Have you ever been accused of something?
Maybe you've been accused of being a coward before.
And if you've been accused of being a coward before,
it doesn't take much, something like that, to get on the defensive pretty quick.
Well, this morning we're going to look at a passage in which the Apostle Paul
is defending himself against a charge of cowardice.
It comes in the phrase of a man-pleaser.
There were a certain group of people in the southern region of Galatia
at this time when this letter was written
that were seeking to distort the gospel that Paul preached.
And they were troubling these recent converts to Christ,
these recent Gentile converts to Christ.
And one of the things that they were saying was this.
Hey, it's okay to believe in Jesus,
but in order to be right with God,
not only do you have to believe in Jesus,
but you need to be circumcised if you're a guy,
and you need to observe all the Jewish dietary restrictions,
plus you need to get time off for Yom Kippur and Rosh Hashanah and Hanukkah
just to make sure you're observing all of the Jewish holy days,
and then you'll be right with God.
And out of that, they were saying of the Apostle Paul,
Paul is preaching a watered-down gospel to you.
He's not telling the whole truth of the gospel
because he's not preaching circumcision.
And the charge was he's doing that
because he's trying to curry favor with you Gentiles.
And so Paul responds to this charge in 110.
He says,
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.
Essentially, this passage is the Apostle Paul
defending his ministry from an accusation
that he's watering down the gospel out of the fear of man.
And so the way that he lays this out is,
in verse 10, he makes a claim.
If I were still trying to please man,
I would not be a servant of Christ.
That's the claim.
And then in 11-12, he offers his first line of evidence,
the gospel itself.
And then in verses 13-24,
he offers a second line of evidence.
He's no man-pleaser because of the gospel
and what the gospel has done in his life.
And so the point of this passage is this.
The gospel of Jesus Christ,
the one true gospel,
sets us free from the snare of the fear of man
so that we can live as servants of Christ among men.
The gospel sets us free from the fear of man
so that we can live as Christ's servants among men.
So let's look at this claim.
Let's look at the two different lines of evidence
that support this claim.
And the claim, again, is found in 110
where he says,
if I were still trying to please man,
I would not be a servant of Christ.
Now, if you weren't here last week,
the apostle Paul lays out the one true gospel
in verses 1-5 of chapter 1.
And then 6-9 is this apostolic rumble strip
in which he's saying to these Galatians,
why are you departing the gospel?
And then he goes on as far as to say,
hey, if there's someone preaching the gospel to you
that is contrary to the gospel I preach,
that's adding to faith in Christ alone,
let that person be damned.
And then he turns to verse 10 and says,
hey, do you think that me,
speaking God's damnation on people,
do you think that I'm now in doing that
seeking the approval of man or of God?
Or am I trying to please man with what I'm saying?
If I were still trying to please man,
I would not be a servant of Christ.
Three times in verse 10,
he raises this issue of the fear of man.
He says,
the approval of man,
am I seeking that?
Am I trying to please man?
If I'm still trying to please man?
The fear of man
is when you're more concerned
what people think about you
than what God thinks about you.
You're ruled by people's opinions
of who you are,
how you're living,
instead of God.
And so what we see going on
in verse 10
is the apostle Paul
responding to this accusation.
Man pleaser?
Seriously?
If I were still trying to please man,
I would not be a servant of Christ.
Do you see what he's doing there?
He's saying,
it's one or the other, baby.
You're either going to live
for what people think about you,
or you're going to live
as a servant of Christ.
You can only have one master.
Let me try to illustrate this.
Let's pretend you have a friend
who claims to be a Packers fan.
He invites you over,
you go down into his man cave,
and when you go down
into his man cave,
you can't help but notice
all the bears paraphernalia on the wall.
In fact,
he has a giant big screen TV,
and there is this perpetual loop
of the 1985 Bears Super Bowl shuffle
being played.
Now, according to the rules of fandom,
you can't have it both ways.
You're either a fan of the Bears,
or you're a fan of the Packers.
All in, baby.
One or the other.
Jesus says something very similar
in the Sermon on the Mount,
where he says,
you can't serve both God and mammon.
