Mark Twain wrote on Puddinhead Wilson’s calendar this thought:
Behold the fool saith, "Put not all thine eggs in one basket,"…but the wise man saith, "Put all your eggs in the one basket and watch that basket."
Paul’s letter to the Galatians is perhaps the outstanding example in Scripture of the same kind of thinking. As God’s spokesman, the apostle insists that we take a stand, that we not hedge our bets, that we not diversify our investments theologically and spiritually, but that we place our hearts, our thinking, and our beliefs in one basket, as it were.
Last month we looked at different snapshots of Christ to provide a fuller view of who He is. The Bible provides us with different angles and understandings of truth and like looking at Jesus, most of us have a limited view, an incomplete album of photo’s. I want to help us embark on a journey that will help us to move from once seeing in a mirror dimly to being able to see face to face as we encounter the teachings of God written throughout the Scriptures by looking at all 66 books, one by one, and drawing from the Holy Spirit an understanding and application for our lives. We will keep the topical messages going on Sunday nights and on Sunday mornings beginning with Galatians, we will be doing a cross country journey in the Word.
To enhance our understanding, I want to encourage you to get involved in one of our community groups where they will dig deeper into the passages covered on Sunday. There you can pick up a more detailed notebook for group and personal study including devotions to help you through the week. The Galatians study will include 32 messages so we are looking to get done by Christmas. If you miss, remember you can access the messages on line or through the tape ministry here at New Hope.
As we study together the message of this book we will be required to make choices in areas where we, perhaps, would rather not have to choose. We may be living the Christian life content to sample tidbits from the theological smorgasbord, and never having to narrow our choices and take a stand. If that is so, we will find, as Paul points out in this book, that the truth of God and life from him cannot come both by the law and by the promise (Gal. 3:18). They have to come from one source or the other. We are required to stand on one side or the other, Paul declares; we cannot be both slaves and free men (Gal. 5:1). We cannot live by both the Spirit and the flesh (Gal. 5:16-17)--these two realities stand in opposition to each other.
Lets begin by looking at the opening of Galatians, verses 1-5. Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead— 2 and all the brothers with me, To the churches in Galatia: 3 Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave himself for our sins to rescue us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, 5 to whom be glory for ever and ever. Amen.
Have you ever had someone tell you, “You are just not good enough?” It might have been in athletics, in academia, at work, in competition of some kind. “You are just not good enough.” The words cause you to take a deep breathe, to hold back your emotions, to keep off the defensive and to go on with life. “Just not good enough.”
Watching American Idol, three judges initially tell contestants, “I don’t know man, you just don’t have what it takes, you are just not good enough to be the next American Idol.” Many walk away in tears, a dream shattered, a door closed. There are some who say, “You haven’t heard the last of me.” They pick up the pieces finding a way to navigate through the disappointment, to reevaluate the challenge and reemerge onto the scene. You might be in that position today, and could I say, you are in good company.
Born the son of a French sea captain in Haiti in 1785, educated a gentleman but an indifferent student in school. Undisciplined at age 14 this young man was sent to military school where he didn’t flourish in that environment, he was sent to America to live at the age of 18. In Pennsylvania he met Lucy who became his wife and in 1807 he began a job at the Benjamin Bakewell import company, the beginning of a dismal business career. He went into the indigo dye business and lost a small fortune. He joined in partnership with a French businessman opening a retail business but it wasn’t long before they were in financial trouble too, his wife selling off her share of the family estate to pay off their creditors. After he and his business partner tried several other locations for business, he sold his share of the business to his partner who went on to become a highly successful businessman. Over the next 10 years he tried a series of unsuccessful ventures and in 1811 returned to the Bakewell import house. It was the eve of the War of 1812, and that business failed. In 1819, after trying to operate a steam sawmill and gristmill in Henderson, Kentucky, he and his brother-in-law went bankrupt.
He did have a love which played through all the failure, something he enjoyed, something he knew he was good at, he loved to hunt and loved art. In 1820 he came up with the great idea, to create a comprehensive printed collection of all American birds based on his life size paintings which showed them in their natural surroundings. In 1826 he had completed enough drawings all the while his wife, Lucy had been working as a tutor and governess to support his efforts. Working with an engraver they printed 200 copies of the first edition which sold for $1,000. Today the first edition will fetch $5 million.
While people looked at his life and stamped failure across his name, by the age of 35 John James knew who he was and found success in that knowledge, not letting other tell him or dictate to him what they thought he was. Not unlike Paul who knew he was an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.
Oh yes, most of you have heard John James name, and have probably seen copies of his drawings of birds, for John James last name is Audubon.
As we look at this opening verse, at the words of Paul stating he is an apostle appointed not by man but by God, there are implications in our own lives as to who we are. You might have experienced failure in your past like John Audubon. When you discover who you are in Christ, those failures can be turned around. Remember Paul could be considered a failure in the eyes of Christians, having been a persecutor of the faith but when he experienced an encounter with the risen Lord, Paul went on to be one of the most influential Christian leaders of all time.
