How the Persecutor Turned Into a Preacher [Part 3]

Pastor, author and Bible teacher Alan Wright being a Christian is not something that you do it is instead a revelation of who Jesus is and when you see and would you believe it you begin living totally differently because of that's Pastor Alan Wright welcome to another message of good view that will help you see your life will Dingell Britt excited for you to hear the teaching today. In the series Galatians is presented at renewal the church in North Carolina not able to stay with us throughout the entire program I want to make sure you know how to get our special resource right now. It can be yours for your donation this month made to Alan Wright Ministries so as you listen to today's message go deeper as we send you today special offer.

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Now let's get started with today's teaching here is Alan Wright by glorious light led around by hand for three days.

Can't do anything for himself and has to have one of the people you hope to arrest to come and pray for them in order for him to get his eyesight back and then to be filled with the Holy Spirit ministers that you can even became even describe the layers of irony in what God did. That's a story so when you when you come back over into Galatians.

It makes some sense of what he's saying here in chapter 1, I did not receive it. Verse 12 from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. The transforming power. Listen to this, the transforming power of the gospel unto you, not only begins with but continues with the revelation of Jesus Christ. Revelation that it is apocalypse us with the Greek word is it means an unveiling this is this is what we say is distinct about what it means to be a Christian as opposed to other religions is not just that we say Christianity is not a man-made construct which other religions are.

It is to say something more than that. It is to say that God always existed. The triune God father son and Holy Spirit and that this same God who has never changed and never will change has been throughout history progressively revealing himself revealing himself to Abraham through his promises, revealing himself to Moses through the Torah revealing himself through the prophets revealing himself to wisdom literature revealing himself increasingly until the time came, Jesus of Nazareth was God in the flesh and in him we have a full and complete revelation of who God is and so when you come to know God, you come to know God, because of the revelation of Jesus that day when Saul of Tarsus was coming into Damascus and he said he said who are you, Lord.

He didn't mean who are you, Lord. And this is the way we use Lord as if knowing that this was Lord and Savior Lord can also be used almost to say Sir he is overwhelmed by this glorious vision and he says who are you and the Lord Jesus speaks to him and when he speaks, he says, his eyes Jesus, whom you are persecuting. And in that moment, Saul realized two things.

It would change his whole life.

Number one, if Jesus was speaking to him. It meant Jesus was not dead. Admit that he had been crucified, but he was raised in admit that he was alive. The second thing that Saul realized that day was that the Jesus who was speaking to him was so closely aligned with the people that Paul Saul was persecuting that Jesus said you persecuting me. So in other words, he realized Jesus was alive and he realized Jesus was alive in the church. Don't you worry, one moment about this economy's political landscape, or anything else in this world. Jesus is alive and he is alive in you the authority that Saul of Tarsus thought he had was in authority that income for men. He had papers. Lotta good. The papers did when he was blind and couldn't even read them anymore and he's saying I preach to you a gospel is not conceived by any man. It was a revelation of the son of God is a revelation of Jesus Christ is as I received it. It is, it is being a Christian is not something that you do it is instead a revelation of who Jesus is and when you see it you believe it and when you believe it you begin living totally differently because of what you believe. That's what happened is saying if you want to understand authority. The authority is in the gospel revelation and therefore let the gospel stand by its own power and this is Thomas beautiful word of glorious hope that we church do not need to jazz up our gospel. We don't need to add anything to our gospel.

We don't need to fret over those that do not receive this gospel.

The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is authoritative and life-giving and saving in and of itself. What can I ever do to add to this gospel. I love the gospel I am intoxicated with the gospel filled in infused with this message. This is what happened to Saul of Tarsus, so much so that he would later say if you want me to both boast in my weakness, mostly in my strength because the greatest time of my life was when I was led by the hand and I was blind and I couldn't do anything and this voice spoke from heaven and I realized that Jesus was alive and I realized Jesus is alive in his church, and I realize that there is nothing in addition to Jesus as needed and there's nothing besides Jesus is needed. I resolved to know nothing, but Jesus Christ and him crucified. This is what shaped his urgency to the Galatians know how powerful this gospel is surely something else. This remarkable about Saul's conversion and this is I think is much as anything I have to say today a specific word from the Lord for some of you Saul of Tarsus was advancing polar back is I was advancing on the religious ranks. I was what he was saying is them. My life is good. I like I like to know if it was fine and dandy. That's Alan Wright will have more teaching moment from today's important series an option for 99 days in a row.