It's one or the other.
You can only live for one God.
And here, the Apostle Paul is saying,
you can only live for either
what people think about you,
the approval of man,
or Christ.
Christ.
Being a servant of Christ.
If you are in this room right now,
and you find yourself
regularly ruled or controlled
by what people think about you,
here's what you need to understand
about that.
That's just not a psychological issue.
That's just not a result
of the way you were raised
with an overbearing mother
or an absentee father.
At the core
of the fear of man
is a worship issue.
It's idolatry.
It's living for a false god.
And when you're ruled
by the fear of man,
you live a miserable life.
I know.
I've been there often.
In this book by Ed Welch,
he is a member of the
CCEF staff,
the Christian Counseling
and Education Foundation
out of Philadelphia.
Excellent group of people.
He penned this book in 1997,
When People Are Big
and God Is Small.
It's a book about the fear of man
and overcoming the fear of man.
And at the beginning of the book,
he says this,
however you put it,
the fear of man
can be summarized this way.
We replace God with people.
Instead of biblically guided
fear of the Lord,
we fear others.
Of course,
the fear of man
goes by other names.
When we are in our teens,
it's called peer pressure.
When we are older,
it's called people pleasing.
Recently,
it's been called codependency.
With these labels in mind,
we can spot the fear
of man everywhere.
And he then lists
a bunch of descriptions
of the fear of man.
Let me share with you a few.
Have you ever struggled
with peer pressure?
Peer pressure is just a euphemism
for the fear of man.
Being more concerned
with what people think about you
than what God thinks about you.
It's idolatry.
Are you overcommitted?
Did you find,
do you find it hard to say no
when wisdom indicates
that you should?
You are a people pleaser.
Another euphemism
for the fear of man.
Being more concerned
with what people think about you
than what God thinks about you.
Do you need something
from somebody
to fill your love tank?
Is self-esteem
a critical concern for you?
Do you ever feel
as if you might be exposed
as an imposter?
Are you always
second-guessing decisions
because of what other people
think about you?
Do you feel empty
or meaningless?
Do you get easily embarrassed?
Do you ever lie,
especially the little white lies?
What about the cover-ups
where you are not technically
lying with your mouth,
you're just trying
to cover your shame
before people?
Are you jealous
of other people?
Maybe it's because
you're controlled
by what they think,
what they have.
Do other people
often make you angry
or depressed?
Do they make you crazy?
If so,
maybe they're the controlling
center of your life.
Do you avoid people?
Isn't a hermit
dominated by the fear of man?
Aren't most diets,
even when they are
ostensibly under
the heading of health,
dedicated to impressing others?
And then he sums it up
by saying,
have all these descriptions
missed the mark?
When you compare yourself
with other people,
do you feel good
about yourself?
Perhaps the most dangerous
form of the fear of man
is the successful fear of man.
Such people think
they've made it.
They have more
than other people.
They feel good
about themselves,
but their lives
are still defined
by other people
rather than God.
At its core,
being a man pleaser,
the fear man
is idolatry.
And it's something
that we don't just
get therapy for,
it's something
we need to
repent of.
What Paul is saying here
is he's saying,
I am no man pleaser.
I can't be.
Otherwise,
I wouldn't be
a servant of Christ,
living all of who I am
for Him.
And so in one sense,
Paul is saying here,
hey,
this charge doesn't stick.
But maybe you're
in the room
and you're thinking
that charge sticks.
Because I'm ruled
by what other people
think about me.
I spend a lot of time
replaying conversations
I've had with others.
Could it be that
you are enslaved
by the snare
of the fear of man?
Proverbs 29, 25.
This morning,
what you need to know
is that the gospel
of Jesus Christ
frees us
from the snare
of the fear of man
in order for us
to live as servants
for Christ
before man.
So Paul begins
by making this claim,
if I were still
trying to please man,
I would not be
a servant of Christ.
And then he moves on
in verse 11 and 12
to support that claim.
And the first place
he goes,
his first line
of defense
is pointing to
the gospel itself,
the very nature
of the gospel.