Paul knew who he was and didn’t need the accolades of man to puff him up. He was an apostle, which means one who is sent with a commission, an ambassador, a messenger. Paul said, Paul, an apostle not sent from men, nor through the agency of man, but through Jesus Christ, and God the Father…
Consider for a minute the broader implications of Paul’s statement that it was directly through the choice and power of God that he became an apostle. Here Paul is reminding us that when God has dealings with us he always does so directly, sovereignly and without intermediaries. Nobody was smart enough to convince Paul that he should follow Jesus Christ, win him to the cause, train him and then offer him to God as a likely spokesman. Paul was an enemy of the good news. Nobody could see in him the potential that God saw in him. Even after he had met the Lord and become a believer people ran away from him in fear. In an extremely dramatic fashion God spoke to Paul on the Damascus Road and won him to himself. God did not counsel with anybody about the action he was about to undertake. He did not wait until a degree had been granted, or until a committee had met and decided that Paul was a fit candidate for apostleship. God acted sovereignly and directly--"up close and personal," as the television sports show has it.
Paul was not appointed by the church in Jerusalem, or any other body set by man, but was directly called and anointed by Jesus Christ. Three times in the Book of Acts he speaks of this experience. Turn in your Bibles to Acts 9, reading from verse 1:
1Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest 2and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. 4He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?”
5“Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked.
“I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied. 6“Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
7The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. 8Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. 9For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.
10In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, “Ananias!”
“Yes, Lord,” he answered.
11The Lord told him, “Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.”
13“Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. 16I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord–Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here–has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 18Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, 19and after taking some food, he regained his strength. Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. 20At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.
Imagine his life, he starts out, highly educated, to persecute Christians. Luke writes of his life in this portion of Acts as still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. How many of you can relate to making statements derogatory toward Christians in your pre-Christian days? There is always a growing animosity toward Christians from the non believing world. Hopefully you were not breathing out murderous threats.
Do you remember your conversion to Christ? Perhaps not as dramatic as Paul’s but somewhere one your own personal road to Damascus, Jesus Christ brought divine revelation into your life, the Holy Spirit who had been working to get you to see the truth blinded you from the false teachings and lies about Christianity and a bright light came on in your brain and you for the first time truly understood and accepted the claims of Christ, crossing the line and embracing Christianity.
Like John Audubon who began his journey in life doing what others expected, Paul found out who he was in Christ and totally involved himself in sharing that identity with others, even to the point of eventual imprisonment and death.
When you realize who you are, then you can take a bold stand in that identity. Who are you? If you don’t know who you are, then it is impossible for you to stand for anything for too long without caving into the teachings of others.
Paul looks to the death of Jesus Christ, who we know was resurrected from the dead, as the means to deliver us from this present evil age. There is a strong introduction of eschatology, the study of the end times, in the opening of this epistle. There is a deliverance from the evil we see around us. In their day they dealt with the evil of government, the Roman government which was suppressing the belief of Christians, sending them into the arena in many cases to face death.
Today, it is less government and more individuals who use whatever means at their disposal to thwart the faith all the while we see the present evil and anti-Christian sentiment on the rise, a land which had forsaken the truths of God exchanging them for a lie. Romans 1:24-25 says of our day, 24Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator–who is forever praised. Amen.
26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones.
Paul, in his opening words to the church at Galatia, was declaring war against those who stand opposed to Christ and will use whatever means to stop the spread of Christianity by distorting the truth. It is war.
Rick Joyner in one of his newsletters asks the question: “What are you fighting for? This is a question we must all soon answer. We are here to fight, and to conquer. The emerging church will not be content to just hold its ground. It will be looking for land to retake for the coming kingdom. We will do much of this by having the answers to the world’s worst problems. We will have the light that dispels the darkness. His people will have the helping hand that will pull others out of the quicksand. However, we cannot pull others out until we ourselves are standing on solid ground. Let us build our fortifications upon that which cannot be shaken, and then go forth from them to the sound of the battle.”
I believe this book, which was written to the churches of Galatia nineteen hundred years ago, was written for people like us too. This book is spiritual dynamite for Christians who would seek to combine concepts that God insists may not be combined, Christians who want life from God but also want the approval of men, who want the riches of the Spirit but also want the benefits of human association, who would rather hold together what must be set apart. If we hear the message of the book clearly we will be required to put our eggs in one basket. We will not have the option of serving men, pleasing men, being rewarded by men, and serving God. May God strengthen us to make the right choice.
As we will see next week, Galatians is a call to arms to not allow the enemy of the faith destroy the good work God been building in lives. In your community groups this week you might want to discuss fighting the good fight of faith and work on identifying your enemies.
Today, we want to battle by confessing our weakness allowing the Spirit of God to give renewed strength.
Hannah Smith wrote, “The moment we let go the thought of a personal Jesus, we step into a path which may lead us into unitarian darkness which has misled thousands. But while we cling to Him, I believe it is impossible for us to go far wrong. If we are “strengthened with might by His spirit in the inner man,” it is that “Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith,” and that we may comprehend the heights and depths of His love.”
Let today be a renewal of our vows to Christ, and if you have never taken the time, today would be a good day to ask Him to be the CEO of your life so that you can attain what He has laid hold of for you.
Altar time of commitment/close
