Raise you up from the evil sleep, Bind you on the breath of dawn, Well, welcome to the Chester ARP Church devotional podcast. I'm Clint Davis, your host. Thanks so much for being with us. Galatians chapter one, beginning in verse 11, the apostle Paul giving his credentials to the church in Galatia, reminding them as to why they should listen to him and not to those who are peddling a false gospel, another gospel. He's going to explain in verses 11 and 12. He's going to explain that the origin of the gospel message, the good news of God, comes from God alone. Not from Paul, not from human hands, not from human wisdom, but from God alone. Then he's going to lay out his credentials and say, this is why you should trust me. Here's what he says. Verse 11 of Galatians chapter 1. Let me pull it up here on my computer so I can read it. For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached to you by me is not man's gospel. For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently 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. 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, I did not immediately consult with anyone, nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia and returned again to Damascus. 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. And what I am writing to you before God, I do not lie. Then I went to the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was still unknown in person to the churches of Judea that are in Christ. They only were hearing it said, he who used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy, and they glorify God because of me. Now Paul says, I want you to know, first of all, that the message I brought to you, the one that you are now turning away from, Paul says. And I think that's important to remind us, right? In verses 8 through 10, or 6 through 10, he says, I'm astonished that you are turning away from the message you once heard from us. I want you to understand that that gospel, that good news, came not from me and not from my companions. Rather, that message came from God Himself. The true gospel, the true good news, is the message that was delivered by God to His people through the ministry of the Spirit in His Word and through the testimony of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. The origin of the gospel message is God Himself. And that's important. You may remember we read the first part of Galatians chapter one. He says, grace and peace be to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ who gave himself for us or deliver us from this evil age. I write to you in the name of the Father and the Son who raised Jesus from the dead. This whole message of truth, this gospel that we hold on to, the church in Galatia held on to, if you're a Christian today, you hold on to, that we hold fast to as the people of God. This gospel message comes from God. It has its source in God himself. Not in me. not in the message I proclaim, not in some historical book, but rather from God himself and the revelation of his character to us in his word. Now Paul says the reason you should believe that is because you know my story. Now listen, I was advancing in Judaism, I was persecuting the church, I was trying to destroy the church of Jesus Christ. I was advancing in Judaism, I was zealous for the traditions of my fathers, and I was being raised up in the corporate ladders or in the hierarchy of power within the context of Judaism. In fact, we know that from Acts. He's on his way to Damascus to destroy the Christians. He's present at the stoning of Stephen in Acts chapter seven. He's on his way to Damascus. to persecute the Christians there when Jesus arrests his soul on the way and he has an encounter with the risen Lord. He says in verse 15, but when he who had set me apart from before I was born and who had called me by his grace was pleased to reveal his son to me. Paul says, the father set me apart before I was born for this purpose. He called me by his grace for this purpose. Paul's even going to go so far as to say, he said it in 2 Corinthians, he'll say it later as well, that he is training in the Jewish synagogue and in the Jewish way and his understanding, God used that to prepare him to be a proclaimer of the gospel. Called me by his own grace when it pleased him. to reveal to me his son, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. The idea here is that in God's sovereignty, he chose Paul from the foundations of the world. He called him by his grace, but he did it in a certain time and space. And when it was pleasing to his name, he called Paul to himself. And Paul says, I didn't go immediately to Jerusalem to consult with the brothers there. I began to preach the gospel. I did go and I met with Peter after three years. So Paul was a Christian and a proclaimer of the gospel for three years before he ever went to Jerusalem. And when he went to Jerusalem, he met with Peter for 15 days. And no one knew me in the church of Judea, he says, but they gave glory to God because they heard the testimony of my life change. It's kind of remarkable when you start thinking about time frames, right? For three years, he went off on his own and preached the gospel. He was being prepared and the Spirit of God was working in his heart before he went to Jerusalem. In today's world, we think, man, you've got to immediately go talk to somebody. Get on a plane and fly there and meet with the leaders of the church in order to have their blessing as you proclaim the good news of Christ. And rightly so. This is the beginning. We believe in authority structures, especially in Presbyterian circles. We believe the Presbytery is the authority. And so you've got to meet with the brothers in the presbytery before you can have the credentials to go forward and serve and proclaim the good news of Christ. But in the early days, Paul was so touched by the grace of God, but he also was prevented from getting to Jerusalem. And it's quite interesting when you think about it. It took him three years to get there, but yet God was still working. and people were still hearing the gospel. So my story is confirmation that the message, the life transformation is from God himself. That's true for all of us. Our life stories are not the, we're not the heroes of our, our testimony is not the heroes of the gospel. The Lord is. But they're often confirmation of the message and truth of God. And so I encourage you, go forward, share your story, and let people know that the message you trust in comes from God himself. And he is the source of all that there is. You guys have a great day. God bless you. Catch you next time.