What he doesn't do
is this.
He says,
okay,
I've been accused
of being a man pleaser,
so I wrote
the apostles
in Jerusalem
and they wrote back
and I've got this letter
and this letter says
it's signed by Paul
or Peter
and by James
and John
and they say,
yeah,
this guy's not a man pleaser.
See?
See what they say?
He doesn't do that.
He points to the gospel.
He says in verse 11,
for I would have you know,
brothers,
that the gospel
that was preached by me
is not man's gospel.
You see,
he's not a man pleaser
because of the gospel.
What the gospel is.
What does he mean
by this?
This gospel preached by me
is not man's gospel.
It didn't start with man.
The gospel of Jesus Christ
that Paul proclaimed
to these Galatians,
the gospel of Jesus Christ
that you yourself have heard,
this gospel
is not a result
of human ingenuity.
Nobody thought this up
on a whiteboard.
The source of the gospel
is not human.
The source of this gospel
that Christ
delivered himself
for our sins
in order to deliver us
from this present evil age,
this gospel
comes from God.
What Paul is
correcting here
is this idea
that somehow
he thought up the gospel
or that he somehow
tweaked it
or he was given
a tweaked version
of the gospel.
He's saying,
no, no, no.
This gospel
is not human invention.
I didn't get online
and get licensed
on this gospel
by men.
Remember in
The Wizard of Oz,
Dorothy and her gang
shows up
at the gold castle
and they walk in
and there's Oz
and the big head
and then something
goes wrong
on the sides
and then they realize
that Oz
is actually
this itty-bitty
professor from Kansas
with a big
self-esteem problem.
Paul is saying,
no, no, no.
The gospel
isn't that.
I'm not behind
the gospel.
Someone else is.
In verse 12,
he says,
for I did not receive
it from any man
nor was I taught it
but I received it
through a revelation
of Jesus Christ
and here is the
origin story
of the gospel.
the gospel
is not born
of man.
The gospel
comes from God.
I received it,
the gospel,
through a revelation
of Jesus Christ.
That word revelation
is this sense
of disclosure,
God pulling back
the curtain
of being able
to see something
that God alone
allows you to see.
here's the gospel
and what Paul
is talking about
in verse 12
but I received it
through a revelation
of Jesus Christ,
he's talking about
that moment in his life
on the road to Damascus
in Acts chapter 9
where the risen Christ
intersects his life
and dramatically
reorients Paul
from being a man pleaser
to a servant of Christ.
Paul's saying
this message
that I preach
to you
I received it
as a revelation
from Jesus Christ
from God.
This is God's message
to you.
I'm no man pleaser
because the message
I preach
is God's message.
God's message
to save
sinful humanity
from the consequences
of their sin.
Now here's the connection
I want to help you see.
Because the gospel
is God's message
to save
it's a message
about the death
and resurrection
of Jesus.
That's the power of it.
because this
is God's message
about what God
had done
on the cross
it's God's
power
to change
sinners.
Because it's
from God
it's
God's power
to change.
That's why
in Romans 1.16
the apostle Paul says
I am not ashamed
of the gospel.
I fear no man.
I'm not ashamed
of the gospel
for
it
is
God's
power
unto salvation
for
all
who believe.
Because
this
message
that the risen
Christ
had entrusted
to Paul
himself
is
God's
message
it
is
able
to do
things
that
no
human
can
do.
So here's the line
of argument
so far.
Paul makes a claim
hey I'm no man
pleaser
I'm a servant
of Christ
I live for
him now.
Because of
the gospel
what this gospel
is
it's
God's
message
to sinful
humanity
it alone
has the power
to change
people.
so let's
apply it
this way.
Two things
first is this
what you need
to understand
is that
this gospel
is God's
revelation.
I don't know
about you
but sometimes
you can hear
the word gospel
so much
you can forget
what it actually
is.
