[0:00] Let's join together in a word of prayer. Let's pray. Lord, as we are reminded even through the simple words of a children's catechism, as we are reminded that you are the God who is creator of all things everywhere, help us not to assume we are somehow past that knowledge.
[0:24] Help us instead, Lord, to understand that that is knowledge we never grow past. But instead, help us to understand that the depth of that is beautiful. We come today to a God who knows us, a God who made us, a God who sees all that we have and all that we are.
[0:44] Lord, to some here today, that is a frightening prospect. We come before you, a God who sees us, who knows our very thoughts, who knows our very actions. To others here today, those of us who know and who love you, that is a comforting thought.
[1:00] As the psalmist tells us, that there is not any place in creation, not any place physically or spiritually, emotionally, intellectually we can go to escape from you. But you're with us.
[1:14] You see us, that you know us. Lord, if to the heights we go or if in the depths we lie, you are with us. You pursue us. You see us. Help us, Lord, to understand that this new week.
[1:27] We come just now around a God who is living and a God who is not distant. As we're reminded, a God who is close. A God who is our only hope in life and death.
[1:38] A God who your people belong to fully and wholly. A God who promises to keep us and never leave us nor forsake us. As we sung just now, a God who hears the cries of the brokenhearted and the distant.
[1:50] Who hears the cries of the abused. Who hears the cries of those who are in pain and distress. You're a God who shows your infinite care in infinite ways. But who ultimately showed your care and love for us in the sending of your own precious Son.
[2:06] Lord, help us to lay aside all the burdens and stresses and strains and to focus on him. The one who promises that all who come to him, his burden, his yoke, his ease, his light.
[2:25] Who promises to take from us all our burdens. Who promises to take from us all the burdens of impending doom and wrath. And who instead promises us freedom in his finished work.
[2:38] We ask this day, Lord, that freedom will be known to everyone here. Lord, the freedom what it is to know Jesus as friend, as king, as saviour. We pray just now for our gathering here, Lord.
[2:48] We thank you for it. Thank you just now for our friends who have gathered here once more. Friends who have gathered with us for many years, many decades. Who have heard the word week after week.
[2:59] Lord, we thank you for them. We thank you for bringing them here once more. Whether they're here out of interest or hearing it here out of duty. Lord, we ask you to bless this day to them. Bless your word to them.
[3:11] Pray just now, Lord, for your people here today. For those of us who know you and who love you. Who have proclaimed that Jesus is our saviour, Lord. We ask that you would encourage us in your word today.
[3:23] Help us to be built up in it. We pray mindful that we come together, as we've seen this last week, as a community who is mourning the loss of one who was so well known for many, many years, Lord.
[3:39] We pray just now especially, Lord, for our dear sister's family. Those who are grieving the loss of a sister.
[3:51] A mum. Close family. Close friends. Close community ties. And we know that even the gift of a long life, it does not lessen the reality of grief.
[4:09] We pray for our own sister who is grieving the loss of her sister. Our own sister of the Lord who for many years showed such love and care to her late sister.
[4:22] Lord, we pray you be with her, dear child especially. One who has given many years of service to you in this place. And one of whom many of us are thankful for her time and her service here for the Lord.
[4:34] A pillar for those here in a wider aspect who are mourning not just recent loss, but who are mourning the loss of many years ago. Those who are going through times of pain and times of struggle just now.
[4:48] Those who are going through mental pain and physical pain. Those who are dealing with complicated life situations. For all the various reasons, all the various ways life is complicated.
[5:01] Health situations and family situations. Personal situations. Perhaps financial situations. Lord, you know that the full scope of all the troubles of this room.
[5:12] We bring these things before you. We pray just now for those who cannot be here today, but who would long to be here. And who would love to be here on any other occasion. Lord, we ask that you would be with them just now.
[5:23] Give them a special sense of your presence, we ask. Those who are often engaged in works of mercy. Lord, we ask that you would encourage them as they serve you in their places of work.
[5:34] Pray just now, Lord, especially for those who are not here. And those who perhaps have never been here. Those perhaps who only come very much on occasion.
[5:46] Those who have never been near this building. The many in our homes. The many in our families. The many in our village. Who have no gospel interest. Or little gospel interest.
[5:58] Who have no understanding as to the danger of their souls that are in. And Lord, we ask that you would bring them to a saving knowledge of yourself. And we know that you do that often through means. And we as your people are one of the means you use.
[6:11] Lord, give us then the wisdom to share the gospel. We pray just now, Lord, for these three people we've been asked to pray for. Help us, Lord, to choose these three individuals.
[6:22] These three families. And to be faithful in the month of February and praying for them. Knowing, Lord, that you hear the prayers of your people. And as we pray for them daily.
