Galatians chapter 1 this morning is where we'll be. It's in the early part of Galatians 1 that Paul defended the message of the gospel of grace. The message of the gospel of grace is simply this. Salvation is by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone. But that message of God's grace was under attack. There were some, Galatians 1, verse number seven, there were some who taught that the keeping of the law was necessary to one's salvation and one's sanctification. Galatians 1, seven tells us some perverted the message of the gospel. They were confusing and corrupting the message of the gospel of grace. So with great alarm, Paul wrote this in verse number six, I marvel that you are turning away so soon from him who called you in the grace of Christ to a different gospel. So here in the early part of chapter one, Paul defended the message of the gospel of grace. Now in the latter part of chapter one, Paul defends the messenger of the gospel of grace, and that messenger was, of course, Paul himself. But as part of their assault on the message, the false teachers also attacked the messenger. And we understand that approach for it's common in a court of law to question the credibility of a witness, to cast doubt on the testimony of a witness. If a witness is a liar, and that can be established, then one's testimony cannot be trusted. If a witness has something to gain or lose, They have motive, then they can't be objective. If the witness has a history that could anyway compromise their testimony, then their testimony is discredited, their words or their message is disregarded. In that same way, those who were attacking not just the message of the gospel of grace, but the messenger of the gospel of grace began by attacking Paul. Who was Paul? What was Paul's message? What credentials did he have? What credibility did he have? What gave him the right to speak of the grace of God? And so by way of autobiography, Paul defended himself as a witness of the gospel of grace and written this at the top of your notes by demonstrating God's grace in his own life. You see, I would submit to you that Paul was a trophy of God's grace. And as a trophy of God's grace, Paul had a platform. He had credibility to speak to that. And as we come to understand God's grace in Paul's life, I want us this morning to ask ourselves, question yourself, how is God's grace evident in my life this morning? Let's pause for prayer, and then we'll look at the scripture text together. God in heaven, we thank you for your amazing grace. The kindness demonstrated toward us while we were yet sinners. You gave Jesus Christ to die on a cross to shed his blood in our place so that we might have the forgiveness of sin and everlasting life. Lord, we recognize the gospel message is entirely a message of grace. Nothing good that we bring, there's nothing that we hold in our hand to offer you, but we receive that as a gift, a free gift from you. God, we thank you for your grace demonstrated in Paul's life. We thank you for how your grace has been demonstrated in our own lives. I pray that you would remind us of these things this morning. I pray in Jesus' name, amen. You have your Bibles open before you to Galatians chapter number one. Galatians one, look at verse 11 with me. But I make known to you, brethren, Paul says, I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it from man, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. I submit to you that the grace of God in Paul's life was demonstrated in that he, number one, he, number one, received God's word. The grace of God in Paul's life was demonstrated in that he received God's word. And Paul makes it very clear here in verses 11 and 12 that he received the gospel message directly. by revelation from Jesus Christ himself. On the other hand, there are many other gospels. Gospels according to man. You see it there at the end of verse number 11. Not according to men. There are some gospels that come according to men. What are they? Let me suggest a few. This is not in your notes, but here's one. The gospel of self-knowledge. The gospel of self-knowledge. The gospel of self-knowledge has a motto, and its motto is this, know thyself. The gospel of self-knowledge, this is a gospel according to man, is a message that one must get in touch with their inner self. It's a gospel of new age transcendental meditation. It's a gospel of self-knowledge that teaches that we are the masters of our own destiny, that we just need to tap into ourselves and awaken the power that lies within us. After all, there is a spark of divinity within each of us. Their Bible is the humanist Manifesto which states this, no God will save us, we must save ourselves. That is the message as old as the Garden of Eden, the message straight from the pit of hell, the message directly out of the mouth of Satan. It is a message according to man. It is a gospel according to man and it does not save. The gospel of self-knowledge, know thyself. There's another gospel according to man. How about this one? This one is the gospel of self-improvement. And the message here, or the motto here, is how about this? It's the motto, be all that you can be. And the message of the gospel of self-improvement is embodied in Joel Osteen's book, Your Best Life Now. Seven steps to living at your full potential. And you can turn on any one of a number of Christian broadcasts and you will hear the gospel of self-improvement, health and wealth and positive thinking that will propel you to success. Prosperity is the measure of spirituality is the message. I might just, it's not original with me, but I might just remind us, your best life now, if you are living your best life now, then eternal life is no better than now. You understand that. And your eternity is apart from Christ. And in that case, your best life is now. There's a third gospel according to man. This one I would call the gospel of self-love. Self-love. Whitney Houston sings