God's
message
to us
God
making his
appeal
to us
to be
reconciled
to him
God's
power
to us
to change
us
from beginning
to end
to save
from beginning
to end
so the first
question I want
to ask you
this morning
is this
have you
forgotten
the nature
of the gospel
that it's
God's
message
and his
power
the second
way to apply
it is to
realize
like Paul
that the gospel
is our
first line
of defense
we go to
the gospel
daily
to inform
who we
are
in Christ
the gospel
frees us
from slavery
to sin
and enslaves
us
to Christ
you see
the blood
of Jesus
not just
set us
free
to do
whatever
we wanted
to do
the blood
of Jesus
set us
free
from sin
so that
now
we can
live
for Christ
and his
will
the gospel
is God's
ongoing
provision
of power
for us
to rescue
us
from the
fear of
man
it reminds
us again
and again
we are not
our own
in just
a few
verses
Paul is
going to
say this
I have
been
crucified
with
Christ
and
I've
been
crucified
Christ
how does
it go
I've
been
crucified
with
Christ
I hear
all that
I'm not
hearing it
though
I've been
crucified
it's no
longer I
who live
but Christ
lives in
me
in the
life I
now live
in the
flesh
I live
by faith
in the
son of
God
who
loved
me
and gave
himself
up for
me
that's
how Paul
is saying
I'm a
servant
of Christ
now
maybe you
remember
Philippians
1 21
for me
to live
is Christ
and to
die is
gain
maybe you
remember
1 Corinthians
5 15
and he
died for
all that
those who
live
may no
longer
live for
themselves
but for
him
who for
their
sake
died
and was
raised
the
gospel
doesn't
free us
to do
anything
we want
to do
the gospel
frees us
from slavery
to sin
from the
fear of
man
so that
we would
serve
Christ
this
gospel
is
God's
message
and God's
power
that's the
first line
of Paul's
argument
of his
support
the second
line
of Paul's
support
is found
in 13
verses 13
through 24
again
Paul is
saying
hey I'm
not a
man
pleaser
I am
a servant
of Christ
because of
what this
gospel
is
and
13
through 24
what this
gospel has
done in
my life
see
in verses
13
through 24
Paul begins
to lay out
his life
for us
he shares
his testimony
with us
he says
look
in verses
13
through 14
he shows
us
what he
was like
before
his
conversion
and then
in verses
15
through 17
he shows
us what
happened
at his
conversion
and then
in verses
18
through 24
he shows
us
what happened
three years
after his
conversion
and it's
all there
to help
us see
about
what the
gospel
is
and the
effect
on this
man
he's no
man pleaser
he's
Christ's
servant
so in
verses
13
and 14
he tells
us
what he
was like
before
his
before
his
conversion
he says
for you
have heard
of my
former
life
in
Judaism
and two
things
come out
I was a
persecutor
of the
church
you see
that in
verse 13
violently
tried to
destroy it
in verse
14
he says
I was
extremely
zealous
for the
traditions
of my
father
so much
so I
was
advancing
in
Judaism
beyond
many
of my
own
age
among
my
people
he was
a
persecutor
of the
church
if you
look at
the book
of Acts
when Paul
comes on
the scene
he comes
on the
scene
as one
who is
causing
great harm
to the
people
Jesus
has bought
with his
own
blood
he throws
in his
lot
to put
someone
to death
he's
saying
oh yeah
you deserve
to die
Christian
he was
breathing
out
lies
and
violence
he was
having
people
rounded
up
and
bound
in
Acts
9
he is
given
official
authorization
by the
Jewish
high
priest
to go
to
Damascus
and bring
back
any
Christian
bound
he was
a persecutor
of the
church
he was
not
loving
his
neighbor
and
what