[6:34] That they would come to know you. And come to love you. And come to serve you. And come to know salvation through Jesus and him alone. We ask, Lord, that you bless these prayers. We ask that in time we would see answers to these prayers.
[6:49] As we pray, Lord, for these individuals we see a church in action. A church in motion. Doing what we've been called to do.
[7:00] To be your hands and feet in this place. Help us for all our endeavours. Individually, but also as a congregation as we seek to share the gospel. Lord, you bless that gospel sharing work.
[7:12] We would see fruit for it. Not for our glory. But for your glory and your glory alone. As we pray for ourselves. We pray for their wider work in the denomination. We give you praise, Lord, for the two encouraging prayer points we are remembering today.
[7:26] We pray just now especially, Lord, for Bishop Briggs. As they see an increase in their midweek meeting. As they see an increase in folks attending. And wanting to know more about who Jesus is.
[7:37] We ask you to encourage that work. Lord, you'd fervour that work. And folks would grow in their faith. And grow in their understanding. I want to bring before you their brothers and sisters in Helensburg, a free church.
[7:49] We thank you for the work that they are doing. The various ministries that they have going on. Focused primarily on the preaching and teaching and sharing and engaging in your living word.
[8:00] We pray for them just now as they ask their prayers for a solution for their welcome problem. Of too many families. And too many young people. Too many that they are struggling to find space and struggling with the numbers.
[8:14] Lord, we ask you to encourage that. And Lord, as they ask us to pray. We pray, Lord, that more people would come. As they ask for help, Lord. They also ask that more would attend. And more families would be drawn to that place.
[8:26] And your work would be complete. We ask, Lord, for teachers for them. For a change of situation for them in terms of their space. You are in all these things.
[8:37] And all the growth that we experience. And all the growth that we see. Whether one person, one family, many families, many people. It is all down to your glory. All down to your power.
[8:48] Lord, we do not measure our success in numbers. We do not measure our success in effort. We measure our success in our faithfulness to you. As we are faithful to serve you how you call us to serve you.
[9:02] We leave the rest with you. Give us, Lord, then the strength to strive. To plant well. To plant that seed. Give us, then, the seed, then, to see the necessity to water that seed.
[9:16] Help us to share the gospel. Help us, then, to encourage those who engage in the gospel. Help us, then, Lord, to be faithful, diligent, dutiful servants.
[9:44] Help us, in our homes and our private lives, to reflect what we are publicly. Help us not to be a disconnect between us. To pray for ourselves.
[9:57] We pray for the wider gospel work in our island and in Scotland. Across not just the free church. Across the other congregations which seek to worship you in spirit.
[10:09] And in truth, we give you praise that the gospel is not kept or bound to the free church. But you have your people across Scotland. Across the denominations. To pray for ourselves.
[10:20] To pray also for the wider gospel work in the world. As we see and hear of the many challenges. But with that, the many good news stories.
[10:31] As your gospel spreads and spreads. In places where the gospel wasn't ever known previously. We now hear of brothers and sisters coming to faith. And sharing the life-giving gospel.
[10:42] Lord, you are building your church. And the gates of hell. The very powers of hell. The very attacks of hell. They have no power over it. They rail and they rile and they hate.
[10:55] But you alone are conquering the enemy. As we pray, Lord, for that. We pray for ourselves today. Keep us far from the work of the enemy. Pray for our villages now. We know as we proclaim the gospel at this moment.
[11:08] As we seek to see and pray for and work towards gospel growth in Tolstice. We are aware that the enemy hates it. That he is doing and he will continue to do all and many things against the gospel work.
[11:21] Give us, Lord, continued unity. We thank you for it. Give us continued peace, Lord. Give us a continued awareness of the tactics of the evil one. With that and more than that.
[11:32] Give us that continued knowledge. That sure knowledge. Of all his efforts. That he has lost. That our saviour has stamped upon his very head.
[11:44] Crushing it. The war has been won. There are still battles and skirmishes around the edges. The war has been won. And day by day.
[11:55] Hour by hour. The enemies are being put under the feet of our saviour. As he reigns and rules. As his kingdom expands. Not by bloodshed. But by hearts of stone being turned to hearts of flesh.
[12:09] Pillar for any and the many. Perhaps even our own lives. Who are still under the heavy weight of the evil one. Lord, that you would release them from that. And find. That they would find the freedom we have.
[12:22] In Jesus and him alone. It's in his name. It's for his sake. We ask for these many things. Amen. Let's turn to read.
[12:35] In God's word. We can read in Galatians chapter 1. That's page 913. Page 913. We're starting today a new series.
[12:46] In the book of Galatians. Don't worry. We haven't forgotten the Mark series. But. We'll give Mark a wee break for a while. We were. Almost three quarters of a year really.