a song, or sang a song, so I'm told, which says this. Learning to love yourself is the greatest love of all. Millions of people, of course, have bought her music and adopted that message. The gospel of self-love teaches you have to learn to love yourself before you can ever love anyone else. Its motto, I kind of made this up because I couldn't think of a good one, but hug yourself and kiss a tree. How about that? I don't know. The gospel of self-love. All right, there's nothing wrong, well, yeah, there's a lot wrong. The problem is that man already does love himself. We are lovers of self, we idolatrize ourselves, self-idolatry, and rather, we ought to love God with our whole being, love others as our own being. All right, here's another gospel according to man. How about this one, the gospel of self-righteousness? And this, perhaps, is the greatest of all, and its motto is be a good neighbor. You ought to be a good neighbor. Give to charity or build a house for humanity. There's nothing wrong with relief efforts or social activism. In fact, there's virtue in those things. But that is not the gospel of God's grace, you see. That is not the message of salvation. This is self-righteousness according to man. And there are many gospel messages according to men, but there is only one gospel according to Jesus Christ. That's letter B in your notes. One gospel according to Jesus Christ. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul wrote, I declare to you the gospel which I preach to you, which you also received and in which you stand. that Christ died for our sins according to the scripture, and that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scripture, so that we are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus. That is the one gospel message according to Jesus Christ, and I would ask you this morning if you've received that message according to Jesus Christ, if you've accepted the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ alone, for the atonement of your sin, the forgiveness of your sin, or are you listening to the messages of man? The Apostle Paul is stunned in verse number six that the believers in Galatia would turn away so quickly from this one gospel message to a message according to men. And for the Judaizers there in the Galatian churches, they were teaching another gospel. to the Thessalonians, Paul wrote, for this reason we thank God without ceasing because you received the word of God which you heard from us. You welcomed it not as the word of men but as it is the word of God in truth which effectively works in you who believe. And so be careful, be cautious. There will be many under the branding of Christianity who will assert a different gospel message. And here for the first century Judaizers, the religious instruction that they received from rabbinical tradition, from other men, they blindly perpetuated that teaching of man. And let me just give you an example of this in the first century. The five books of Moses, we know it as the Pentateuch, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, the Torah, can be written out in about 350 pages. All right? The Talmud, which is man's commentary on the Torah, it's the oral tradition about the Torah, makes up 523 books in 22 volumes. And so man takes the Torah, 350 pages, and writes 523 books about it, the ramblings of the word of man. And so in a creative way, Paul is turning tables on these Galatian believers and he's accusing them of listening to all that man has added or subtracted or changed about the gospel message. Paul had received the word from God And by God's grace, he received that word. Paul was a trophy of God's grace in receiving this word. And I would ask you this morning, have you received God's word this morning as preserved for us here in the Holy Bible, not the branding or the messaging of man? Look at verse 13. For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism as a Jew, my reputation precedes me, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and I tried to destroy it. And I advanced in Judaism beyond many of my contemporaries in my own nation. I was an outstanding Jewish scholar, being more exceedingly zealous for the traditions of my fathers, those that wrote those hundreds of volumes about the Torah, if you will. I would say the grace of God in Paul's life was demonstrated, number two, in that he repented of his past. He repented of his past. Now what do I mean by repent or repentance? I mean that Paul changed. He turned from. And Paul's repentance is illustrated by those in Thessalonica who turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God. 1 Thessalonians 1 verse nine. Paul turned from his past sin. There in verse number 13. Verse 13 tells us that Paul was a very bad man. He was a persecutor of the church of God and we recognize that even from Acts chapter six in the stoning of Stephen. And Paul himself wrote in 1 Timothy 1.15, Christ came into the world to save sinners of whom I am chief. So Paul wrote in Romans 7 that it was the law, not that saved him, it was the law that showed him his sinfulness and turned him to Christ. And perhaps you say, you know what, preacher, that's right. We need to hear more about sin and repentance, the wickedness that's being done. That's the problem these days. People don't repent of their sin. We don't hear much preaching these days on repentance. I wish we heard more preaching against sin, for people need to repent of their sin, amen? Maybe. Yes. Okay. Yes. Yes. Okay. But here's what's interesting here with the Apostle Paul verses 13 and 14. That may be true. But Paul also repented not just of his sin but of his past righteousness. Paul turned from his past righteousness. Verse 13 tells us that Paul was a very bad man. Verse 14 tells us that Paul was a very good man. And Paul had to repent of his own righteousness as much as he had to repent of his own sin. So while we need preachers to proclaim repentance of