seems
to have
been
fueling
that
we see
in
verse
14
he was
a
zealot
extremely
zealous
for the
traditions
of my
fathers
notice
he wasn't
extremely
jealous
for God's
name
for the
traditions
of men
he was
moving up
in the
pharisaical
ladder
advancing
more
than
other
people
his age
if
he would
have
been
in
the
Jerusalem
the
Shalom
magazines
top
40
at
40
he's
been
very
impressive
what
seems
to have
been
controlling
the
apostle
Paul
before
he was
converted
by
Christ
is a
fear
of
man
he
was
a
man
pleaser
he
was
so
zealous
for
the
traditions
of
his
fathers
and
he
was
seeking
to
impress
a
small
group
of
people
he
was
so
driven
by
this
he
was
willing
to
do
violence
to
other
people
cast
his
vote
to
see
them
killed
we
got
to
ask
a
question
here
what
drives
a
person
to
such
extreme
measures
to
do
things
like
this
in
110
for
I am
now
seeking
the
approval
of
man
or
God
or
am
I
trying
to
please
man
if
I
were
still
trying
to
please
man
I
would
not
be
a
servant
of
Christ
ironically
Paul's
saying
hey
I'm
no
man
pleaser
now
but
15
20
years
ago
before
I
was
converted
oh
yeah
I
was
a
man
pleaser
the
successful
fear
of
man
guy
I
was
moving
up
in
the
world
isn't
it
scary
how
our
fear
of
a
small
group
of
people
can
result
in
our
hurting
other
people
maybe
you're
here
this
morning
and
you're
just
being
honest
with
yourself
and
you're
thinking
you know
what
this
sounds
a lot
like
me
I
am
willing
to
hurt
others
for
the
sake
of
my
reputation
in
the
eyes
of
a
few
if
that's
you
have
a lot
in
common
with
Paul
before
he
encountered
Jesus
on the
road
to
Damascus
and
it
begs
the
question
what
do
you
think
it
takes
to
change
a
person
who's
driven
by
man
pleasing
to
become
something
other
what
do
you
think
it
takes
it
takes
an
act
of
God
an
act
of
God's
grace
so
we
move
from
what
Paul
was
like
before
his
conversion
to
15
16
and
17
Paul
at
his
conversion
in
verse
15
we
read
but
when
he
who
had
set
me
apart
before
I
was
born
that
but
is
God's
grace
God
interrupting
God's
sovereign
grace
interrupting
the plans
of this
man
pleaser
it's
God's
grace
butting
in
so to
speak
the
apostle
Paul
says
but
he
who
set
me
apart
before
I
was
born
that's
prophet
talk
it's
like
Jeremiah
1
5
it
reveals
that
God
had
a
plan
for
Paul
even
before
he
was
born
that
God's
plan
for
Paul
in
his
big
scheme
of
salvation
included
having
to
rescue
Paul
from
being
a
persecutor
and a
zealot
it was
all part
of
God's
plan
he
called
me
by
his
grace
who
called
me
by
his
grace
was
pleased
to
reveal
his
son
to
me
do
you
see
that
in
verse
15
excuse
me
16
was
pleased
to
reveal
his
son
to
me
literally
the
original
language
says
pleased
to
reveal
his
son
in
me
here's
what
here's
what
I
think
Paul's
getting
at
when
he
was
on
the
road
to
Damascus
he
was
moving
to
Damascus
driven
by
this
persecution
of
this
zeal
to
please
win
the
approval
of
man
and
then
he
meets
the
risen
Christ
says
Saul
why
are
you
persecuting
me
and
Jesus
reveals
to
Paul
his
plan
what
he
has
done
for
Paul
and
at
that
moment
on
the
road
to
Damascus
God's
gracious
calling
in the
form
of
this
revelation
of
Jesus
it
had
this
immediate
and
internal
impact
on
the
apostle
Paul
it's
called
conversion
he
was
immediately
and
internally
changed
by the
grace
of
God
in
the
appearing
of
Jesus
God's
grace
flipped
Paul
flipped
him
from being
a
persecutor
of
Christ
to
a
proclaimer
of
Christ
and
it
happened
in
moments
at
this
moment
I
have
a
sneaky
suspicion
that
for
the
first
time
in
Paul's
life
he
realized