[12:57] In Mark there. So we'll give Mark a wee break. We'll start a new series in Galatians. And we'll bring Mark in then. God willing. Later on in the year. Galatians. That's page 913.
[13:08] Galatians chapter 1. Galatians 1. Paul. An apostle. Not from men. Nor through man. But through Jesus Christ.
[13:20] And God the Father. Who raised him from the dead. And all the brothers who are with me. To the churches of Galatia. Grace to you. And peace from God our Father.
[13:31] And the Lord Jesus Christ. Who gave himself for our sins. To deliver us from the present evil age. According to the will of our God and Father. To whom be the glory forever and ever.
[13:44] Amen. I'm astonished. That you are so quickly deserting him who called you. In the grace of Christ. And are turning to a different gospel. Not that there is another one.
[13:56] But there are some who trouble you. And want to distort the gospel of Christ. But if even we. Or an angel from heaven. Should preach to you a gospel. Contrary to the one we preached to you.
[14:08] Let him be accursed. As we have said before. So now I say again. If anyone is preaching to you. A gospel contrary to the one you have received. Let him be accursed.
[14:19] For now. And for am I now seeking the approval of man. Or of God. Or am I trying to please man. If I were still trying to please man. I would not be a servant of Christ.
[14:32] For I would have you know. Brothers. That the gospel that was preached by me. Is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man. Nor was I taught it.
[14:44] But I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism. Have I persecuted the church of God. Violently.
[14:54] And tried to destroy it. And I was advancing in Judaism. Beyond many of my own age. Among my people. So extremely zealous was I. For the traditions of my fathers.
[15:05] But when he who had set me apart. Before I was born. And who called me by his grace. Was pleased to reveal his son to me. In order that I might preach him among the Gentiles.
[15:16] I did not immediately consult anyone. Nor did I go up to Jerusalem. To those who are apostles before me. But I went away into Arabia. And returned again to Damascus.
[15:28] Then after three years. I went up to Jerusalem. To visit Cephas. And remained with him fifteen days. But I saw none of the other apostles. Except James. The Lord's brother.
[15:40] And what I am writing to you. Before God. I do not lie. Then I went into the regions of Syria. And Sicilia. And I was still unknown and person. To the churches of Judea. That are in Christ.
[15:51] They only were hearing it said. He who used to persecute us. Is now preaching the faith. He once tried to destroy. And they glorified God.
[16:02] Because of me. Amen. We could praise to God. For his holy. And his perfect word. Let's again sing this time. From the Scottish Psalter. And Psalm 124.
[16:17] Scottish Psalter. Psalm 124. The first version. Of the psalm. Scottish Psalter.
[16:30] Psalm 124. The first version. Of the psalm. It's on page 417. Had not the Lord been on our side. May Israel now say. Had not the Lord been on our side.
[16:42] When men rose us to slay. They had us swallowed quick. When as the wrath against us did flame. Waters had covered us. Our soul had sunk beneath the stream.
[16:53] Psalm 124. The whole psalm. aspects of the Lord. To God's praise. Welcome to Scott Спanical. The all possible warm. IsAA.
[17:03] New Omar. New Time Shane. If you are now on our side. Vish J микár. For God. What he rise. About Thid. November 8 Jo. The Lord has said, I've known the Lord here on our side when never was right to stay.
[17:32] They part of the small open wells there is a The heart of others swearing high, O blood of stormy wind.
[18:25] Blessed be the Lord, who through their teeth, A sin not far appeared.
[18:43] Her soul's distinct, with our last heart, Her love the first year.
[19:01] Blessed be the Son, who through their hands, And we escape the night.
[19:19] A children of God, so a patient held, A sin not far appeared.
[19:37] They still could hear the hell created, Back to the earth, dear God.
[19:58] We'll turn back to the chapter we had, Galatians chapter 1, verses 1 down to verse 5 this afternoon. We're starting a new series, so it's important for us to spend just today, giving us ourselves the basics, the background, And just some of the direction where we're heading.
[20:24] Perhaps it might feel like a waste of a good half hour of a sermon, But actually, it's essential for us to know the context of why this book was written, And to give us an idea of why we should even be studying it.
[20:39] Why does it matter to us in Tolstah, Of this letter written a few thousand odd years ago, Why should we care about it today? Just to answer these questions under three very broad headings, Looking at verses 1 down to verse 5 as a framework, We can see quite simply, first of all, the Galatians, then the Apostle, then the Saviour.
[21:04] The Galatians, the Apostle, and the Saviour. First of all, the Galatians, we look at the end of verse 2, Paul then addresses the letters 2, To the churches of Galatia.