sin, We need preachers to preach repentance of righteousness, of self-righteousness. It's a small matter to acknowledge our sins and turn from them. It's a big matter to repent of our righteousness and turn from that. Go with me quickly to Philippians. Not far away, just a few pages to the right. Philippians chapter three. Philippians chapter three. Let me pick up in verse number four. This is Paul's repentance over his righteousness. Philippians 3, I'm sorry, Philippians 3 verse number four, though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so, here it is. Circumcised the eighth day, check. Of the stock of Israel, check. Of the tribe of Benjamin, check. A Hebrew of the Hebrews, check. Concerning the law, a Pharisee, check. Concerning zeal, persecuting the church, check. Concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless. Check, who can beat that? But, verse seven, when things were gained to me, these I counted loss for Christ. Yes, indeed, I also count all things for loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. Folks, I would submit to you that it's a great thing to hear the testimonies of those who have been saved from a life of wickedness and debauchery. Don't you love those unshackled testimonies? Perhaps if you've heard the radio broadcast, those who were deep in sin, they were wondrously saved by the grace of God, the amazing grace of God, and perhaps that's your experience this morning, and we praise the Lord for that. But it's an equally great thing to hear the testimony, the salvation story of those who had it all together. Those who by all accounts are stable and successful and righteous in the eyes of men, but in spite of themselves, the grace of God brings the word of God into their life and they're gloriously saved, repenting of their own righteousness. and receiving the righteousness of Jesus Christ. We can praise the Lord for that testimony as well. My favorite services for us here at Fourth Baptist Church are our new member services, a few times a year, one later this fall. We hear the testimonies and we witness the baptisms of those who have decided to follow Jesus. And every one of those stories is a testimony of God's grace. Some repenting from sinfulness. Some repenting from righteousness. Some stories are brief, some stories are long. But in every case, that one is a trophy of God's grace because of turning from self to the Savior. Turning from unbelief to belief. And if that's your testimony, you're a trophy of God's grace like the Apostle Paul. Look at verse number 15. We're back to Galatians chapter one. Galatians chapter number one, verse 15 now. But when it pleased God who separated me from my mother's womb and called me through his grace. See the theme here is grace. It's everywhere it's grace. Why, why did God separate Paul from his mother's womb and call him through his grace to reveal his son in me that I might preach him among the Gentiles? I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood. This wasn't a man thing, this was a God thing. And I would say the grace of God's in Paul's life was demonstrated in that he recognized God's work. God's work, how so? How can we recognize God's work of grace in our own lives? First, God's grace calls us. calls us, you realize that God formed you, God fashioned you in your mother's womb. The psalmist said, for you formed me in my inward parts. You covered me in my mother's womb. I will praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Marvelous are your works, and that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in secret and skillfully wrought in the lowest part of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance being yet unformed. Psalm 139, of course, speaking of the the baby in the womb there. God formed you and fashioned you in your mother's womb. Furthermore, do you know that God not only did that, but he also purposed for you while you were in your mother's womb. God told Jeremiah, before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I sanctified you. I ordained you to be a prophet to the nations. That is God's grace toward us. Do you recognize it as such? You say, well, pastor, okay, God demonstrated his grace to the psalmist David, Psalm 139. God demonstrated his grace toward the prophet Jeremiah, Jeremiah chapter one, because they were great men. And God wanted to use them greatly. But here's the thing. Grace is without respect to merit. Grace is apart from works. God did not grace David in forming him in the womb, or Jeremiah in purposing for him in the womb. God did not choose those men, or any one of us for that matter, based on our goodness, but based on his grace. You see, we weren't even born yet, if you will. And this was the message to Israel in Deuteronomy 7. The Lord did not set his love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people. For you are the least of all the peoples, Israel. But because the Lord loves you, because he would keep the oath that he swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand. He's redeemed you from the house of bondage from the hand of Pharaoh. You see, God calls us not by our goodness but by his grace. Recognize that work in your life. Secondly, God directs us by his grace. God directs us by his grace. Now, it would seem reasonable for me, to me, it seems reasonable to me, that Paul here, in verse 16, would confer with or seek counsel from others following his conversion. Do you see it there? In verse 16, I did not immediately confer with flesh and blood. That's curious to me. I would have considered that the conventional wisdom of the day for Paul to attach himself to another New Testament believer, a New Testament Christian. to grow in his understanding of Christianity. After all, Paul's practice was Judaism. And the perpetuation of Judaism was and still is a teacher-student relationship. You attach yourself as a learner, as a disciple, to a rabbi or a teacher. That's how it worked. But in this