And immediately when they were come out of the synagogue, they entered into the house of Simon" (v. 29). "And He came and took her by the hand, and lifted her up, and immediately the fever left her" (v. 31). "And He straight away charged him, and immediately sent him away" (v. 43).
In all, this word is found no less than forty times in Mark¡¦s Gospel. It is a most suggestive and expressive term, bringing out the perfections of God's Servant by showing us how He served
We see the same in the lives of the three people we have looked at here this morning Booth, Tereasa and Bakker.
God wants to wrap your life in your own Christian identity.
But one thing is clear it will have the identity of Christ written all over it.
So my first point is Do anything¨ and God will lead you to the something that he has called you too.
2. I noted among the three ministries I looked at today that they all gravitated to the poor and the broken so did Jesus. It was to the disadvantaged that he was drawn and I believe that we should do the same. The way up in Christianity has always been down.
This morning I want to leave you with these words from Galations 1
In Galations chapter 1 Paul says:- 15 But when God, who set me apart from my mother¡¦s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. 17 I did not go up to Jerusalem to see those who were apostles before I was, but I went into Arabia.
The words I want to leave you with are
= God saved you
God has a purpose for saving you
Finally Act immediately to the purpose God has called you too
And your Christian life will be wrapped in the identity of Jesus!!!!!!!!!!!