[21:21] Note, first of all here, it's a plural term really, This is a letter that would be shared among perhaps several small gatherings Within the wider area.
[21:32] Now, although we must give background today, The truth is, there's an ongoing discussion, It's not detrimental to the faith, It's not detrimental to scriptural truth, It's just a history situation, There's lots of discussion as to where, Or to who, This letter was actually written.
[21:53] Yes, it was Galatians, But there were believers from Galatia living elsewhere in the Roman Empire, But also, of course, there were plenty of believers in small gatherings in Galatia itself, And the overwhelming majority, as far as I can see, The thinking is, this is, of course, to Christians living in the Galatia, In that area, that land mass, we could say, That border-defined area, Believers in Galatia, A Roman province, we'll see that in a second, In reading for this, The last few weeks, There's one commentator, Who was a Jewish man, He was born a Jewish man, He was born to a Jewish family, Of good Jewish lineage, Very strong, actually, Jewish lineage, They escaped, From the concentration camps, They were just about to go on a train, They escaped, that's an amazing story, And they landed in America, This man can trace his Jewish lineage, Back generations,
[22:54] Of eminent rabbis, And so on, Going back hundreds of years, And in his own studies, This commentator was reading, He's called Gerard Buchert, He was reading, Some ancient Jewish prayers, From around 2000 years ago, Give or take, And he was translating these prayers, For a PhD program, He was working on, And one of the prayers, He translated, Goes like this, Thank you, Oh Lord, Thank you, Oh Lord, For not making me, A Gentile, A slave, Or a woman, Now, This was used, Actually, Later in his life, And, It was through Galatians, He was saved, We're reading Galatians, But that's his story to tell, That apart from being awful, Of course, To a woman, Which is bad enough, He noted, That this prayer, Which was a common prayer said,
[23:56] For not making me a slave, A Gentile, Or a woman, Is actually answered, In Galatians chapter 3, And he says, This is the whole summary, Of the book of Galatians, Isn't it?
[24:08] But in Christ, There is no longer what? Jew or Gentile? There is no longer slave or free? There is no longer male or female? Now, Of course, These categories exist, Culturally, Practically, And physically, We are what we are, But what Paul was saying there, And what this Jewish prayer was saying, Is that no longer, A Gentile or Jew?
[24:30] The political, Religious boundaries, We are now in Christ, If we know him, We are in him, The longer slave or free, Our social, Economic situation, Our financial situation, Our life situation, Even today, We are different backgrounds, There are some here, And to be blunt, There are some here, And perhaps, The bank balance, Are different to others here, Our home life is different, Our luxuries are different, That's just the reality, The reality of things, We are rich, Some of us are less rich, But in Christ, We are one, There is male and female, And for all the realities, That means for us, In our different, Approaches in life, Our different views on life, In Christ, We are one, And in Galatians, That is our summary, In Galatians, We see, The reality, That in Christ, We are together, In Christ, We are united,
[25:32] So the audience, This audience, Of Galatian believers, Written to believers, We said, In the Roman, The Roman province, Of Galatia, A very mixed, Cultural area, Mostly Gentile, But of course, Some Jewish believers, Had moved in, And this is always providential, If you were present, Last, Tuesday was it, With the, The WFM meeting, You couldn't write it, With Andrew, Giving his excellent talk, And if you missed it, I'm sorry you missed it, It was a great talk, Going through Paul's, Missionary journey, And he touched on the fact, Of this area, And, I was tempted to get him up there, To do this sermon for me, And give him a better introduction, I can just now, But just in short, There's a mixed area, Mostly pagan, Mostly, A mixed, Or just background, A trading area, A rich area, And here is where, These Christians are, Jews, And Gentiles, A real mix, A real mix, Of people, And backgrounds, And stories, And as far as we know, This is the church,
[26:33] That was planted, In Acts 13, Acts 14, Evangelised by Paul, And Barnabas, And then further, Helped by Paul, Naming and sending Barnabas, To them, We see that, In the letter, Paul names Barnabas, Here, Three different times, He reminds the Galatian Christians, That he knows them, That he's the one, Who's with them, And so on, A gathering of Christians, Friends, Brothers and sisters, Like us, A mixed gathering, Individually, Each one of us, We're different people, Different ideas, Different quirks, Different personalities, But together, We serve, The Lord, That's the audience, What's the purpose then, Of the book of Galatians, Why did Paul have to, To write this letter, To this church, Quite simply, There's a base reason, Paul wrote the letter, Because Paul, Wanted to see, How they were doing, That's a very base reason,