case, the Apostle Paul didn't rush to the Christian elite in the city of Jerusalem. Rather, he went to Arabia. Arabia is a desert wasteland. For three years, Paul was in that desert wasteland of Arabia, apart from civilization. With what authority did Paul then have to speak concerning the gospel of grace? What were his credentials? I might boast, I went to Bible college, then I went to Central Seminary, then I went on to get my doctorate, and I had mentors along the way, and I had those that shaped me and led me, and I graduated with honors, and I was instructed by such great men, and because of my education, I have credibility to speak my message. That was not Paul's story. He was not taught to be an apostle by other apostles. He was tutored by the Lord Jesus Christ, the abundance of revelations that were given to him. He was divinely instructed and divinely directed by God's grace, and he recognized that. I owe a lot to many over the years. My parents, of course, my teachers, professors, fellow pastors, they are God's instruments of grace to me. But I'll tell you something else. There is an unseen hand of sweet providence in my life that is inexplicable. I don't know how or where God has led me to this place, then I know I'm here. And all I can do is marvel and say, God, your grace has directed me in ways that I can't even really trace. It's your providence. And I'm thankful for that, and I recognize that. I hope that you recognize God's grace in your life. Maybe you're able to say, if it wasn't for such and such, or so and so, then that wouldn't have happened, and then I wouldn't have moved, and I wouldn't have met, and that couldn't have, and we, humanly, we try to identify the cause and effect, right? But sometimes, we can't trace that. It's simply God's marvelous grace. Look at verse number 18, therefore, after three years, I went up to Jerusalem to see Peter, and remained with him for 15 days. But I saw none of the other apostles except James, the Lord's brother. Now concerning the things which I write to you, indeed, before God, I do not lie." He's claiming honest transparency here. This is the story. It doesn't make any sense. After I went into the regions of Syria and Cilicia, and I was unknown by face to the churches of Judea, which were in Christ, they didn't recognize me, but they were hearing only, he who formerly persecuted us now preaches the faith, which was, he once tried to destroy. A complete reversal, 180. And they glorified God. So following his conversion, Paul, he was a marked man initially in Jerusalem. The Jews hated him for his defection from Judaism. The believers hated him for his persecution of the Christians. And so in some ways, again, the grace of God directing him, I think he was in exile, if you will, for those three years in Arabia. Perhaps just to allow the temperature to cool. among the Jews that hated him and the New Testament believers that hated him. He was forced to spend three years in exile because he had no friends. When he went to Jerusalem, he went straight to Peter and James for two weeks before going north where he would not be recognized. And the people in the north had only heard about him as a persecutor, but now he was a preacher and they glorified God. because of Paul's ministry to them. And this is the most remarkable thing. Number four, he became regarded as family. He was welcomed among the believers as a trophy of God's grace. He was part of the same family then that he tried to destroy. What a remarkable Story. What a remarkable biography. God's grace demonstrated in that way. Now, we have just a few moments remaining. I began by asking you, how is God's grace evident in your life? And I want you to take this moment to think about that. And I'll use perhaps the four points of the outline of this text here. Number one, have you received God's word? God's word. Not the gospel according to man. Not the teaching of some church or some guru, some best-selling author or celebrity speaker. Have you received God's word? If you have, that's God's grace to you. Number two, have you repented of your past? Turning from past sin, turning from past righteousness, your own righteousness. If you have, that's God's grace to you. Number three, do you recognize God's work, the hand of God in your life? Can you look back over the years of your life and say thank you, Lord, for the work that you've accomplished? It's been hard at times, it's been lonely at times, painful at times. I would have never written the script to my life, but Lord, I recognize your hand in my life. And then number four, are you regarded as family? Is there identification and association and relationship with God's people? As a child of God, are you part of the family? We might ask, I hope you are. I want you to be, you are blessed to be part of the church of Jesus Christ, to be in Christ, to be part of a fellowship of believers. Folks, it is these things that qualify you to declare God's grace to others. If someone challenges you about your credibility or your qualifications of giving a testimony of the gospel, who do you think you are, preacher? Who do you think you are, holier than thou? Who do you think you are, religious nutcase? You say, let me just tell you something. God has been gracious to me. God is a God of grace. I'm a trophy of his grace. And simply tell your story. of God's grace, let's pray. God in heaven, thank you for your grace in all of our lives in different ways, but ultimately for being a God of grace who has loved us enough to give us Jesus Christ. Lord, we sometimes sensationalize the extreme stories, testimonies of those like Paul from a persecutor to a preacher, Lord, from the hardened criminal to the modest saint, but Lord, all of us have received your grace without any merit, and we rejoice in that. I pray, Lord, that we would be those that would cling to your grace, not just for our salvation, but our sanctification. For I pray it in Jesus' name, amen.