Stand firm in God’s gospel

Sermon Transcript

Real Christianity is all about being unburdened from everything that truly wearies us. Jesus did not say, “come to me all who are weary and I’ll give you more to carry.” Jesus said, “come to me all who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” And Paul’s letter to the Galatians is all about how the gospel of grace unburdens us. One of our tour guides on this journey through Galatians and into the heart of the gospel of grace, Martin Luther, 500 years ago wrote: If we are comforted and heartened by the grace of God (that is, by the forgiveness of sin and by this peace of conscience), we are able to bear all troubles valiantly…When sin is pardoned and the conscience set free from the burden and sting of sin…Because everything inside is sweet and comfortable, we can do and suffer everything willingly. The gospel of grace – forgiveness of sins that brings internal peace – is what allows us to face all of our burdens valiantly, which is what it means to be unburdened. So, let me ask you, what is burdening you these days?

 

I’ll tell you one thing that burdens me and I bet burdens all of us: instability. One of the greatest burdens we carry is that our lives are rarely stable, constantly full of change and unknown, and we struggle to be stable and steadfast in the midst of it all. Our own instability and struggle to be steadfast is one of the greatest burdens we carry. I actually think that our universal longing to be stable and steadfast, unburdened from being so up and down, is part of why the recent passing of Queen Elizabeth II so captured the attention and imagination not just of people in Britain, but around the world. Queen Elizabeth personified firm stability in our unstable world and we long for that. Listen to the way one author eulogized the late Queen: “Throughout the dominions the Queen ruled, no one under the age of 70 has known another monarch. The nature of this world is ever-changing and often uncertain. But she was a fixed point. The Queen was always part of life—rarely front and centre in our consciousness, but always there. She connected us to our past. She’d endured the Blitz of London in the Second World War; her first prime minister had been Winston Churchill; her mother had been born in the Victorian age. Everything changes; but, in many ways, she did not.” One of the greatest burdens we face is our own instability in our ever-changing and uncertain circumstances. And that’s why Paul wrote our passage in Galatians for this morning, to unburden us from our instability by establishing us firmly in the gospel of grace, which is God’s gospel, not man-made wishful thinking. The heart of our passage is found in Galatians 1:11-12 – For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 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 that brings us to the big idea of our passage: stand firm in God’s gospel. Be unburdened by standing firm in God’s gospel for three reasons: 1. God’s gospel frees you to serve Christ, not people (1:10) 2. God’s gospel was revealed by Christ, not people (1:11-24) 3. God’s gospel was confirmed by the right people (2:1-10). 

 

GOD’S GOSPEL FREES YOU TO SERVE CHRIST, NOT PEOPLE (1:10)

 

The Apostle Paul’s opponents accused him of being a people-pleaser. Let me explain. After Paul preached the gospel of grace to the Galatians and planted churches there, false-teachers wormed their way into the Galatian churches and taught the Galatians that Paul made up his gospel to please people. They claimed that Paul got his gospel from the important Apostles in Jerusalem – Peter, James, and John. Here is the gospel the false-teachers claim Peter, James, and John gave to Paul – what they claim is the true gospel: Jesus + upholding the Old Testament law (circumcision, special days/festivals, kosher) = right with God. Jesus + human merit = truly loved and accepted by God. Then the false-teachers claimed that Paul altered the gospel to make it more pleasing to his non-Jewish audience. They claimed that Paul cooked up a man made gospel: Jesus + nothing = saved. He made up his gospel because he’s a people-pleaser and Gentiles would prefer Jesus + nothing over Jesus + circumcision. In Galatians 1:10 Paul responds: 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. Paul’s response: “Do you – my beloved Galatians – really think I’ve made up a people-pleasing gospel?! Look how much I suffer for my gospel! Look at all the opposition, push back, and persecution I am getting from these false-teachers. They’re making my life miserable and they’re stealing you all away from me. If I were trying to please people and get approval from people, then I would just drop my gospel of free and unmerited grace through Christ, but I won’t. I stand firm in the gospel of grace – Jesus + nothing = right with God – because it’s God’s gospel and the gospel of grace frees me to serve Christ, not people. The gospel of grace frees me to be a Christ-pleaser, not a people-pleaser. And you can’t serve both.” Stand firm in God’s gospel, the gospel of free grace in Christ, because God’s gospel frees you to serve Christ, not people. 