[27:34] But there's a reason, Paul wanted to see, How they were doing, Unfortunately, In the Galatian churches, They had risen up, Wrong teaching, They had risen up, Forms, Of division, Quite simply, There were issues, In this early, Small gatherings, Of believers, There were issues, And Paul is writing, To support them, To challenge them, To bring them, To bring them back, To gospel truth, Now, We'll see this, In the next few weeks, We don't actually know, Exactly, The exact detail, Of the issues, They were facing, We can see the symptoms, Of the issues, And we'll deal with that, Later on, In our study, But the exact nature, Of the issues, It's hard, To give a full detail to, And it makes sense, And Paul, We don't have to tell them, Because they knew, Themselves, What the issues were, But simply, False teaching, Had crept into, The church of Galatia, False teaching,
[28:36] Teaching that, Was requiring, Extra steps, You could say, For true salvation, Extra steps, Such as, Circumcision, There were, Ostensibly believers, Who were saying, To the Christians in Galatia, Yes believe in Jesus, And yes everything else, That's all fine, But also, Do this, And do that, And the next thing, To be proper Christians, To be really saved, In this case, We were telling men, Grown men, That they'd be circumcised, The insanity, Of man made religion, But it was there, And it was creeping in, And Paul was writing, To comfort them, But also, Quite honestly, To confront them, To the wrong teaching, That they were engaging with, Actually, Andrew again touched on this, But it was written, Quite possibly, One of the earliest letters of Paul, 48 or 49 AD, That's all fine,
[29:38] That's a fascinating historical fact, But why does it matter to us, Today in Tolstah, Why do we care about this book, This letter? Why should we study it? There's three, Or four main reasons, That I would give, First of all, The book of Galatians, Is about gospel, Clarity, As we study Galatians, It forces us, To come back, Again and again, To what the gospel, Actually is, To strip away, All the extra nonsense, We've added to it, And Christians, Brothers and sisters, This is us, First of all, This is us, All the extra nonsense, We add to the gospel, The bits and pieces, We take from our culture, We take from ourselves, We take from outside, In the world, And we bolt it on, And we say, This is the gospel, When reality scripture says, Actually, This is the gospel, And friends, Who as of yet, Don't know Jesus, Problem is, You also perhaps at times, Have a wrong view, What the gospel actually is,
[30:38] You think the gospel is one thing, When actually the gospel, Is quite different, The gospel is not Jesus, Plus anything else, It's Jesus alone, And the Galatians, Letter, Takes us back to that, Again and again, So it gives us gospel clarity, It also reminds us, As to the reality, And the danger, Of false teaching, Of false preaching, And how easily, And how quickly, And how dangerously, It spreads, In any congregation, And the church of Galatia, Wasn't safe from that, And brothers and sisters, The church of North Olsta, Isn't safe from that either, And Paul, We'll see this next week, I don't want to, Enquote to next week's sermon, But Paul is clear here, In verses six onwards, There's no other gospel, Even if Paul himself, Came back to them, And told them something, Completely different, They were to disregard Paul, And say, Paul you've lost it, My friend, Paul you are wrong,
[31:39] My friend, Paul we won't, We'll listen to you, Galatians reminds us, Of a danger of false gospel, And just as a pointer, And I asked this challenge, I think I was here, On my, I don't know what I was thinking, It's very bold of me, To do this, When I was here on supply, With you, A year last October, I challenge you, As a congregation, That if I started preaching, Something wrong, That was clearly, Against the Bible, Would you challenge me on it, Would you phone a man, Tonight or tomorrow, And say, Donald, What were you saying, I don't know about you, But if my minister, If my minister said to me, I would think, No, But you should, In fact, As Christians, You're duty bound to, False gospel, Creeps in so easily, And not one of us, Your minister included, Is immune, From being led away,
[32:39] So Galatians reminds us, To the danger, Of the false gospel, Thirdly, Galatians, Reminds us, Of the essential, The very base essential, Of gospel unity together, We must be united together, As brothers and sisters, The world is against us, Satan is against us, Our own sin is against us, Therefore in Christ, We must thrive to be united, And finally, As we said, Galatians reminds us, Of our freedom, In Jesus, That in Jesus, We are totally, Truly free, As Christians, And with all that, Galatians reminds us, That if we want to, Know freedom, And know peace, And know unity, And know what it is, To know Jesus, We must come to him, Clarity, Safety, Unity, And really identity, That is the, The framework,