this
he
realized
the
scope
and
scale
of
God's
love
for
him
he
realized
that
there
is
nothing
that
he
could
do
to
make
God
love
him
more
nor
was
there
anything
that
he
had
done
that
would
make
God
love
him
less
this
was
God's
grace
on
Paul
on
the
road
to
Damascus
it's
his
conversion
and
his
calling
for
many
of
us
in
this
room
it
is
hard
for
us
to
believe
how
deep
and
wide
and
ongoing
is
the
grace
of
God
for
us
to
fathom
that
there's
nothing
that
we
can
do
to
make
God
love
us
more
nor
is
there
anything
that
we've
done
to
make
him
love
us
less
seems
crazy
to
us
but
that's
the
crazy
love
of
God
that's
his
grace
that's
gospel
that's
what
Jesus
purchased
for
us
and
so
what
we
see
here
in
these
few
verses
is
Paul
referring
to
that
moment
in
time
where
Christ
the
risen
Christ
flipped
him
by
his
grace
he
freed
him
from
his
man
pleasing
and
bound
him
to
himself
the
grace
that
freed
Paul
bound
Paul
the
grace
that
freed
Paul
from
sin
and
man
pleasing
bound
him
to
Christ
and
here's
what
this
means
for
us
the
risen
Christ
in
his
glory
revealed
in
the
gospel
is
the
cure
for
our
people
pleasing
our
fear
of
man
in
all
of
its
forms
the
gospel
frees
us
from
the
fear
from
the
snare
of
the
fear
of
man
and
it
sets
us
free
to
serve
Christ
among
men
he
flips
us
he
flips
us
from
wanting
to
advance
our
own
reputations
among
men
and
he
flips
us
by
his
grace
to
advance
Christ's
reputation
before
men
that's
the
power
of the
gospel
the
power
of the
gospel
of
Jesus
Christ
radically
reorients
an
idolatrous
heart
off
oneself
and
onto
a
glorious
risen
Christ
and
in
verses
16
and
17
what
you
see
is
the
immediate
results
of
his
conversion
look
what
he
says
he
says
in
verse
16
I
did
not
immediately
consult
with
anyone
verse
17
nor
did
I
go
up
to
Jerusalem
to
those
who
are
apostles
before
me
you
know
what
he
is
saying
I
wasn't
seeking
anybody's
approval
I
was
converted
by the
risen
Christ
who
revealed
the
gospel
to
me
and
I
didn't
check
with
anybody
because
it was
God's
message
and I
was
converted
and called
in a
moment
what
this is
getting
at is
the
apostle
Paul
making
a
defense
I'm
nobody's
puppet
the
apostles
in
Jerusalem
I'm
not
in
their
back
pocket
I
was
independently
converted
and called
by the
risen
Christ
to be
his
apostle
to
proclaim
the
one
true
gospel
to
the
Gentiles
he
doesn't
go to
Jerusalem
he
goes
to
Arabia
goes
out
into
the
sticks
in
isolation
it's
at least
two
or
three
years
and
you
know
what
he's
doing
there
he's
in
the
Jesus
finishing
school
for
apostles
that's
what
he's
doing
Paul
having
now
encountered
the
risen
Christ
goes
out
on
his
own
to
make
sense
of
everything
for
Jesus
to
help
him
understand
how
he
Christ
is
the
fulfillment
of
the
Old
Testament
he
went
to
Arabia
for
a
two
three
year
apostolic
finishing
school
and it
was
from
there
that
now
the
apostle
Paul
is
ready
to
make
a
case
and
seek
to
persuade
people
that
Jesus
is
the
Christ
that
was
at
his
conversion
or
closely
there
too
and
then
in
verses
18
through
24
we
have
his
post
conversion
three
years
after
being
converted
by
Christ
and
called
to
be
an
apostle
three
years
of
personal
reflection
and
this
Christological
rewiring
of his
thinking
you know
how you
buy an
old
house
and it's
got
a
fuse
box
and it's
got
cloth
covered
wires
you
come
in
order
to
get
it
to
code
you
need
to
put
a
new
circuit
breaker
in
and
then
you
need
to
rewire
the
whole
thing
those
two
to
three
years
in
with
Jesus
at
the
center
he's
a
servant
of
Christ
now
it's