Someone tells you, I love you I'll never forsake you. When you feel cherished. The what would happen if I'm hundreds day that same person. Sad that Shayna got enough for me to measure that on the Colletti anymore. When that one day contaminate the meaning of the other 99 days when 1% of conditional love poison. The other 99% will just 1% of lies enough to spoil grace bit of luck in introducing unlimited capacity for fear if I don't measure up. When might be rejected.

When the Judaizers infiltrated the Galatian church. They pass Apollo is outraged and read a letter that describes the essence of the gospel of grace and why it must not be mixed with any form of Alan Reitz 12 message ideas series trumpets the power of the gospel in order to set you free empower you with pure grace. It's called Galatians and asked the gospel discover the purity and power at the grace of God.

When you make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today will send you pastor's message as an attractive CD album with your digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor out and got work in today's teaching now continues here once again is Alan Wright is interesting that we often say that a person needs to know. Hit rock bottom before they'll really come to pricer you know why that person come to Christ.

Well there and wait until they go through a crisis or pause. Just think about this Saul of Tarsus have been through no divorce he had lost his job. He wasn't talking about having wayward children. It was in in a lawsuit what meta-relational dispute he was climbing the ladder in his vocation and he was well thought out and he was super educated and he had means go pretty good for years ago when we started ministry called Virg despite eight years ago. Part of what we're doing in preparation to to reach young adults who are outside the body of Christ with the gospel and starting an innovative coffeehouse ministry. We went to talk to young people. If we could find them on the street and if they let us interview them asked them a few questions because we are trying to learn how their thinking and I'll never forget when we were in front of the former Borders bookstore and some students on the school arts are out there drinking coffee on a beautiful afternoon and we asked if we could talk to them and maybe video them as we interview them. They said sure and we began to speak to them. None of them went to church or Christian, and I'll never forget talking to this one young man very nice guy enjoyable person and said you ever think about God much. He said no, not really. He's said something about one of his parents had been phenomenal nominal Jew and another had been maybe a nominal, Catholic workers, you know some other Illinois just had some faint reference to some religious stuff in his background, but he said no I don't think I got us it would do. Do you ever think about about going to church and he said well know he said is just about God and church to me is just sort of a move on and I didn't know whether to bust out laughing or just just throttle about the head and shoulders because you just call God a moot point, and we kept the video role in and I said will let me ask you this. What is you think the purpose of life and he said to be happy and I said are you happy and he said Matt I'm happy to walk away from my okay will know me happy.

You can walk away thinking here's what's gonna happen. Do is one day you know you're going hit up against a big crisis in your life someday. You're not happy. That's the day you're gonna reach out and you go find Jesus that day you want them utilizing like what you say to a person like this and we tend to think that a person's got to be of some crisis or some low for some reason reach out to God, and that's happened to so many of us in this room but Saul is the perfect example to refute such thinking God does not need for you to be at rock bottom or even a crisis or low ab or any other way unsuccessful or unfulfilled. God doesn't care whether you got a felt need or not he can reach you by the revelation of the son of God in any moment.

It's a word it's a word mom's and you're praying for a child is not walking with the Lord.

They don't have to wait to get some low rock-bottom place. Paul said it pleased him to reveal to me the son of God, Lord, let it please you to reveal the son of God. God Paul is saying is his saving force to the gospel is so much bigger and more powerful than what you've ever conceived. He puts it in terms of that which has verse 15 he had set me apart before I was born called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles. I want you just to see that the conversion of Saul is inextricably linked to the commission of Saul, we minimize the gospel. If we make it to be about this you prayer. Prayer sinners prayer accept Jesus and then you know you're going to have an there are moments in our lives, in everyone's life when there's a moment in which faith is awakened within you by miracle of God, and it is important that you receive and you act for some of you maybe today is that day but I wanted to see what really the transformation was about. He said this began long before me before I was born and he called me by his grace was a call that was at work long before I went to Damascus, you don't have a beautiful dynamic living relationship with the Lord Jesus right now he is already at work in your life. God not been caught off guard by the events of Saul's life.

He knew it would take the guy did is the Jew of Jews and Pharisee of Pharisees in the persecutor of all the church and at the right moment. I'm revealed to him my son life is linked not just with the saving moment which you pray a prayer for what he saying it was linked also that I might preach him among the Gentiles, you are saved, not just so you go to heaven but so that the purpose and destiny of your life may unfold.