[33:41] Of our series, Through, Galatians, So that's the audience, That the church of Galatia, Well, We now see the writer, Which is of course, Humanly speaking, It's the apostle, Paul, Paul, An apostle, Verse 1, Paul, An apostle, Not from men, Nor through man, But through Jesus Christ, And God the father, Who raised him, From, The dead, Paul, An apostle, It's quite basic for us, But let's get to remind ourselves, Paul, A normal man, Paul, A sinner, Like you, And like me, Paul, Now, In some way, He was humanly abnormal, In that he seemed to have, Quite a capacity, For knowledge, He seemed to have excelled, His fellows, In study, And in, Just sheer brain power, Paul knew his stuff, We see elsewhere, Paul's, Paul's training, Paul gives his,
[34:42] His CV, And we see his CV, Is training under the best of teachers, With the best of knowledge, And it's likely, That Paul, Even as a young man, He's a, A scribe, Pharisee, He was, He was, A Jew of Jews, He was a Hebrew of Hebrews, He was, All in one, Humanly, A religious teacher, He was, The likes of a lawyer, Politically, He was politically, In the structure, The likes of an MP, Almost, In the Jewish structure of the day, He had it all, He had religious knowledge, Scriptural knowledge, He had political knowledge, He'd have had, The whole societal knowledge, This is a man, Who knew his stuff, A man, Who under the most basic, Training regime, Of that time, By the age of 1920, If not earlier, He'd have had to memorise, The whole of the Torah, Memorise it, And more than memorise it, He'd have to know, Where to compare that, With the Mishnah,
[35:42] With other, Jewish writings, So he could tell you, Where a verse was, And then tell you, What this rabbi, And that rabbi, And that rabbi, Said about this verse, Differing views, A walking, Talking, Encyclopedia, Of a man, But he was still just a man, A normal man, And he says here, Later on, He persecuted the church, He was an evil man, A vicious man, A disgusting, Horrifying man, He was a sinner, Like us, Also Paul, Is a man, Like for Christians here, Who was saved, Like us, Now, His salvation, His testimony, Was quite extraordinary, We all know, That the road to Damascus situation, We'll cover that, I'm sure, As we go on, But, In essence, Although dramatic, Flashing lights, And voices from his saviour, And everything else in between, In essence, Paul's salvation story, Is the exact same,
[36:43] As every other person here, Exact same, He was once a sinner, Jesus entered into his life, Paul is now saved, He now strives to live for Jesus, Simple as that, Simple as that, Sinner, Meets with Jesus, Saved, Lives a life, Striving to serve Jesus well, Like us, Like anyone here, Who knows Jesus, And like everyone here, Who wants to know Jesus, Paul was a normal man, And he was saved, Extraordinarily, Yes, But in principle, He was saved in the same way, As every other person here, Who knows and loves the Lord, As a normal man, With, We see an extraordinary calling, Paul, A man, But also Paul, An apostle, And here we see, Paul's role, And his role, Is not normal, His role is,
[37:43] Extra ordinary, His role is incredible, His role is a special calling, With the other apostles, Of Jesus, To be witnesses, To be examples, To proclaim, The wonderful work of God, And we see that, The apostles, Often we see the apostles, At times, Miracles were done through them, Amazing works were done through them, Why?
[38:06] Because they were there, And this is not my quote, If you're a quote, It's not mine, To be the dynamite, That blasts the rock, Ahead, Of the normal working, Of the church coming behind them, There's a whole series here, One day we'll deal with it, The question of, Why don't we see, The same number of miracles, And amazing things, Signs and wonders, Happening today, Quite simply, The answer is, We have the church here today, Now there's still things, That take place, And we'll deal with that one day, But the apostles were there, To go forward into areas, As Andrew shared, Into areas, Where there's Gentiles, Where there's no gospel work, Playing place, And they come as a dynamite, With the gospel, With signs and wonders, And once they establish a church, That church then, With the word of God, Is God's normal means, Of sharing the word, Simple as that, Extraordinary calling, He's a direct calling, From Jesus, Paul an apostle, Not from men, A year ago,
[39:09] Last night, I was made, Your minister, Now of course I was called, I trust, And the church affirms, A calling of my life, From God, Yes, And laying on of hands, Yes, But I wasn't set aside, To be an apostle, I wasn't given, Some extraordinary, Skill set, I wasn't given, Miracle working powers, No, The apostles were, Not made apostles, By men, But directly called, To serve, In Paul's case at least, By the very words, Of Christ himself here, Not from man or men, But through the Jesus Christ, And God, The Father, Paul who was called, To bring the gospel, To Gentile lands, With preaching, And power, But note also, He's an apostle, Yes, With power, With great responsibility, But he's an apostle,