all
about
him
following
that
three
years
verse
18
he
goes
up
to
Jerusalem
to
visit
Cephas
aka
Peter
and he
remained
with him
15
days
now
it's
important
to
understand
what
he's
saying
he
is
saying
that
he
went
up
to
Jerusalem
not
for
a
theological
conference
with
Peter
but
to
visit
Peter
you
see
those
two
words
to
visit
that
just
simply
means
to
get
to
know
him
he's
not
going
to
visit
Peter
Cephas
for
Cephas
to
tell
him
what
to
do
Christ
has
already
done
that
and
he
was
there
just
for
just
over
two
weeks
and
while
he
was
there
verse
19
he
happens
to
bump
into
James
the
Lord's
brother
just
two
of
these
apostles
just
kind
of
informal
run
ins
with
them
just
getting
to
know
one
another
he
he's
not
there
to
win
their
approval
is
his
point
verse
20
what I'm
writing
to you
before
God
I do
not
lie
he's
like
before
God
whom
I
fear
and
of
his
Christ
whom
I'm
a
servant
of
I'm
telling
you
the
truth
I'm
no
man
pleaser
I'm
a
servant
of
Christ
21
that I
went
into
the
regions
of
Syria
and
Cilicia
Damascus
is
in
Syria
Tarsus
is
in
Cilicia
go
back
to
business
and
in
verse
22
he says
and I
was
still
unknown
in person
to the
churches
of
Judea
that are
in
Christ
the
churches
the
region
around
Jerusalem
those
Jews
who
had
become
Christians
upon
hearing
the
gospel
what
Paul
is
saying
is
hey
they
didn't
know
me
by
person
I
didn't
go
there
in
order
to
prop
myself
up
to
win
followers
they
didn't
know
me
they
just
knew
of
my
reputation
23
he
who
used
to
persecute
us
is
now
preaching
the
faith
he
once
tried
his
reputation
he's
got
flipped
by
the
grace
of
the
risen
Christ
and
then
verse
24
and
they've
glorified
God
because
of
me
do
you
know
what
that
says
who
he's
in
it
for
he's
not
a
man
pleaser
he's
a
servant
of
Christ
working
living
out
his
life
for
the
glory
of
God
so
here
we
have
in
this
second
line
of
reasoning
before
his
conversion
at
his
conversion
and
after
his
conversion
Paul's
life
bears
testimony
to
the
unique
power
of
the
gospel
that
has
dramatically
changed
his
life
and
those
Galatians
who
are
reading
this
would
be
thinking
it's
the
real
gospel
he's
preaching
the
real
thing
it
truly
is
God's
message
and
I'm
hoping
this
morning
that
when
you're
hearing
this
Paul's
testimony
is
putting
hope
in
your
heart
that
the
gospel
what
the
gospel
what
the
risen
Christ
did
for
Paul
he
can
do
for
you
deliver
you
from
your
man
fearing
he
can
deliver
you
from
addictions
to
porn
and
alcohol
and
gambling
he
can
deliver
you
from
greed
and
lust
and
he
can
deliver
you
from
anger
and
anxiety
because
these
things
are
nowhere
close
to
the
power
of
God
that's
displayed
in the
gospel
of
Jesus
Christ
this
gospel
saves
us
from
beginning
to
end
next
week
Paul's
going to
continue
with
more
lines
of
evidence
that
demonstrate
the
true
nature
of the
gospel
and the
transformation
it brings
about
he's
going to
fast
forward
from
14
years
from
his
conversion
to a
theological
powwow
with
apostles
in
Jerusalem
and
then
he's
going
to
show us
this
confrontation
in which
he rebukes
another
apostle
he is
nobody's
pocket
he's
not a
man
pleaser
he's
a servant
of
Christ
the
gospel
sets
us
free
from
the
fear
of
man
in
order
to
live
as
servants
of
Christ
before
men
I
want
to
apply
this
in a
particular
way
this
last
line
of
reasoning
if
you
are
a
follower
of
Jesus
in
the
room
you
are
a
living
billboard
for
his
grace
and
power
your
conversion
and
your
ongoing
transformation
it
is
a
powerful
tool
for
advancing
God's
purposes
it's
called
a