If you're here are your under the sound of my voice now in your very much like a guide for the Borders bookstore in your life. Well, I feel like I'm happy. And it all seemed like a moot point to me because nothing seems to be going to wrong for me and I don't have felt needs where I need a Savior at my life right now. If you if you have any feeling like that with the gospel would ultimately say to you is, yes, you could be like Saul and you could be secure in yourself, not realizing that you're living a life that is absolutely contrary to your ultimate destiny in the good plans and God has for you.

It wasn't just about Saul becoming a Christian so he could go to heaven. This was about Saul becoming a Christian, so that he could proclaim the gospel of the Lord Jesus, so that I would be an apostle to the Gentiles. And then he says in verse 23 they only wear hearing. I said he used to persecute us is now preaching the faith he once tried to destroy and they glorified God calls me another words pulsate. If you look at my life and what happened to me I was the enemy of Jesus and I have fallen so in love with Jesus so consumed with the gospel. They would face any amount of persecution they say into the Galatian Christians don't be bewitched by these Judaizers if you think that they are going to add something to your inheritance or some guaranteed by telling you you need to be circumcised want to remind you the gospel is powerful beyond words I did to me quintet Charles Cal's was my New Testament professor and a study the book of Galatians under Charleston to log on by looking at his commentary this week.

Type a bit call. I loved him I didn't know enough back then to know how good it was what you were saying. And this is one of the things he said after the resurrection of Jesus.

No single event affected the course of the church's history so much as the call of Paul. Other individuals were converted.

Constantine even baptized an empire, but the change which occurred for Paul calls reverberations, many of which are still resounding in the church's revolutionary insight. For example, into the place of women in Galatians 328. Not only is there the deposit of his letters in the New Testament Canon with their subsequent influence in labor history. There's also the bold mission to Greece in the West, while not solely Paul's doing nevertheless opened up new frontiers for the expansion of Christianity. Lloyd Ogilvie put it even more succinctly, the former chaplain of the Senate, said Paul is the most important human being who ever lived. The most crucial event of history for which Jesus Christ lived died was resurrected and glorified was his infilling of a new humanity the body of Christ. The second most strategic event was the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. Another words the greatest irony of this story is that it was a Pharisee who at one point in his life would've wanted to imprison you, it is probably the reason that you and most of us is Gentiles are even here how great is our God best gospel right in today's teaching how the persecutor turned into a preacher stick with this. Alan is back here in the studio. In a moment with additional insight for us today for your life in the final word blessing your life discovering God's grace filled vision for your life by signing Alan Wright's free daily address you want to fill your heart with grace and encouragement. Alan writes a daily blessing. It's free.

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Pastor Alan got away and knocking for 99 days in a row. Someone tells you, I love you I'll never forsake you. When you feel cherished. But what would happen if I'm hundred today that same person. Sad. Not sure you get enough for me to measure up on the Colletti anymore. When that one day contaminate the meaning of the other 99 days when 1% of conditional love poison. The other 99% will just 1% of lies enough to spoil grace bit of luck in introducing unlimited capacity for fear that if I don't measure up.

When might be rejected. When the Judaizers infiltrated the Galatian church.

They pass Apollo is outraged and read a letter that describes the essence of the gospel of grace and why it must not be mixed with any form of Alan Wright's 12 message ideas series trumpets the power of the gospel in order to set you free empower you with pure grace. It's called Galatians and asked the gospel discover the purity and power at the grace of God. When you make your gift to Alan Wright Ministries today will send you pastor's message as an attractive CD album with your digital download as our way of saying thanks for your partnership. Call us at 877-544-4860 877-544-4861 come to our website pastor out and got work. Helen, this is not unlike our story individually right we can identify here. Yeah, you know, and I think you first place you think about Paul's life and how much. Well, if God could use Paul God could use any of us and how the providence of God is been at work throughout history just in Paul's like putting in in everyone's life that everyone is listening right now God is at work in your life. The message of the gospel is so pure it's so simple. God loves you. He died in your place. He was raised from the grave improves his victory over death and he's at the right hand of father nature advocate and it's a pure and simple and beautiful message.

That's what Galatians is all about and that's what the gospel is all about. Thanks for listening today. Visit us online@pastor.org or call 877-544-4860 that's 877-544-4860 if you only caught part of today's teaching. Not only can you listen again online but also get a daily email devotional that matches today's teaching delivered right to your email inbox free. Find out more about these and other resources@pastoroutand.org that's pastor out and.org. Today's good news message is a listener supported production of Alan Wright Ministries