[40:09] Among brothers, He's an apostle, Among brothers, Verse 2, He's writing this, From Paul, An apostle, But also, And all the brothers, Who are with me, You see, With the church Bibles, There's a wee one, There beside brothers, If you follow it, Down to the bottom of the page, I don't repeat this too much, But it's worth repeating, And this is not some new invention, In the new Bibles, This has been a fact, Since forever, The Greek term, Brothers, It is inclusive, Of women too, It's a bad example, But, An ETS, The example is given, And we're told, An ETS, Never use this example, In your pulpits, But here we go, The example is given, It's like us saying, Folks, Guys perhaps, Even worse example, Culturally, It applies to everyone, Perhaps dramatically, It applies to just, One, It applies to men, But it's a common phrase,
[41:10] So when you see brothers here, Written down, It's not excluding women, It's like, It's a Greek thing, You could easily have here, Brothers and sisters, There's no twisting of scripture, To say that, There's no twisting, Of any new Bible translation, It was there, From a very early church, Till now, Brothers and sisters, It's a shorthand, For all the church, So when Paul here, He's an apostle, Among brothers, And sisters, And all the brothers, And sisters, Who are with me, See this letter, Is coming from Paul, Yes, But it's coming from, The whole church, Gathered with him, Friends, And brothers and sisters, There is no Christian, On our own, Not even the apostle Paul, Who did such incredible work, For the gospel, Even he writes alongside, And works alongside, Brothers and sisters, Like himself, And we see elsewhere, That Paul often, Asks for prayer, He asks for help,
[42:12] He needs folks, To come and, Bring cloaks to him, And bring jackets to him, And bring writing materials, To him, He needs folks, To pray for him, He needs financial help, He needs physical help, He needs spiritual help, He's a normal man, Yes, Amazing power, But he's a normal man, And if Paul, Needs prayers, If Paul, The apostle needed, The assistance, And the encouragement, Of brothers and sisters, Then brothers and sisters, We all need, One another too, There is no, Solo, Gospel work, Yes, Paul writes this letter, But he writes it, With assurance, That all the brothers, And sisters, Are also praying for, And remembering, The gospel work, In Galatia, We need, One another, Your minister, Needs your prayers, Brothers and sisters, Together, We need, Our prayers, And support, And so, We fulfil the law, Of Christ, Do we not, That's why,
[43:13] Last week, I was encouraging others, To ask one another, How can we pray for one another, That's a theme, All the way through this year, Every so often, We're reminded of that, Especially in Galatians, The need, To look after one another, To pray for one another, But I'm not saying this, Because I think it's lacking, I don't think it is, I was sharing to the brothers, Just now, Before we came through, Working on getting supply, For this year, Booked up, And, Everyone I talk to about, Tolstah, They love coming here, They love preaching here, They love a sense of unity here, They love a sense of worship here, They love it, I'm not worried, That we're lacking, Somehow, Support one another, But we always need to be mindful, We maintain it, We maintain gospel togetherness, Paul an apostle, But also writing, From the brothers, And the sisters, So the audience, The church in Galatia, The author, Humanly speaking, The apostle Paul, And here briefly, Only briefly because,
[44:14] He is a focus of all our next series, We see the saviour, The saviour, Right from the start, Paul an apostle, Not from men, Nor through man, But through Jesus Christ, And God the Father, Moving on down into verse 3, Grace to you, And peace from God our Father, And the Lord Jesus Christ, Who gave himself for our sins, To deliver us, From the present evil age, According to the will of God, Of our God and Father, To whom be the glory, Forever and ever, Amen.
[44:48] Just three very simple points, To conclude here, About the saviour, From these very first few verses, Of Galatians, Paul writes, And Paul lives, And Paul here seeks to serve, The Galatian church, In the power of Jesus, Again, Paul, The walking, Talking, Encyclopedia, Of scriptural, Knowledge, It's not enough, Humanly speaking, Paul, We're sure, Probably could run the church, Humanly speaking, Paul could do a good job, Of being a church leader, A church, A great apostle, But, Reality is, Humanly speaking, It would fail, Pretty quickly, Paul is writing, In the power, And is ministering, Is serving, In the power, Of Jesus, And him alone, It's all known, Through, Jesus Christ, It's all from him, All through him, And here's where, Our last series, In forms, I hope, This series, All we have, Is what?