 

I want to paint you a picture of two different days. I want you to tell me which days sounds more “unburdened.” Day 1: You arrive at work and it’s Monday morning. You’re grabbing coffee and someone asks you what you did this weekend. When you answer, you leave out that you went to church and spent time with friends from church. You don’t want your co-workers to think you’re one of those pushy religious types. You sit down at your desk and notice an email from your boss in your inbox. Your heart sinks. What did I forget to do last week? What is she going to think of me? Your day is off to an anxious start. You head into your weekly strategy meeting. You have an idea for how to increase Q2 revenue, but you keep quiet. You’re not sure it’s a great idea and you don’t want someone to think you’re incapable. You arrive home and your spouse is upset. They tell you that you did that thing that you do that really bothers them. You refuse to receive it. You defend yourself and argue. Now it’s time to put the kids to bed. Like every other night, they act like this is a shocking development. They push back on the clear bedtime that you’ve given them – saying you’re so strict. You cave and don’t do what you told them you would – again. Friends – that’s the people-pleasing, people-serving day. Day 2: You arrive at work or log-onto slack and a co-worker asks you what you did over the weekend. You unhesitatingly say that you went to church and respond to their surprise by telling them how much church and Jesus mean to you. Nothing crazy. Just a sentence or two. You even invite them to check out the church some time. You open your inbox to a polite but clearly disappointed message from your boss. You’re bothered, but you take it to Jesus. You say a quick prayer asking the Lord to help you experience the truth that you work for him not your boss, and then you get busy seeking to correct your mistake. Later in the day when you have an opportunity to speak at the planning meeting, you share your idea and to your surprise, it’s adopted. You’re really happy, but you don’t gloat over or gossip about the person who spoke against your idea because recognition isn’t your identity. When you finally get home and your spouse “confronts” you, you receive it humbly and offer a straightforward apology without excuse or correcting some of the details they got wrong. The evening isn’t ruined. And when you go to put your children to bed, you do what you say you’re going to do, even when the kids toss a frustrated label at you. Friends – that’s the Christ-pleasing, Christ-serving day. Now, let me ask you, which day seems more unburdened. Well, of course, it’s the Christ-pleasing day and the gospel of grace frees you to enjoy it. The gospel of grace says despite all your sins, you’re forgiven and loved by God because of Jesus’ finished work, not your works. Therefore, you can enjoy the unburdening joy of being a person of integrity and consistency. You can be who you are in Jesus. You can take the highs without becoming proud and the lows without becoming despondent because God’s gospel frees you to live for an audience of one. So friends, stand firm in the gospel of grace – the release from sin and a quiet conscience – because it frees you to serve Christ, not people. Ok – but how do we know that the gospel of free grace that Paul preaches is God’s gospel? That brings us to the second reason to stand firm in God’s gospel:

 

GOD’S GOSPEL WAS REVEALED BY CHRIST, NOT PEOPLE (1:11-24)

 