testimony
what
God
has
done
in
your
life
what
he's
doing
in
your
life
so
let
me
ask
you
this
morning
do
you
have
a
testimony
of
what
God
has
done
in
your
life
spelled
out
in
your
mind
can
you
speak
it
relatively
quickly
to
someone
else
for
God's
glory
if
you
can't
let's
take
our
cues
from
Paul
it
is
a
tremendous
tool
not
only
does
it
share
his
testimony
here
we
get
a
bit
of
his
testimony
in
Philippians
3
we
see
his
testimony
being
used
in
Acts
22
and
26
he's
always
using
his
testimony
to
speak
of
the
glory
of
God
because
he's
a
servant
of
Christ
so
to
that
end
I
have
with
me
a
number
of
these
sheets
it's
from
a
book
called
evangelism
in a
skeptical
world
by
Sam
Chan
and
there's
a
strategy
I've
told
you
about
this
in
the
spring
it's
about
how
to
tell
our
story
as
story
and
what
Sam
Chan
helps
you
with
is
to
write
out
and
get
into
your
mind
the
unique
way
that
God
in
his
grace
intersected
your
life
and
has
changed
you
reorient
you
from
living
for
sin
to
living
for
Christ
I've
got
a
number
of
copies
up
here
I'd
be
glad
to
give
you
one
of
them
if
you're
a
life
group
leader
in
the
room
get
your
life
group
leader
through
this
stuff
equip
your
people
in
order
to
speak
of
what
God
has
done
for
them
so
that
they
can
share
it
in
their
witnessing
with
others
it's
a
tremendous
tool
this
morning
we've
looked at
Paul's
response
to an
accusation
that he's
a man
pleaser
no I'm
a servant
of Christ
and then
he supports
that by
saying
because of
what the
gospel
is
this is
God's
message
God's
power
and then
he points
us
to how
the gospel
has
transformed
his life
before
at
and after
his
conversion
and the
effect
is
this
gospel
is
God's
gospel
it
frees
us
from
the
snare
of
the
fear
of
man
in
order
to
live
as
servants
of
Christ
before
man
so
let
me
just
ask
of
you
a
couple
more
things
how
do
you
respond
I
believe
that
in
this
room
right
now
many
of
us
need
to
confess
our
fear
of
man
we
need
to
repent
of
it
you
need
to
go
before
God
and
say
God
forgive
me
for
being
more
concerned
of
what
people
think
about
me
than
what
you
do
that's
idolatry
that's
wrong
please
forgive
me
and
then
you
remind
yourself
of
the
gospel
of
what
God
and
Christ
has
done
for
you
he
gave
himself
up
for
our
sins
to
deliver
us
from
this
present
evil
age
from
our
fearing
of
man
and
then
would you
get
the
story
the
unique
story
of
God's
grace
changing
your
life
would you
get
working
on
that
so that
you can
share
it
with
others
if
you're
in
the
room
and
you
have
not
been
flipped
by
the
grace
of
Jesus
yet
that
you're
still
living
in
fear
of
what
people
think
about
you
it
rules
your
life
you
know
it
does
I
want
to
encourage
you
to
do
this
one
thing
Jesus
is
alive
would
you
call
out
to
him
something
like
this
Jesus
set
me
free
set
me
free
from
what
people
think
about
me
because
whom
the
son
sets
free
he
is
free
indeed
so
if
you've
yet
to
become
a
Christian
let
me
invite
you
this
morning
turn
from
your
man
pleasing
and
join
us
as
we
become
faithful
followers
servants
of
Christ
for
his
glory
amen
let's
pray
God
in
heaven
thank
you
so
much
for
Galatians
chapter
1
10
through
24
Lord
God
I
pray
for
those
in
the
room
who
are
feeling
the
sweetness
the
goodness
of
the
spirit's
conviction
exposing
an area
of
idolatry
God
thank
you
for
that
and
we
pray
that
you
would
have
them
turn
from
that
and
trust
you
and
that
you
would
bring
freedom
to
them
as
a
slave
of
Christ
it's
in
his
name
we
pray
amen
hit
and
verse
two
you
after
mover
it
ahead
time
on
ta