[45:49] It's in Jesus, It's all through Jesus, Including all Paul's work, All the hope, Of the Galatian church, It's all through, A living, Saviour, Also, A saviour, Who is sacrificial, Who gave himself, Verse 4, Who gave himself, For our sins, That Paul is willing, To give of his time, His energy, Eventually give his own life, As he languishes, And dies, Paul does it all, Because he worships, A saviour, Who gave himself, For us, A living saviour, A sacrificed, Saviour, Also saviour, Who delivers, Who delivers, Us, From the present, Evil, Age, We've been looking, And are still looking, Next door, At the, Psalm 91, And seeing how that speaks,
[46:50] Of spiritual, Warfare, What we might see, And experience, And know, Of spiritual warfare, Paul certainly did, He knew what it was, To face as aware, Wild beasts, In Ephesus, To speak about, Dominions, And powers, And rightfully so, Paul doesn't, Speak too much, In detail, About what he himself, Experienced, But it's clear, From his writings, That Paul knew, Spiritual attack, Paul knew, Spiritual battle, Of course he did, Brothers and sisters, We come to the book of Galatians, And we find, The constant reminder, That in all things, To quote elsewhere, From Paul, We are more, Than conquerors, More than conquerors, Through him, Gave himself for us, Because he reigns, And rules, Because he is sovereign, For all the issues, And all the infighting, And all the, The false teaching, And preaching, Galatians,
[47:51] Galatians, Christians faced, Paul knew, It was from the evil one, Trying to disrupt, And distress, And distract, The gospel work, And God's people, And nothing's changed, We come today, To a saviour, Who delivers us, Eternally delivers us, From our lost eternity, But more immediately, Again and again, And again, And again, Delivers us, From the tactics, And the attempts, Of the evil one, To distress us, And distract us, And destroy us, As we come to the book of Galatians, We come, All this in mind, A book that teaches us, Gospel clarity, That reminds us of our safety, In Christ, Our unity together in Christ, And finally, Our identity, In Christ, It's not just a book, Which challenges the Christians, But as we go through Galatians, There are, Quite truthfully, In every section of Galatians, There are challenges to those,
[48:52] Perhaps, Who as of yet, Don't know Jesus, Because as we are presenting, Again and again, The beauty of knowing Jesus, The hope of knowing Jesus, The peace, Of knowing Jesus, The love of being in Jesus, The question always has to be asked, What about the opposite?
[49:10] If as of yet, You don't know the peace, Of being in Jesus, Or the love of Jesus, Or the unity of Jesus, Or what it is to be called, One of his own, Why not?
[49:22] The question of why not, Hangs in the air, All the way through Galatians, We'll keep coming back to that question, Again and again, But please never feel like, I'm trying to batter you, Into the kingdom, I'm not, It doesn't work that way, If it did we would try it, But it doesn't work, The question of why not, Is what we must ask, As Galatians reminds us, Of all the wonder, And beauty, And reality of Jesus, We ask why not, Because we want you to know Jesus, For yourselves, For yourselves to know what it is, To find safety, And find unity, And find your hope, And find your identity, In Jesus, To the Lord's help, That is our plan, The next few weeks, It's about our heads now, Word of prayer, Or as we embark, Again on this journey, As we begin this new series, We ask you to, Be with us, And guide us, And keep us, And instruct us, As we go through your word, The reminder of that, The word is yours,
[50:24] The reminder of that, The gospel is yours, It does not belong, To any one man, Any one church, Any one denomination, It is yours, And is true, Because it is yours, Give us Lord, Then wisdom, We ask, As we go through these, Weeks looking at Galatians, You would give us a heart, And a mind, Ready and willing, To lay hold, In the glorious, Beautiful gospel truths, Of this letter, As we hear, As through the struggles, Of these brothers, And sisters of old, The issues they went through, Lord, You would help us, Look to ourselves, And see our own inadequacies, But then look to Christ, And see that he, Fulfils in us, All that we lack, In ourselves, As we go through this book, Lord, We ask that our, Friends with us, Would come to see, Not just for need of a saviour, But also come to see, That in Jesus, He fulfills, All that they are lacking, In their lives, When they would come to him, And find peace, And freedom in him, Thank you Lord, For our time together, Pray, And we thank you once more, For our worship,
[51:24] Our sun worship, And pray Lord, Once more for those, Who lead to worship, Who give of themselves, Every week, To stand up, And to proclaim you, Through song, And as we sing your words, We sing words that are true, And right, Let's call these things, In and through, The finished work of Jesus, Amen, We can conclude, By singing the, The final, Psalm, In the Scottish Psalter, The final Psalm, The book of Psalms, But singing in the Scottish Psalter, Psalm, 150, A psalm of praise, A psalm of thanksgiving, The final psalm, Psalm 150, In the Scottish Psalter, Praise ye the Lord, God's praise, Within his sanctuary raise, And to him in the firmament, Of his power, Give ye praise, Because of all his mighty acts, With praise, And magnify, O praise him, As he doth excel,
[52:25] In glorious majesty, Psalm 150, To God's praise, The 23rd, Is he heard, Who from all his merry Father, The service of the and дрель show, Famous singing in the withholding of prayer, How do they win the tournament of Israel?
[53:07] Bredeism. National Antheb Seminary Thee Bethlehemoria His With all that he goes
[54:15] With him and last in his own hands And all that he goes Rips him up, send us out in place On send us out in time And his singly praise the Lord The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ
[55:22] And the love of God the Father And the fellowship of the Holy Spirit With you now and forevermore Amen