Remember: The false-teachers were teaching the Galatian churches that Paul’s gospel was man-made. They claimed that Paul got his gospel from the big shots in Jerusalem and then cut out the part that the Gentiles wouldn’t like so that they would approve of Paul. Galatians 1:11-12 is the heart of Paul’s defense: For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. But it’s Paul’s own experience that provides the evidence that his gospel was revealed by Christ, not people. As a young man, Paul was on the fast track and his life was going great. He was a pupil of the famous rabbi and scholar Gamaliel and was advancing in Judaism way faster than his contemporaries. He was so zealous for his religion that he persecuted the church of Jesus and felt great about it. Paul had no reason to follow Jesus or make up a gospel – he was a rising star with nothing to gain and everything to lose if he converted. But the God who set Paul apart from birth, called Paul by grace, revealed His Son to Paul on the Damascus road, and sent him to preach the gospel to the Gentiles he once despised. And Paul went! He didn’t go up to Jerusalem to consult with the men who were Apostles before him. No! After Christ revealed himself to Paul, Paul immediately went and preached Jesus in Arabia and then in Damascus. After three years of preaching, he did go up to Jerusalem, yes, but not so that people would reveal the gospel to him. Paul had already been preaching the gospel for years and the churches in Jerusalem never even met him. Paul’s example provides a powerful reason to stand firm in God’s gospel and so be unburdened: Paul had no reason to preach the gospel unless it was true. Paul had nothing to gain and everything to lose by believing the gospel, but he believed it and preached it because his gospel was revealed by Christ, not man. Stand firm in God’s gospel. 

 

Friends, there is something I have to tell you and that I need you to believe: if you’re a follower of Jesus, your story is no less miraculous than Paul’s. You too were once an enemy of God and a hair’s breadth from Hell because of all your disobeying and ignoring God. But like Paul – God set you apart before you were born. You were a dead person and you were made alive through the resurrection of Christ! Like Paul, you’ve been converted and called and Paul’s story can be your story. Galatians 1:22-24 – And I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. 23 They only were hearing it said, “He who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy.” 24 And they glorified God because of me. Friends – you stand in the same gospel of grace that Paul did because it’s God’s gospel. And your story can be the same – you can leave a legacy. People can glorify God because of the way God’s gospel changes you. I want people to glorify God because of you. Living to please people is a massive burden. Living so that people glorify God because of you, that’s what it means to be unburdened. How?

 

1. Prayer warrior
2. Mentor
3. Witness
4. Person of integrity
5. Gospel-patron

 

GOD’S GOSPEL WAS CONFIRMED BY THE RIGHT PEOPLE (2:1-10)

 

Paul did not get his gospel from people, but the right people did confirm his gospel because it’s God’s gospel. Galatians 2:1-2 – Then after fourteen years I went up again to Jerusalem with Barnabas, taking Titus along with me. 2 I went up because of a revelation and set before them (though privately before those who seemed influential) the gospel that I proclaim among the Gentiles, in order to make sure I was not running or had not run in vain. The result of Paul’s meeting was that Peter, James, and John – the lead servants of Christ – added nothing to Paul’s gospel. The original apostles gave Paul and his team the right hand of fellowship to keep preaching God’s gospel, and only asked that they remember the poor, which is the very thing that true Christians are eager to do. Stand firm in the old gospel of free and unmerited grace because it’s God’s gospel, confirmed by the right people. 

I have something very encouraging to tell you: you’ve got the right gospel. The gospel of grace – release from sins and a quiet conscience – is God’s gospel. The gospel of justification by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone is God’s gospel – confirmed by the earliest pillars of the Christian movement. How encouraging. You don’t have to wear the burden of creating your own belief system or fashioning a new, more progressive, or innovative gospel. After 2,000 years of Christian history, “new” is usually heretical. Stand firm in the gospel of grace, it’s God’s gospel, confirmed by the right people. Stand firm in the old, historic, tried and true gospel of free and unmerited grace through the sinless life, atoning death, and victorious resurrection of Jesus for your sins, and you can face all your burdens valiantly, which is what it means to be unburdened. As Luther wrote, “If we are comforted and heartened by the grace of God (that is, by the forgiveness of sin and by this peace of conscience), we are able to bear all troubles valiantly…When sin is pardoned and the conscience set free from the burden and sting of sin…Because everything inside is sweet and comfortable, we can do and suffer everything willingly.” Stand firm in God’s gospel.